Square Shoulders

"Square Shoulders" is a charming slice of sentimental hokum from the late silent era. It seems that very few living people have seen this movie, despite the fact that it survives in good quality with its original musical accompaniment. It's very much in the "Madame X" and "Stella Dallas" vein of family drama, where a self-sacrificing parent secretly aids their unknowing child.

Louis Wolheim plays a returning veteran and part-time thief who robs a furniture factory to pay for the education of his son, Junior Coghlan, at a military academy. Wolfheim takes a job as a stableman at the school, where the two bond as outsiders to the school's stuffy environment. All the while, Coghlan remains unaware that the man is his father.

Despite the predictable story, the movie stands out for its strong silent acting. Louis Wolheim, in particular, has a marvelous physical presence. Hulking and pug-nosed, he reminds me a bit of William Bendix, but manages to make Bendix look handsome in comparison! The scene where Wolheim teaches the scrappy and expressive Coghlan to bugle makes for a nifty duet of silent acting. Another notable scene features Erich von Stroheim's son (!) stealing Coghlan's date at an ice cream parlor.

Clocking in at a mere sixty minutes, this sweet little film doesn't overstay its welcome. Wolheim would only live for a few more years after its release, with his greatest performance yet to come in "All Quiet on the Western Front."

I saw this movie when I was eight years old and it has been retained in my memory ever since. As a youngster growing up in Chicago not too long after the Great War, I recall that there were a few "shell shocked" veterans around the neighborhood and I related this to the film. Little did I know then that I would be involved in combat in WWII later in life. Thanks to this site I have been able to locate the title and will now see if I can get a print. This was a great movie of father/son love and devotion.