bkoganbing Marion Davies was given quite the acting challenge by MGM and her paramour William Randolph Hearst. In doing Peg O' My Heart she was taking on a role that was made immortal on stage and in a silent screen version by Laurette Taylor. But Marion was more than up to the challenge.In fact the film was the best of possible worlds for Davies. She could be the sweet heroine that Mr. Hearst always saw her as. But the part called for some singing and Irish dancing and Marion's great talents for mimicry. She's got the brogue down perfect, she really does sound like J. Farrell MacDonald's daughter and he came by his brogue naturally.The play was written for Laurette Taylor by her husband J. Hartley Manners and became Taylor's signature part. Davies did make it her own. The play was considerably expanded from the stage version which only takes place in the drawing room of the Chichester home in Great Britain.Young Peg O'Connell was the daughter of MacDonald and an English mother who left them because she couldn't stand the life in the fishing village in the west of Ireland. What's great for some is bad for others, the village looks and feels a whole lot like Innisfree where John Wayne couldn't wait to move to in The Quiet Man.But mom's died and she's left a will that says the Chichester family will be paid an installment to educate young Peg in proper English ways and then Peg's to receive a big inheritance. Looks like mom made out quite fine after she left J. Farrell MacDonald. Anyway she's also to cut off contact from her father completely.The usual English and Irish stereotypes circa 1912 when Peg O' My Heart opened on Broadway for a 603 performance run abound in the film version. Peg's presence however changes quite a few things in the lives of the Chichesters before she makes up her mind what her destiny is.Marion is just fine in the part, I certainly would like to know what Laurette Taylor might have thought of her performance.

whpratt1 Marion Davies, (Peg O'Connell) plays the role of a very young girl who lives with her father Pat O'Connell, (J.Farrell MacDonald) in a simple fishing village where she is a bit of a tom boy gal who is full of energy and fun and well liked. One day Pat & Peg are visited by Sir Gerald Markham, (Onslow Stevens) who tells Peg & Pat they are heirs to the estate of her grandfather, who hated Pat. Peg is told she has to go to England for three years to learn to become a lady and she is never to see her father Pat. Things start to change in Peg's life and she begins to want to live with her father and does her very best to find her dad. Peg has many lovers and falls in love with one man and he decides to marry another woman. There is plenty of drama and comedy in this film and Marion Davies gives an outstanding performance.

Ron Oliver In order to gain a huge inheritance, young Margaret (her father's PEG O' MY HEART) leaves her fishing village in the West of Ireland to live with an impoverished, but insufferable, noble family in England.This wonderful, heartwarming - although sadly neglected - film boasts a winning performance from the most misunderstood star of Hollywood's Golden Age. Marion Davies is delightfully playful and quite captivating, easily dominating her every scene. A natural mimic, Davies' Irish brogue is natural & lilting, adding a further dimension to her entrancing character. For viewers unfamiliar with her expertise, Davies will come as a welcome surprise.In the supporting cast, J. Farrell MacDonald takes first honors as Davies' father; he is completely believable as a tenderhearted old fisherman who sorrowfully gives up his daughter for her own good. Onslow Stevens is well cast as the kind baronet who captures Peg's heart. Alan Mowbray, as a local cad, and Robert Greig, as a stuffy butler, both score in their roles. Tyrell Davis is very amusing as a giddy young gynandroid with absolutely no intentions of wooing Davies. Doris Lloyd as Mowbray's no-nonsense wife, and Nora Cecil as an elderly maid, shine in their cameo appearances.MGM, under the watchful eye of William Randolph Hearst, gave PEG a splendid cinematic treatment, with money lavished most especially on the production values of the fishing village scenes. The movie proved to be a hit with audiences, as was its signature tune 'Sweetheart Darling,' by Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed.This was Hearst's favorite of all Davies' films. Although he realized it was time, at age 36, for her to no longer play 20-year-olds, he campaigned relentlessly that she be given an Academy Award nomination. (No MGM actresses were nominated that year, as it turns out; Katharine Hepburn over at RKO got the Oscar.)Time has not dealt kindly with Marion Davies. Almost forgotten today, when remembered at all it is usually as a sort of footnote to history or object of scandal. Her life certainly was colorful, and as chatelaine of America's most amazing private estate she did circulate amidst powerful circles. But to remember her as the bimbo blonde mistress of the country's mightiest media baron is patently unfair.While much of the blame can go to Orson Welles' spoof of Davies in CITIZEN KANE (which he was to admit he regretted towards the end of his life) it must be stated emphatically that Marion was not a no-talent actress with few friends & even fewer brains, whose career was destroyed by her stammer leaving her to spend lonely years in great, hulking empty castles.In reality, Davies was a bright, vivacious lady who charmed & captivated such diverse guests as George Bernard Shaw & Winston Churchill throughout her 33-year liaison with Hearst. Adored by her friends, and a fierce cadre of fans, Davies was renowned for her tireless generosity and charitable good works. Her speech impediment never affected her screen acting and her undeniable talent was evident to any who were willing to access her performances honesty and look past the scandal.Davies had to have been embarrassed by the Hearst empire's relentless pushing of her career. She knew this left her open to ridicule & mockery, doubtless contributing to her scarcely concealed alcoholism. But she eventually relinquished her film pursuits in order to care for the aging Hearst, and after his death in 1951 she showed herself to be an astute businesswoman during the remaining ten years of her life.It is only now, with the passage of much time & the restoration of her old movies, that it is becoming easier to acknowledge the contributions & cinematic expertise of Marion Davies.

shelly silver Peg O' My Heart is really charming,due mainly to the wonderful Marion Davies. She also sings and dances in a few numbers quite delightfully! I saw this on the Turner Classic Movies cable station. A real boon to classic movie lovers!