Prudence avec les femmes

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.

This is one truly lame, incredibly awful film, vapid and empty, with terrible characters, none of whom add anything at all to the ridiculous, nonsensical story! The only reason I watched this film was to see Marjorie White. She's only in one or two scenes near the beginning, then gone, her character is completely undefined,, she's just an extra. But Bela Lugosi meowing like a cat, and El Brendel picking his nose, come on now! And those two entirely talentless Vaudevillians Maglaglen & Lowe, either of them is forgettable on his own, but the two of them teamed together make Wheeler & Woolsey look like the Barrymores! Just Plain bad!! I'm really surprised to see something this poor come from from famed director Raoul Walsh, it's more suited to Ed Wood or John Waters!! (Obviously not one of his best efforts!!) Z-grade shlock on the minus scale of rating, what waste of good celluloid!! It's rumored that Humphrey Bogart was in it, but his scenes cut out at his own expense, he realized it ws so bad he wanted nothing to do with it, so as not to ruin his career! A one-word review: NO!

The 1926 silent "What Price Glory?" introduced Victor McLaglen as Captain Jim Flagg, and Edmund Lowe as Sgt. Harry Quirt, fellow marines who become friendly rivals, especially where there are women involved. The team was so popular that they repeated the roles in 1929's "The Cock-Eyed World," 1931's "Women of All Nations," and 1933's "Hot Pepper" (plus cameos in the 1931 2-reeler "The Stolen Jools"). Judging by the evidence on screen, the viewer may wonder why another sequel would have even been considered, as "Women of All Nations" meanders from one character to another, the endless banter between the two stars quite tiresome, especially the third wheel, El Brendel (the two year gap between films seems to have been a major factor). Among the unbilled performers who provide the only sparks, we have (all too briefly as a hoochie coochie dancer) the vivacious blonde Marjorie White, diminutive dynamo of early musical comedy (particularly 1933's "Diplomaniacs"), whose life was tragically cut short by a fatal car crash in 1935 (her last film was an early Three Stooges short, "Woman Haters"). But the most famous name belongs to Bela Lugosi, a frequent player at Fox Studios prior to "Dracula," shot just as his Dracula saw release in Feb 1931. As Prince Hassan, he indulges in stock villainous poses, threatening the lives of our two heroes for daring to making love to his favorite wife. The trollop has the audacity to hide both men in her boudoir (with El Brendel just outside), while the Prince slowly becomes aware of just how many suitors she has as all three indulge in catlike meows! Lugosi was no stranger to Marjorie White, as they later appeared together in "The Black Camel" and "Broadminded" the same year. Lugosi would also see more of Edmund Lowe, in 1932's "Chandu the Magician," 1934's "Gift of Gab," and 1935's "The Best Man Wins," while Victor McLaglen would get top billing over Boris Karloff in 1934's "The Lost Patrol" (Raoul Walsh would direct Karloff in "The Yellow Ticket," in the summer of 1931). Bela would return to Fox for "Chandu the Magician," 1933's "The Devil's in Love" (his last unbilled role), and 1939's "The Gorilla."

In the 1920s and into the 30s, Fox made a string of movies starring Sergeant Quirt (Edmund Lowe) and Sergeant Flagg (Victor McLaglen). Despite what IMDB's trivia says, "Women of All Nations" isn't the first film in the series* but the fourth.

I must say up front that I've seen a few Quirt & Flagg films (including the 1950s remake of "What Price Glory?") and haven't been very impressed by the films. Part of it might be because although the pair are Marines, they never seem to be in war and the film makes it seem like being a Marine is nothing but laughs and chasing women. Is this one any different? Well, not especially. It plays much like a Popeye cartoon minus Olive Oyl...as Quirt and Flagg are almost at odds with each other or fighting over some woman.

The pace of this one is tiring. The duo keep fighting and arguing and acting like thick-headed fools throughout the movie. It's not terrible...but a bit tiresome after a while. Worth seeing only as a time-passer and not much more.

*IMDB says that "This the first of five films made during the pre-code period with the duo, Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen". It's the fourth but perhaps they are implying that the Pre-Code era began around 1930...but this still wouldn't make this the first. I'm really not sure how they came up with this number.

...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.