Women of All Nations

Women Of All Nations is still another watered down version of the characters of Captain Flagg and Sergeant Quirt made popular in the Maxwell Anderson play What Price Glory. Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe after creating the original parts on film in What Price Glory went on to play these parts in a series of movies. The films concentrated on the rollicking hijinks of these two Marine lifers without the serious drama portion of What Price Glory.

This episodic film is watered down pretty good. McLaglen and Lowe spend the film chasing after Greta Nissen a Swedish floozie who's playing up to both of them. Young private El Brendel who came to the Marines by way of Sweden joins McLaglen and Lowe in their adventures both romantic and dangerous.

Humphrey Bogart is supposed to be in this film as one of the Marines under McLaglen and Lowe. The Citadel Film Series book on The Films Of Humphrey Bogart lists this replete with still of Bogey in dress blues with the stars. He might be in this print in passing, I missed him and supposedly in longer versions he's there.

One person also down the credits is Bela Lugosi as an Arab sheik who adds Niesen to his harem. All three McLaglen, Lowe and El Brendel try to cut in on Bela. Of course in the end duty calls and the Marines go another place where Uncle Sam has need of them.

Women Of All Nations is choppy and episodic and asks to much of its stars to carry it.

I took a look at this just because it is an early Bogart film. Bogart's part got left on the cutting room floor so he isn't even in the film although he is in the credits. The film is really boring, isn't funny, (though it is a comedy) and is a complete waste of 72 minutes.

In 1931 when this movie was produced, many actors still stuck in the technics of the silent movies. In this film, text passages should help the viewers understand what's going on and give some idea about the story - which, by the way - is rather simple. Victor McLaglen was a great star in those days and played the main part with Edmound Lowe co-starring. Humphrey Bogart who played already with McLaglen in "A Devil with Women" was to appear in that movie.

Already in "A Devil with Women", Bogie thought that this movie could end his beginning film career because it was, Quote a financial and artistic failure with a stupid plot and mismatched actors Unquote (Darwin Porter in "Humphrey Bogart - The early years" 2003 The Georgia Literary Associaton). Bogie threatened to buy up all copies of this film and have them destroyed according to Darwin Porter.

This experience in 1930 may have been the reason why Bogie was cut out in this 1931 film and why he was frustrated not to be a co-star to McLaglen.

It is hard to understand in our days that a film like "Women of all Nations" could ever be released - the only reason was McLaglen who was a kind of hero in early "action" movies.

Bogie fans will be disappointed, as to my knowledge only bad copies of this film - without Humphrey Bogart - are existing.

...that's the third in a series from Fox and director Raoul Walsh.

Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen return as Sgt. Quirt and Capt. Flagg, respectively, two US Marine brothers-in-arms who are rivals in everything else. The episodic plot sees them shipped around the world, from a stateside furlough to a stint in Sweden where they battle over local girl Elsa (Greta Nissen), to disaster aid in Nicaragua, and finally to Egypt, where they find Elsa in the harem of local Prince Hassan (Bela Lugosi).

This series started with the silent What Price Glory in 1926, followed by The Cock-Eyed World (1929). There would be one more entry after this one, 1933's Hot Pepper. Director Walsh himself called this a "turkey", and that's a fitting description. The script is threadbare, the situations unfunny and uninspired. What entertainment exists is due to the performers, who generally try their best, although Brendel's shtick gets old quick. I watched this for Lugosi; he doesn't appear until the final 20 minutes. One noteworthy aspect of this film was that there was another co-star, Humphrey Bogart, but his entire role was left on the cutting room floor. Lucky him.

The film depicts the picaresque adventures of career Marines Sgts. Quirt and Flagg, played by Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe and directed by renowned helmsman Raoul Walsh. Because it is so episodic, it does tend to drag somewhat and, yes, Bogart's scenes were left on the cutting room floor. But, it offers Bela Lugosi an excellent supporting role as Prince Hassan in the last segment of the film, who catches Quirt and Flagg (as well as comedian El Brendel) invading Bela's harem to assignate with his #1 sweetie, played by the lovely Norwegian blonde actress Greta Nissen. Lugosi gets to ham it up in a comic vein, speaks some Hungarian and meows like a cat to try to catch the three rapscallions and in general livens up the proceedings. Not to mention that for those of us who are his devotees, he looks rather luscious in his Middle Eastern duds.