Exit Smiling

In her only silent film and only one of 7 or 8 films, Lillie is wonderful as the lousy actress in a travelling troupe playing "Flaming Women." She gets involved with a runaway bank employee (Jack Pickford) who joins the company as the leading man. Subtle little comedy about the theatre and young love, Lillie could have had a major career in films but never felt comfortable in from of a camera. A consummate stage actress, Lillie worked for decades with an occasional film appearance, and like pal Gertrude Lawrence, never quite got the hang of film acting. Exit Smiling is not a major film but it is interesting to see the young Lillie at her prime. Billed as the "funniest woman in the world," Lillie enchanted generations of theatre goers. Jack Pickford seems a little pale and shaky, Doris Lloyd is good as the vamp, and Franklin Pangborn is fun as the swishy actor. Lillie is best remembered for her 40s film, On Approval, and her 60s hit, Thoroughly Modern Millie (as Mrs. Meers). Exit Smiling is certainly worth seeing.

OF COURSE most viewers will track this one down for the first screen appearance of stage comedienne nonpareil, Bea Lillie, and Lady Peel gives an absolutely beautiful performance (pretty enough to win an English Lord, as the actress did in real life, yet able to walk a perfect comedic tight rope between insouciant self-confidence and nagging insecurity), but there is even more to recommend this charming backstage comedy than the star performance.

Set (and beautifully observed) deep into the tour of one of those third tier "acting" companies (heavy on the melodramatic programming and light on competent management) that lived on "the road" and which helped bring about first the rise of powerful central booking agencies and ultimately the formation of Actors' Equity, the film seems to say these are a memory of the past even in 1926 . . . but what a lovingly recalled memory!

Bottom of the pecking order within the company is Voilet (Ms. Lillie), who plays maids and cares for the costumes and longs to play "vampire" leads (we're talking 20's vamps, not Anne Rice territory). She's even below the juvenile/character man (last billed featured player Franklin Pangborn, who's later lavender camp personality is still not locked in stone here, though his comic and dramatic talents are), but when she manages to get a handsome young drifter (little she knows!) hired on as the company juvenile, she shows her real acting talents saving him from himself without ever letting him suspect - or suspect that she longs to be more than a friend.

Mary Pickford's younger brother, second billed Jack Pickford, plays the young thespian, Jimmy, very nicely in a rare appearance. Though he lacked a certain "star" quality, his acting was fine and it's a pity his career seemed to wither in the face of his personal demons and more famous sibling. He didn't survive his 30's.

The print being shown these days on Turner Classic Movies has a nicely varied but occasionally too lush score by contest winner Linda Martinez, but it serves the quiet moments (and there are many) beautifully. Director Sam Taylor undercuts playwright Marc Connelly's story at a number of points (given scant hours to prepare Jimmy for his big tryout, does Violet grab a script to get him up on the lines he's never heard? No, they adjourn to a neighboring farm yard to rehearse "cute"), but otherwise the details of on- and back-stage life of the touring company are captured with something close to perfection, and the detail appreciating cinematography and acting from all concerned is a joy from start to finish.

Anyone who loves Lillie's later work (all the way to her Mrs. Meers in 1967's THOROUGHILY MODERN MILLIE - a mere 41 years later but there are some surprising moments of foreshadowing for that role here!) shouldn't miss this one. It captures their girl at the peak of her powers when she could do more with a raised eyebrow than pages of dialogue.

Anyone who loved the early scenes in any of the SHOWBOAT films that gave them their name or who howled at Michael Frayn's hilarious stage farce and fun film, NOISES OFF, will also feel right at home with this deft predecessor.

I loved the ended of this movie.

Beatrice Lilly had such a screen presence, her eyes seem to jump off the screen. It's easy to see why Rudolph Valentino had a romantic interest in her. It's a shame she only made 8 movies in her career. TCM said that it was because movie making lacked the audience interaction she so much loved. And didn't care to make movies with out knowing instantly how the audience was reacting.

Sure the ended may have shocked some audience goers and it wasn't what they wanted but, I kinda liked that. It was in the times with today to have twist and turns in the plot.

The updated musical score probably adds more to this movie than we'll ever know without hearing the original. It was simply suburb!!

I would imagine with a few edits and very little re-write this movie would have moderate success today.

"Smile tho' your heart is breaking"--that's the motto of the theatre, where on-stage appearances and illusions are essential to creating the audience's experienced reality. Sam Taylor's "Exit Smiling" is an insightful commentary on the theatrical life, behind the make-up and costumes and between the grueling roadshow performances. It fittingly features Beatrice Lillie, renowned as a Broadway performer, in her first film role, alongside a supporting cast of colorful, but certainly less than marquee-status players. The very fact that MGM did not employ its bevy of famous names in this picture seems a testament to the overall sense of *ordinariness* that "Exit Smiling" conveys. For the world of this traveling theatrical troupe is not one of glamour and glitz with elaborate sets and costumes, but rather one of cramped dressing rooms and boxcars, lonely train depots, and rural barnyards.

In this midst of all this stands Lillie herself, who, as Violet, the drudge of the troupe, responsible for every menial task, spends her spare moments dreaming of the roles she could play if only given the chance. Lillie has a physical presence that is mesmerizing; her face is not traditionally beautiful, or even traditionally feminine (an aspect which is exploited in the story)--yet she is all the more striking as a result. Her reactions to the goings-on around her are quite subtle--you need to watch closely in order to pick up on her considerable abilities as a comedienne.

If, however, you come to this film (as I did) expecting a rip-roaring comedy (whether of the slapstick or the screwball variety), you may be disappointed. For me at least, this film rises above the ordinary not as a comedy, but as a reflection on the kinds of people in society it portrays through Lillie's character. For Violet toils away behind-the-scenes, both in her job and in her intervention on others' behalf, yet never receives the credit or rewards she deserves. Such is the nature of life, and Taylor seems to suggest that we might do well to transfer the empathy we feel by the end of the film for Violet to those other "Violets" in our own lives--to those who make things happen, who make the performances seem effortless.

Exit Smiling (1926)

*** (out of 4)

Strange but charming MGM silent about a traveling theatre group with a young woman named Violet (Beatrice Lillie) who dreams of becoming an actor playing vamps. However, she's at the bottom of the pole in the group and doesn't get to act but instead cook food and clean boots. When a wanted man (Jack Pickford) joins the group, he a Violet become friends but his past is about to catch up with him. This film is interesting in many ways and was recently show by TCM as part of their "Gay Images in Hollywood" series. What makes the film really interesting is that MGM didn't use any of their big stars in it. Instead they went with Lillie, in her film debut, and she certainly delivers the goods as the woman whose dreams are a lot bigger than reality. She's isn't a beautiful woman but she's got a quiet charm and looks that are perfect for her role. Pickford, Mary's younger brother, is also very good in his role and brings some great, quiet moments to the film. The "gay stereotype" in the film belongs to Franklin Pangborn who plays a character named Cecil Lovelace. He's very funny in the role even though it's a pretty big stereotype. The film is also interesting in seeing how these theatre groups traveled and what they did while not on stage.