Au Service de la Gloire

Like "Wings" and "The Big Parade," "What Price Glory" was made while the events of World War I were still fresh in the memory of audiences. Directed by Raoul Walsh, the film is set against the background of war and relates the rivalry between two U.S. Marines, Sergeant Quirt, played by Edmund Lowe, and Sergeant Flagg, played by Victor McLaglen. The film opens in Peking, where the two men are Marine guards at the U.S. embassy and, when off duty, compete for the attentions of Shanghai Mabel. The action moves to the Philippines, where Quirt steals the affections of Flagg's Filipina girlfriend. In 1917 France, the two meet up for a third time; Flagg has been promoted to Captain, and Quirt is now a Top Sergeant. Echoing their past, when Quirt reappears, the animosity between the two rekindles. Despite Flagg's involvement with Charmaine de la Cognac, a French spitfire, well portrayed by Dolores del Rio, Quirt moves in on Flagg's girl once again. Like Shanghai Mabel and the Filipina, Charmaine has an eye for the handsome Quirt, and, when Flagg is sent off to battle, the pair consummate their mutual attraction.

Written by Laurence Stallings and Maxwell Anderson, "What Price Glory" throws the romantic triangle into the chaos of war; the battle scenes are convincingly staged, and, at times, feel like newsreels. While troops advance into battle amidst exploding artillery shells, the muddy trench warfare and the harrowing gas attacks send a clear anti-war message. However, the quiet moments are equally powerful and often touching. A series of flashbacks visually depict what the soldiers left behind: homes, mothers, jobs, and wives; another series of shots show the dough-boys reading letters from home, the words stretched across the screen. When the action cuts to an underground aid station, a dark grim hell of wounded and dying is exposed.

Victor McLaglen is excellent as Sergeant Flagg and holds the film together. Tall, rugged, and craggy, McLaglen is convincing as the marine leader, who is brave in battle, but falters on the romantic front. While co-star Edmund Lowe is also good in a less demanding role, he is overshadowed by McLaglen. Dolores del Rio is also fine, although at times she lapses into the overplayed mannerisms often associated with silent-film performances by those who denigrate them. Barry Norton, as a gentle private, whose mother is the center of his life, has some touching moments. Rare for a silent film, Dolores del Rio's character has a lovely musical theme, "Charmaine," composed by Erno Rapee, that was especially written for use when showing the film.

While arguably a lesser achievement than "Wings," "The Big Parade," and "All Quiet on the Western Front," "What Price Glory" nevertheless is a major achievement among the early films that recreated World War I for home audiences. Generally fine performances, convincing battle scenes, and a memorable theme song make Raoul Walsh's anti-war epic another essential classic from the silent era.

Fox's answer to MGM's "The Big Parade," and I think it's a markedly superior movie, thanks to better pacing and the rousing direction of Raoul Walsh. He's in his element here: a big war movie with loads of comedy and romance, and three strong personalities at its center. McLaglen was born for this sort of stuff; Lowe wasn't, but he's a very convincing roistering-randy soldier. And Del Rio is so beautiful you don't much care what she does. The horrors of war are amply displayed, and the Hollywood hills doubling for the French countryside work just fine. But what made it such a hit, I guess, was the utterly winning frenemy relationship of Quirt and Flagg. They fight for dames, they hurl insults back and forth, they curse each other with all-too-lip-readable epithets, but you never doubt their loyalty and respect for each other. Maybe there's one skirmish too many--it gets a little repetitive-- but it's much faster-moving than "The Big Parade," and the soldier stereotypes commented on elsewhere don't hurt so much. Also, Leslie Fenton is excellent.

The First World War was a terrible milestone of the last century, a huge catastrophe that destroyed the life of many youngsters. Besides meaning the end of an era, especially the associated implicit innocence, a great influence was the shock that such horrible war cause in the Arts.

Such an important happening was depicted in the cinema, during the conflict or after, in very different ways. With various degrees of success, documentaries, dramas, realistic or even funny features were put on the screen. "What Price Glory", a film directed by Herr Raoul Walsh, was one of those films with the First World War in the background.

The underlying problem of this film for this German count for not considering this oeuvre as remarkable as others with similar subject is the concept, the personal artistic intentions and way the director faces the story and its surroundings. That is to say, "What Price Glory" is a film that uses the Great War as an excuse not as a whole. The director is interested in especially depicting the love affairs included in the film and a strange comradeship between the two male main characters.

And that it would not be a problem if Herr Walsh avoided many stereotyped characters: - Two U.S. Marine sergeants, that is to say, two hard-boiled, cursing and womanizing men: -Herr Victor McLaglen und Herr Edmund Lowe who fight among themselves for the love of a naughty French peasant ( Dame Dolores del Rio ) and from time to time, against the Germans - Stereotyped characters and situations that probably worked in those ancient times but today are dated.

The film is a classic representation, a film with a war in background that lacks emotion in spite some interesting war scenes that are not enough to avoid having an enormous sensation of "déjà vu" during its long two hours. That's the worst comment that can be said about any silent film, a feeling of indifference, a sense that it's all the same to the spectator.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must return to the aristocratic trenches.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

What Price Glory was one of the great plays of the Roaring Twenties, a shuddering look back at the greatest war in history and people's determination not to go through that again. People actually took time away from their partying to go look at this one. It was one of the biggest hits that the Shubert organization ever produced, running 435 performances in the 1924-25 season on Broadway. And it was a popular choice for little theater companies to stage for the next 30 years or so. If you remember in the film It's A Wonderful World, James Stewart and Claudette Colbert find themselves in such a revival production at a company in the Hudson Valley.

What Laurence Stallings and Maxwell Anderson wrote got to the silent big screen for Fox Films in 1926 and it was deservedly a box office hit. Unlike The Big Parade it's Broadway success brought a built in audience to the movie theaters.

The male buddy film may well have originated with this film as Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe as Captain Flagg and Sergeant Quirt gave such powerful performances. Later on Warner Brothers by teaming James Cagney and Pat O'Brien teamed them in a variety of films and situations whereas McLaglen and Lowe only played variations of Flagg and Quirt when they weren't using those names. You can make a case for either McLaglen/Lowe or Cagney/O'Brien for inventing the genre.

One thing that is important is that like The Virginian which novel and play set the standard for western characters, What Price Glory did so for the male buddy film. These were not stock characters then, this is the original.

I'd be hard pressed to pick out whether The Big Parade or What Price Glory did the battle scenes best, capturing the horror of total war that the First World War was. In terms of plot I'd say What Price Glory has it over The Big Parade as a story. The two Marines McLaglen and Lowe are friendly rivals over women or liquor, but fierce fighting companions in combat. The object of their affection is Charmaine played by Dolores Del Rio, the comely innkeeper's daughter. Charmaine has her own song, one of the earliest written for a film of the same name that was a big seller in The Roaring Twenties. That also contributed mightily to the box office for What Price Glory.

The First Marine Division was the first American troops to actually see combat in France. These two and their fellow Marines might well be part of the Belleau Wood operations where Marines were rushed into bolster French and British troops when the German offensive threatened to break through.

What Price Glory holds up magnificently from the silent era, still as a reminder of the futility of war and the plucky comradeship that can develop from that shared experience.

Buddy films have always been popular throughout cinematic history. Mention Thelma and Louise, Butch Cassidy and Harry Longabaugh, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and movie fans can instantaneously riddle off the movies they appeared in. The screen's first buddy pairing in cinema was Sergeant Quirt and Captain Flagg in November 1926's "What Price Glory?"

Ironically, the pioneering film was based on the 1924 play of the same name by the pairing of Laurence Stallings, a World War One wounded veteran-turned-writer, and teacher-turned-playwright Maxwell Anderson. The stage play was known for its spoken vulgarity by the two leads, a fact that transferred over to the screen, much to the consternation of lip-readers in the movie theaters. "What Price Glory?" details a years-long rivalry between Quirt (Edmund Lowe) and Flagg (Victor McLaglen) for a women. Their initial confrontation before the camera serves as an example of the profanities spewing from their mouths between them. Since the film was silent, and the inter titles didn't quite transcribe the exact words, those who could read lips were stunned at what the two mouthed. They flooded the Fox Films Studio with tons of complaining letters.

William Fox wanted to replicate the success of King Vidor's earlier "The Big Parade" showing the struggle in WW1 between American and German forces. "What Price Glory?" Almost equaled the success of its counterpart MGM epic, with the Raoul Walsh directed film the year's second highest box office motion picture, combining comedy and dramatic battle scenes. The film follows Quirt and Flagg as they scrap one other again for the love of another woman, this time for Charlemagne (Dolores del Rio), the daughter of a French innkeeper they met while taking a break from the front.

This was only the fifth American film Mexican-born Del Rio appeared. Discovered in Mexico the year before, she was the first Latin American actress to become a major star in Hollywood. Her stunning looks were compared to the male version of Rudolph Valentino during those silent movie days. Despite her Spanish-language upbringing, Del Rio was able to make the transition to sound with an English lint to her Hispanic accent.

"What Price Glory?" box office allure was helped by an accompanying sound track released three months after its premier in January 1927. Fox had contracted with Theodore Case, the former partner to inventor Lee de Forest in developing a sound-on-film technique. The two had combined their innovations on placing sound waves on the same film strip alongside the visuals. The two had a falling out, allowing Case to modify and improve the technology. Fox provided the funding to fine-tune the audio system as well as to bring the technology into movie theaters. The end result, called Movietone, gave Fox the ability to provide a musical and sound effects audio track to run coincidedly with its earlier-produced silent movie. "What Price Glory?" was the first feature film introducing Movietone to the public. Case's sound system was the third of four competing formats vying for dominance in the transition from silent to 'talkie' movies.

Raoul Walsh directed two of the three sequels to "What Price Glory?": a very early talkie, 1929's 'The Cock-Eyed World,' and 1931's "Women of All Nations." John Blystone directed the third sequel, 1933's "Hot Pepper." All three stared the buddies Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen, who became fast friends towards the end of "What Price Glory?" Director John Ford took a swing at the original play's storyline in his 1952 film, "What Price Glory," with James Cagney and Dan Daily, arch-enemies-turned-best friends.