Sweethearts on Parade

I should caution any reader that this review is made on the basis of seeing the silent version of the movie. Actually "Silent" is probably the wrong word to use. Certain factors, like the speed at which people move, convince me that this version was produced by some severely different editing; not only is time taken from the picture for the titles, but people seem to move at a very leisurely pace. As this movie was distributed by Columbia, which enjoyed the business of supplying films to small town houses that still hadn't wired for sound -- and which would be out of business in a year -- they doubtless thought it a worthwhile investment to spend the money for the editing staff.

In any case, this is a very nice little comedy as Alice White and Marie Prevost look around for rich young men even as servicemen fight over their charms. Alice's day job involves being a department store window mannequin and on the Monday in question, she is taking a bath in a window to draw in the crowds when....

Director Marshall Neilan came out of comedy directing and handles the rather subdued pacing well. We get a nice crosscurrent between the ladies' gold-digging and Lloyd Hughes and Ray Cooke's WHAT PRICE GLORY-derived service rivalry, albeit without the fireworks that the play and movie versions showed.

The net result is a rather neat cross between a romantic comedy and a buddy comedy. I don't expect anyone to be surprised by any of the plot twists, but as a model of how to merge the two genres with no hard feelings, it's a nifty little piece for just over an hour.