ONLY THE BRAVE. Paramount, 1930. Gary Cooper, Mary Brian, Phillips Holmes, James Neill, Morgan Farley, Guy Oliver, John Elliot, E. H. Calvert, Virginia Bruce, William LeMaire. Screenplay by Edward E. Paramore & Agnes Brand Leahy, based on a story by Keene Thompson; photography: Henry Fischbeck. Director: Frank Tuttle. Shown at Cinecon 45, Hollywood CA, September 2009.

   The early ’30s Paramount films, seldom seen outside film conventions, are often among the most eagerly anticipated screenings. It was, then, something of a shock to be submitted to the inanity of this Civil War drama.

   There is an initial, somewhat promising set-up as Cooper, in disgrace after going AWOL to visit his sweetheart whom he finds with another man, accepts an undercover mission.

   He will travel behind enemy lines with false troop information that he will allow to fall into the hands of rebel forces, and which will undoubtedly result in his death.

   He “infiltrates” a gathering at a mansion where the daughter of the house (Mary Brian) is entertaining officers, among them her fiance (Phillips Holmes). Cooper flirts openly with Brian, who falls like the proverbial ton of bricks for him in a matter of a few minutes.

   After some farcical misfires, Cooper succeeds in having himself exposed and his plans confiscated. He’s locked up with a loony soldier (played by William Le Maire, a popular vaudeville comic), while he’s waiting for the firing squad, and the sentry delivers an off-the-wall monologue in black dialect that destroys any remaining credibility in the numbing plot.

   The writer of the program notes characterized the film as “weird” but “delightful.” Weird it may be, but only delightful during LeMaire’s lengthy monologue.