The Smart Set

William Haines' character is such an insufferable jerk for most of this picture that the inevitable changing of his ways isn't enough to really put us on his side. He gives a decent performance, though, in an otherwise unremarkable entry.

Another of the "Haines Formula" films from MGM in the late silent era casts William Haines as a wealthy polo player, but because this is a Haines film, he's also a swell-headed, brash, brat. He meets a girl (Alice Day) and of course her father (Hobart Bosworth) is also a polo player and she's being pursued by the polo team captain (Jack Holt).

The Haines films were the "feel good" movies of their day. Haines was a terrific comic actor, never afraid of making a total ass of himself. Part of the fun of a Haines film is seeing how bratty and obnoxious he can get because you know he'll get his comeuppance through some "rite of passage" and become a man, win the girl, and save the day.

THE SMART SET is filled with nice comedy bits of business until the big dramatic finale. Holt and Day are OK, and Haines is front and center as STAR. Haines covered most sports and arms of the military in making his films so that the "big game" finale is almost unimportant. He's made the change to manhood and that's really what the finale is about.

I can't think of another actor who could have gotten away with the comic antics Haines displays on screen. The gay subtext is impossible not to see now but apparently contemporary audiences were pretty much unaware. Haines could certainly have made it in films simply by being a romantic leading man--he had the looks. But he invented a unique character in films: the bratty silly goof who always goes too far before he realizes his mistakes. The character didn't play quite so well in talkies but Haines continued the basic formula in most of his films.

Jack Holt starred in a few films with Ralph Graves that seemed to be trying to copy this formula--DIRIGIBLE and FLIGHT come to mind--but without Haines the films were pale copies. Alice Day was the sister of Marceline Day.

Haines made about a dozen talkies, including cameos as himself in a few films. The films were popular but forgettable, although FAST LIFE, REMOTE CONTROL, JUST A GIGOLO, and GET-RICH-QUICK WALLINGFORD are all pretty good.

Smart Set, The (1928)

** (out of 4)

An obnoxious polo player (William Haines) thinks he's God's gift to everyone so he starts bothering the girl of his dreams (Alice Day), which doesn't sit too well with her boyfriend (Jack Holt). While the polo player gets on everyone's nerves, nothing really happens until he's kicked off the team, which makes the man think about his ways. This comedy isn't too good and is only really remembered for its actor Haines. Haines, an open homosexual, had his career ended by MGM when he refused to break up with his boyfriend but he went on to find fame as an interior decorator. I had heard mixed things about this film but it certainly didn't work for me. Haines' character is so damn obnoxious and mean you want to see him get the hell beat out of him and his "change" comes so quick that it's not believable for a single second. Alice Day doesn't lend much to her role either but Holt is pretty good in his small, supporting role. The comedy is pretty light and mainly relies on Haines bothering everyone, which again is annoying and not funny.

... but this time the movie disappointed and it was due to Haines' performance. His mugging and manic energy were over the top; who would do more than tolerate this person, if even that? Yes, he's handsome and phenomenally talented with polo, we are told per the movie, and I was prepared to enjoy this movie despite its formulaic plot. What I came away with was, of all things, an appreciation of Jack Holt and polo playing! Holt showed his horse mastery well, and since the sport of polo is intriguing and one I enjoy watching without understanding much of it at all, that entertained me. Sorry, Mr. Haines, but your leading lady's attraction to you mystifies me and it never had before in your films. I am rating this 6 stars because of the high production values and, well, polo.

WILLIAM HAINES was Hollywood's early "out of the closet" gay star who became a well-known decorator after he "retired" from his budding film career, thanks to the help of his friend Joan Crawford who had him design her home and led to his successful designer career.

He's at the center of this amusing comedy about a polo player who can't resist grandstanding all the time and showing his high opinion of himself, much to the annoyance of the girl of his dreams (ALICE DAY) and her boyfriend JACK HOLT.

The bulk of the story is energetically played and there's lot of physical comedy as he pursues the girl (mostly in an auto chase that is delightfully filmed) and at a swanky dinner affair where he pulls all sorts of stunts to attract her attention, always with the effect of alienating her affections.

But the last twenty minutes devoted to polo sequences gets a little stale and you begin to miss the comedy aspects that distinguished the first part of the film. The story turns serious with the game about to be lost unless our hero can get in there and play, and there's a stable fire that almost takes the life of his favorite horse during which he becomes the man who leads the horse from the stable.

All in all, a very diverting piece of entertainment, thanks to the presence and charm of WILLIAM HAINES. He does a lot of mugging and isn't afraid to show his gayness by way of gestures and movements that are quite obvious and even daring by today's standards for a leading man. But he radiates cheerfulness and charm in huge doses throughout.

Well worth watching, even if there's too much of the polo game on display toward the end.