Yolanda (1924) User Reviews

Marion Davies as a Princess in Peril

[drednm · 5 August 2016]

After the huge success of WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER (1922) it was only natural that Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst would look to another novel by Charles Major as the source for another mammoth medieval story.

Huge castle sets were built at Cosmopolitan Studio's 2nd Avenue location on the Harlem River. As usual, Hearst spared no expense in producing this lavish medieval story of romance, mistaken identities, disguises, and political intrigue.

Davies stars as Princess Mary of Burgunudy, who travels in disguise as Yolanda, when she meets a mysterious knight (Ralph Graves). He is actually Prince Maximillian, who is later imprisoned in a political plot to overthrow the King of Styria. Meanwhile, Davies is being forced by the evil Bishop La Balue, into marriage with the half-witted Dauphin of France in order to prevent war. Maximillian escapes and, learning of the princess' predicament, travels to Burgundy to rescue her. But the threat of war still looms and threatens to doom their romance.

Davies is wondrous as the beleaguered princess and wears more than a dozen elaborate gowns and headdresses. Graves is solid as the hero. Others in the cast include Holbrook Blinn as King Louis, Lyn Harding as the Duke of Burgundy, Theresa Maxwell Conover as Queen Margaret, Johnny Dooley as the Dauphin, Macklyn Arbuckle as La Balue, Mary Kennedy as Antoinette, Leon Errol as the innkeeper, and Gustav von Seyffertitz as Oliver.

As with several earlier films, Joseph Urban designed the lavish interiors, and they are stunning. Costumes were designed by Urban's daughter, Gretl Urban. As with KNIGHTHOOD, this one was directed by Robert Vignola.

Despite huge openings in New York and Los Angeles, the film was not a financial success, perhaps too similar to KNIGHTHOOD. Be that as it may, this is a stunning film of epic proportions and one of the very best silent films in the medieval genre.

Miss Davies Is Overwhelmed By History

[boblipton · 6/10 · 2 December 2020]

Marion Davies is the Princess Mary of Burgundy. She likes to go into town via her secret passageway to her best friend's house, where she can win pigs; her father, though, is Charles the Bold as portrayed by Lynn Harding. He has other plans for her. He wants to invade Switzerland, and so he plans to wed her to the French Dauphin, mostly to have peace on that border. The problems are twofold. First, Marion objects to being married off to the simple-minded Charles the Simple. Second, she has already fallen in love incognito with Ralph Graves, the Duke of Styria, What's a girl to do?

Clearly Hearst liked the results of WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER and used many of the same elements: same Marion, same tyrant Harding, same director Robert Vignola, and same art director, Joseph Urban. The sets are supposed to have been the largest ever built on the East Coast. The costumes are sumptuous. The poses are classic. And Miss Davies is forced to play this as an ordeal through to the happy ending. No more the light-hearted interlude.... that's finished off with the first scene and thereafter she must storm and rage and suffer. There's no real sense of pacing, no internal highs and lows. The closest one gets is to witness Leon Erroll as an innkeeper doing his 'rubber legs' dance. Then it's back to drowning Miss Davies in seed pearls.

As a pure photoplay, a series of images, its astonishing. Cinematographers Ira Morgan and George Barnes deserve praise for their work. As a story, though, Miss Davies is overwhelmed.