Der Schlauberger

West Point is where America's next generation of land forces officers are trained. Brice Wayne (William Haines) is an arrogant playboy who immediately falls for local gal Betty Channing (Joan Crawford) as he becomes a new cadet. He gets onto the football team.

This silent film starts with Haines being annoyingly arrogant. In time, I do grow to accept him. Despite that, his violent outbursts keep me from fully embracing him. This type of humor works better with sound. Brice needs to win me over and his voice would help. This does have Joan Crawford in her silent era and I do eventually like Brice.

Before I talk specifics about this movie, I need to point out that it really isn't fair to give this movie a score of 10 (like some have) since it is essentially the same film that William Haines did many times before. Also, how much you like this film will depend on if you've seen other Haines films. Haines made a career out of often playing the exact same plot and exact same character in a variety of settings--something that would never fly today, but in his day was very popular. Having seen films like BROWN OF HARVARD and THE SMART SET, I quickly recognized WESTPOINT as essentially the same film! These aren't the only ones he made like this either and each went like this:

A talented but very cocky guy alienates everyone around him with his boorish ways. He also meets and soon alienates a pretty girl with his cocky and selfish manner. Eventually, when almost everyone hates him, he learns humility and saves the day. When the film ends, he gets the girl, is the "big man" and has learned to be part of a team.

So already WESTPOINT has a huge strike against it because it's so unoriginal and the best example of the word "formulaic" I have ever seen. You can't get any more identical than the plots in these films--not similar, but identical!!

Here, not surprisingly, he meets and alienates himself from young Joan Crawford. In addition, he's a super-talented athlete and is the big star of the team--but he's also such a jerk that he eventually is without friends and is hated by all. At this point, he gets his act together and it's all "happily ever after".

As far as the quality of the film goes, the direction and most of the acting is great. However, surprisingly, Haines is even more hateful and obnoxious than in his other films and all the jokes he tells and way he acts at the beginning of the film made me hate his guts. Sorry, but that was just my gut reaction. A nice film--too bad it's been done...many times.

West Point (1928)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Average silent drama about a cocky, rich man (William Haines) who goes to West Point thinking he owns the world but all he does his turn his friends against him and lose the girl (Joan Crawford) that he loves. We've seen this story countless times but the movie still manages to be entertaining thanks in large part to the filming on West Point and Crawford. Haines was one of the most popular actors in the late silent era but today he's forgotten for the most part. I thought he was pretty good here but I wouldn't call him one of the all-time greats. Crawford steals the show as Haines' girl and delivers a very good performance. Crawford also comes off very attractive here. Also interesting is the football subplot thrown in, which leads to a big Navy-Army game at the end. The football scenes are handled very well and the cinematography is very good.

William Haines was undoubtedly one of the best actors of the silent screen and to prove my point all you have to do is watch WEST POINT, starring Haines and Joan Crawford. Although it's a silent, I saw it with a marvelous musical score by David Davidson that hit the mark all the way and in what appears to be a restoration that puts it in mint condition. It gets the comic treatment most of the time with Haines as a spoiled rich boy being tamed to become a good cadet and win the girl in the end as well as the respect of his team mates. His assurance in broad comedy is a delight to behold, mugging in a way that Cary Grant would envy--a very appealing performance.

Fun to see William Bakewell in an early role too. As host Robert Osborne pointed out, he probably got his biggest moment of fame in GONE WITH THE WIND as the soldier on horseback who tells Scarlett O'Hara she better get out of Atlanta quickly. Here he plays the hero-worshipper friend of Haines, a not too subtle characterization as contrasted to Haines' ability with silent screen technique.

Enjoyable fluff, with titles that seem more modern in their slang than most silent films manage to do. Nothing new here, but it's still fresh in its appeal.

Joan Crawford is barely recognizable long before her make-over as a full-fledged star but does well with an ingenue role. The film belongs to Haines and he makes the most of it.

William Haines (as Brice Wayne) is a cocky West Point cadet, and star football player, who alienates his teammates with his arrogance, and lack of team spirit. His steadfast pal, William Bakewell (as Tex McNeil), can't defend Mr. Haines without ending up in the hospital; and, girlfriend Joan Crawford (as Betty Channing) grows more distant as Haines juvenile behavior becomes more and more tiresome. What will it take for Mr. Haines to win Ms. Crawford's heart? Will Mr. Bakewell regain his health? Can Haines straighten up in time to help his teammates win the big game?

"West Point" is a typical Haines film vehicle; it is worth checking out to see the popular actor's performance, and enjoyable screen presence. It is neither his most satisfying characterization, nor his best film; but, Haines is still great. Crawford's emoting is less polished, in an early role. Surprisingly, Bakewell offers the film's strongest performance (highlighted by his hospital bed scene). Edward Sedgwick's direction makes the most of Haines' silliness, and David Davidson's soundtrack is wonderful (albeit sounding too seasonal, at times).

****** West Point (12/31/27) Edward Sedgwick ~ William Haines, William Bakewell, Joan Crawford