Sat 6 Oct 2012
A Movie Review by Walter Albert: WHAT PRICE GLORY (1926).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Silent films , War Films[3] Comments
WHAT PRICE GLORY. Fox, 1926. Victor McLaglen, Edmund Lowe, Dolores Del Rio, William V. Mong, Phyllis Haver, Elena Juardo, Leslie Fenton, Barry Norton, Sammy Cohen, Ted McNamara. Director: Raoul Walsh, director. Shown at Cinevent 38, Columbus OH, May 2006.
This was a year for repeat screenings, but I had never seen this great success of 1926. The film was based on the Lawrence Stalling/Maxwell Anderson stage hit of 1924, but with the antics of co-stars McLaglen (Captain Flagg) and Lowe (Sergeant Quirt) beefed up at the expense of the strong anti-war message of the play.
Much of the film deals with the combative womanizing of Flagg and Quirt, but the climax features a well-staged battle sequence that does play up the brutality and inhumanity of war, with the obligatory sacrifice of a secondary character whose demise you can spot coming very early in the film. (He’s the young artist who’s the least likely of the recruits but performs gallantly until his heroic death.)
There’s a similar sacrificial lamb in the first talking-film sequel (The Cock-Eyed World, 1929), demonstrating once again that Hollywood loves nothing better than a formula that strives to repeat the success of the original. Still, with its engaging cast and Walsh’s vigorous direction, the film has retained much of its impact.
Editorial Comment: Mike Grost has a long in-depth look at this movie on his website. Check it out here.
October 6th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
Sgt Quirt and Captain Flagg were also on the radio. Here’s a link to what’s probably the only existing example of the show:
http://www.authentichistory.com/1939-1945/1-war/2-PH/19411207_1930_NBC_Blue-Captain_Flagg_and_Sergeant_Quirt.html
Note the date: 07 December 1941.
The program started on 06 October 1941 and originally starred both Lowe and McLaglen.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,790282,00.html
But by December, Sgt Quirt seems to have been been replaced by a Sgt Bliss. The series lasted only six months.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Fi5wPDBiGfMC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=flagg+sgt+quirt+bliss&source=bl&ots=9oUBoz47_5&sig=EJd3eYoxZJTLdj-cei-R9Dqifpk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7atwUIboC-zqiQKY1oCYCg&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=flagg%20sgt%20quirt%20bliss&f=false
October 6th, 2012 at 10:31 pm
This is a delightful review. It really captures the spirit of the film and the play.
People were electrified with WHAT PRICE GLORY in the 1920’s. It was full of the “natural” language and behavior of real life and real people. Just like Hammett and Erle Stanley Gardner in mystery fiction and Hemingway in mainstream fiction.
I would love to see the sequel The Cock-Eyed World. And will be listening to the radio show soon.
Thank you for the link!
October 9th, 2012 at 6:28 am
As Walter aptly points out, Hollywood was generally all-too-willing to sweeten any bitter pill, and this anti-war message is a fine example of such work–and still great fun. As far as COCK-EYED WORLD repeating the formula, well the motto in making films is “Never beat a dead horse, but always beat a live one.”