Zander the Great

Yet another great Marion Davies film.

Fabulous opening scenes with Marion as a 12-year-old orphan with pig tails and freckles. The opening is filmed to show the backs of girls laboring over wash tubs. You see no faces until they load up a wicker basket with a ton of clothes and the girl stumbles under the load only to fall and send the wash flying. The camera zooms in on the girl tearing off the washing and it's MARION DAVIES! She is beaten by the hideous matron (Emily Fitzroy) but is saved when the trustee (Richard Carle) discovers her beating and sends her to Mrs. Caldwell (Hedda Hopper) to live. She helps Hopper with her infant son, Zander, while she waits for the return of her husband from Mexico.

Years pass and Hopper dies. The orphanage descends to take away the baby but Marion escapes in a Ford and heads for Arizona (with Zander and his pet wabbits) were the baby's father (Harrison Ford) is hiding out with his gang. Through pure luck she happens upon their hideout (he's a bootlegger) but wins them over through her cooking.

But Ford's a good man and is fighting a border war with an evil outlaw (George Siegmann) while the sheriff (Hobart Bosworth) lurks.There's a big shootout and things end happily as Ford is not the real father, but a friend of the father who was killed.

Davies is just wonderful here as the orphan but also as the resourceful woman who saves the day. The opening scenes of Davies buried under piles of laundry and zooming about on a motorized bike are very funny.

Ford, who was a major star in his day, is also excellent. The supporting cast is solid: Fitzroy is grotesque as the head of the orphanage, Harry Myers and Harry Watson are good as the gang, Olin Howland is the suitor, and Holbrook Blinn is Juan Fernandez.

Great happy ending scene with tons and tons of wabbits.