Farewell, Billy
William Haines stars with fellow silent stars, Conrad Nagel and Esther Ralston, in this rehash of several of Haines' big hits from the 1920s.
He plays a brash Marine officer, a rival with Nagel for the hand of Ralston, who sails through life with a smart comment for everybody. But after he goes too far and is drummed out of the corps, he signs up as an enlisted man, goes through boot camp, and returns to plague Nagel and Ralston until the guys get trapped in a "banana republic" uprising and Haines come through.
The Haines formula from the 20s usually cast him as a smart-aleck in a military or sports setting, but the basic plot was the same: in the end Haines "grows up" and learns a big lesson as he wins the girl.
After Haines bailed from MGM where he ranked as a major star for about 5 or 6 years, he returned for a couple of cheapie films at Mascot. Neither one was a hit and Haines disappeared from the screen.
Production values here are about what you'd expect from Mascot. The story is unbelievable, but Haines is still a master comic and breezes through the proceedings. Nagel is stalwart, Ralston is pretty. Along for the ride are Edgar Kennedy, Hale Hamilton, and the very annoying Armida.
The Haines legacy will always cast him as a gay icon, the man who quit MGM rather than give in to L.B. Mayer, and a major star of his time in films with the likes of Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford, Marie Dressler, Eleanor Boardman, Anita Page, Jack Pickford, Ben Lyon, and Madge Evans.
Haines' final film is worth a look.
He plays a brash Marine officer, a rival with Nagel for the hand of Ralston, who sails through life with a smart comment for everybody. But after he goes too far and is drummed out of the corps, he signs up as an enlisted man, goes through boot camp, and returns to plague Nagel and Ralston until the guys get trapped in a "banana republic" uprising and Haines come through.
The Haines formula from the 20s usually cast him as a smart-aleck in a military or sports setting, but the basic plot was the same: in the end Haines "grows up" and learns a big lesson as he wins the girl.
After Haines bailed from MGM where he ranked as a major star for about 5 or 6 years, he returned for a couple of cheapie films at Mascot. Neither one was a hit and Haines disappeared from the screen.
Production values here are about what you'd expect from Mascot. The story is unbelievable, but Haines is still a master comic and breezes through the proceedings. Nagel is stalwart, Ralston is pretty. Along for the ride are Edgar Kennedy, Hale Hamilton, and the very annoying Armida.
The Haines legacy will always cast him as a gay icon, the man who quit MGM rather than give in to L.B. Mayer, and a major star of his time in films with the likes of Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford, Marie Dressler, Eleanor Boardman, Anita Page, Jack Pickford, Ben Lyon, and Madge Evans.
Haines' final film is worth a look.
- drednm
- Feb 26, 2010