West Point

West Point (1928)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Average silent drama about a cocky, rich man (William Haines) who goes to West Point thinking he owns the world but all he does his turn his friends against him and lose the girl (Joan Crawford) that he loves. We've seen this story countless times but the movie still manages to be entertaining thanks in large part to the filming on West Point and Crawford. Haines was one of the most popular actors in the late silent era but today he's forgotten for the most part. I thought he was pretty good here but I wouldn't call him one of the all-time greats. Crawford steals the show as Haines' girl and delivers a very good performance. Crawford also comes off very attractive here. Also interesting is the football subplot thrown in, which leads to a big Navy-Army game at the end. The football scenes are handled very well and the cinematography is very good.

West Point is where America's next generation of land forces officers are trained. Brice Wayne (William Haines) is an arrogant playboy who immediately falls for local gal Betty Channing (Joan Crawford) as he becomes a new cadet. He gets onto the football team.

This silent film starts with Haines being annoyingly arrogant. In time, I do grow to accept him. Despite that, his violent outbursts keep me from fully embracing him. This type of humor works better with sound. Brice needs to win me over and his voice would help. This does have Joan Crawford in her silent era and I do eventually like Brice.

William Haines sparks this tale of a brash cadet who thinks West Point will really be something now that he has arrived. Terrific goony comic performance by Haines was his trademark--one that made him a top box office star from 1928-1932 and one of MGM's biggest stars. Joan Crawford and William Bakewell are fine too. And although this storyline may seem trite now, this was a huge hit, putting Haines and Crawford in a college football (a national craze during the 20s) story. After Haines blows off his big mouth one time too often and nearly gets shunned by fellow cadets, he turns in a wonderful performance as he swallows his pride and gets into the big game against Navy. Even with a broken arm, he wins the game for Army and regains his place at West Point. It's easy to see from this film and Show People (with the always underrated Marion Davies) why Billy Haines was a huge star of the time. He needs and deserves to be remembered!

Before I talk specifics about this movie, I need to point out that it really isn't fair to give this movie a score of 10 (like some have) since it is essentially the same film that William Haines did many times before. Also, how much you like this film will depend on if you've seen other Haines films. Haines made a career out of often playing the exact same plot and exact same character in a variety of settings--something that would never fly today, but in his day was very popular. Having seen films like BROWN OF HARVARD and THE SMART SET, I quickly recognized WESTPOINT as essentially the same film! These aren't the only ones he made like this either and each went like this:

A talented but very cocky guy alienates everyone around him with his boorish ways. He also meets and soon alienates a pretty girl with his cocky and selfish manner. Eventually, when almost everyone hates him, he learns humility and saves the day. When the film ends, he gets the girl, is the "big man" and has learned to be part of a team.

So already WESTPOINT has a huge strike against it because it's so unoriginal and the best example of the word "formulaic" I have ever seen. You can't get any more identical than the plots in these films--not similar, but identical!!

Here, not surprisingly, he meets and alienates himself from young Joan Crawford. In addition, he's a super-talented athlete and is the big star of the team--but he's also such a jerk that he eventually is without friends and is hated by all. At this point, he gets his act together and it's all "happily ever after".

As far as the quality of the film goes, the direction and most of the acting is great. However, surprisingly, Haines is even more hateful and obnoxious than in his other films and all the jokes he tells and way he acts at the beginning of the film made me hate his guts. Sorry, but that was just my gut reaction. A nice film--too bad it's been done...many times.

William Haines and his lifetime friend Joan Crawford played the leads in the first silent screen film I've ever set at the US Military Academy, appropriately entitled West Point. Both were young contract players at MGM at the time. Crawford going to legendary status and Haines forced to give up acting when he wouldn't stay quietly in the closet.

To the last day of her life Crawford insisted that the happiest couple she knew in Hollywood was Billy Haines and his partner. Haines landed on his feet and became one of the most sought out interior designers in Hollywood. Among his clients was Nancy Reagan.

In this film Haines played his usual smart aleck whom we meet first on the Day Line boat to West Point to join the US Military Academy as a plebe. What struck me in his performance is how much it resembled Tyrone Power in one of his hero/heel roles like A Yank In The RAF or In Old Chicago. Power in the sound era could have done this one in his sleep.

Crawford meets Haines on the Day Line and this man starts putting the moves on Joan right then and there. The plot from there on in is pretty predictable given Haines's screen persona. The climax of course is the great Army/Navy game.

All the clichés in service academy films are there few films with this setting that had variation. Still Haines and Crawford are good and William Bakewell who is one of the few other cadets who becomes Bill Haines's friend even after he becomes a football hero stands out in the supporting cast.

For myself I remember once a year going to Bear Mountain for an overnight get away with Daniel Strausbaugh and later David Frank and with both of them we did the Day Line. I miss you both and the film brought back some good times.