Operator 13

Even without the cringeworthy scenes of Davies in blackface, this is a film that should be confined to the dustbins of history.

Kinda weird watching Marion Davies in blackface for half the movie with a raspy southern accent as she was undercover as a spy. But in a way that was about the only thing that made any kind of impression about this 1934 Marion Davis vehicle. She gets to have Gary Cooper as her love interest, but that part could have been played by any wooden handsome man and in no way an essential Cooper role. For me the movie was okay, but sure could have needed some of that Marion comedy to lighten things up.

Marion Davies in black face as a Yankee spy in the South should be enough to sink any film. It is very Topsy and offensive to be sure. Yet Davies does a good job regardless. The film almost inexplicably excels in showing how split the United States was during the Civil War and how there "was no victory" only "peace" at its conclusion. Boleslawski as always does a fine job of direction and the cinematography is top notch. The central romance is pretty flimsy, though.