It's the Old Army Game (1926)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

A. Edward Sutherland

Writers:

J.P. McEvoy (play) and
W.C. Fields (play) ...

Release Date:

11 July 1926 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Druggist Elmer Prettywillie is sleeping. A woman rings the night bell only to buy a two-cent stamp. Then garbage collectors waken him...

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Druggist | Florida | Investor | Double Wedding

Cast

W.C. Fields	...	Elmer Prettywillie
Louise Brooks	...	Mildred Marshall
Blanche Ring	...	Tessie Overholt
William Gaxton	...	George Parker
Mary Foy	...	Sarah Pancoast
Mickey Bennett	...	Mickey
Josephine Dunn	...	Society Bather
Jack Luden	...	Society Bather
George Currie	...	Artist

Also Known As:

The Old Army Game (USA) (review title)

Runtime:

70 min | USA:77 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Famous Players-Lasky Corporation

Movie Connections:

Version of It's a Gift (1934)

Silent Fields, and a radiant Louise Brooks

W.C. Fields was never at his best in the silent film medium, but IT'S THE OLD ARMY GAME is nonetheless a treat for his fans, offering early versions of routines made familiar in his later talkie classics THE PHARMACIST and IT'S A GIFT. The Great Man himself looks quite youthful here, still trim in his mid-40s and even rather stylish in his checked trousers and straw boater, although he also sports the unfortunate mustache he wore in all his silent comedies. The plot is a convoluted and silly concoction involving the Florida land boom (also the background for The Marx Brothers' debut THE COCOANUTS) but Fields' movies were never exactly plot-driven vehicles anyhow, it's the gag sequences that make them worthwhile. This film's highlights include our hero's repeatedly thwarted attempts to take a nap on his back porch, a rather nasty confrontation with an obnoxious baby in a stroller, a picnic on the lawn of a ritzy estate, and a traffic jam filmed on location in midtown Manhattan. The porch bit is something of a dry run for IT'S A GIFT, but here's where the silent version suffers in comparison to the talkie remake: much of the humor depends on noise, so by its very nature this routine just wasn't meant for silent cinema.

(By the way, during the traffic jam sequence Fields has an encounter with a fellow motorist who is done up in stereotypical Jewish costume, complete with derby and grizzled beard, but the scene is surprisingly benign, without the ethnic slurs that mar some comedies of the period.)

Broadway buffs will be interested to learn that the leading man is William Gaxton, best known for his stage performance in the Gershwin musical "Of Thee I Sing," but Gaxton never had much of a movie career and frankly he doesn't register strongly in this role. Then again, he was up against formidable competition, not only from Fields but from his leading lady, Louise Brooks. A major bonus of this film is the sight of this beautiful young woman in her prime. There's a memorable tracking shot of Louise striding down a country lane towards the camera that's worth the price of admission-- that is, if you can find a copy of this movie in the first place. Like all too many W.C. Fields films, IT'S THE OLD ARMY GAME is not readily available in any home-viewable format. I saw it about ten years ago at the American Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York. We were told before the screening that the film was still in the process of restoration, "a work in progress" soon to be completed. For the first hour or so the image looked terrific, but then abruptly we found ourselves watching a heavily-spliced, scratched, and yellowed 16mm print for the last portion. I hope that the restoration work was completed, but haven't heard of any public screenings since. Here is a film ripe for recovery and rediscovery!