King Vidor (1894-1982) began his career in 1910 as a ticket-taker and part-time projectionist at the Globe theatre in his hometown of Galveston, Texas. He became an amateur photographer, filming local events and selling them to newsreel companies. His film of the destruction of a beach home by gale force winds won him a newsreel contract with the Mutual Film Company, paying him sixty cents per usable foot of film.

The success of The Big Parade with screen great John Gilbert in 1925 assured his reputation in the motion picture industry, and made him one of the "notable exceptions" at M-G-M. Directors at the giant studio were expected to conform to detailed scripts meant to turn out slick star vehicles. Changes were unwelcome, creativity discouraged and artistic interpretation virtually eliminated. Vidor, however, was allowed to form his own production unit within the Metro "dream machine," and to choose his own stars and stories.

King Vidor was probably the most important director to work with Marion Davies. The three "Vidor Comedies" were high points in both their careers, showing off Marion's comedic talent and Vidor's versatility as a director.

In 1928 Vidor directed the first of the popular comedies, The Patsy, a major success which placed Davies in motion picture history as one of the few comic leading ladies of the silent screen. Critics were unprepared for this light "comedy of manners", and Marion was boosted to number five on Variety's list of top stars at the box office. This hit was quickly followed by Show People, a satire on Gloria Swanson's transition from pie-in-the-face Mack Sennett comedies to fashionable screen beauty in DeMille dramas.

Not So Dumb teamed Davies and Vidor in a "talkie" comedy in 1930. Marion played the role of Dulcy, a loveable but exasperating dumbbell, under the expert direction of Vidor, leading one reviewer to write, "Marion Davies is always at her best under the direction of King Vidor."