The final scene where they are shooting a film about soldiers in a small village reminded me of The Big Parade.
I must confess that I don't remember the story of The Big Parade to clearly so I can't say how it fits with Vidor's directions to the actors here, but was it supposed to look like they were in the midst of filming Vidor's epic from three years earlier?
The final scene is actually the filming set for Marianne, which starred Marion Davies and was directed by King Vidor. This was her follow-up film to Show People and was filmed as a silent, with Davies starring with Oscar Shaw, and then completely re-shot as Davies' starring talkie debut, starring with Lawrence Gray. The costume Davies wear in the finale with William Haines is the actual costume she wears in Marianne in which she plays a French country girl during WW I.
shareVery interesting, thank you.
share