Fast Life

Rather boring film about a wisecracking braggart named Sandy (played by William Haines) who, along with his constant, practically joined-at-the-hip sidekick Bumpy, has invented a gas turbine engine which he hopes will make them both millionaires. They meet a wealthy young lady when her Catalina-bound yacht hits their rowboat, and seems her daddy owns a "boat works" company that builds racing boats - perfect for Sandy's new engine! Well, of course, she thinks Sandy is "awful handsome", but 'cause he's such a swaggering, conceited windbag who can't seem to keep his mouth shut, she sort of pretends to still be interested in her stuffed shirt of a boyfriend (Conrad Nagel) - and meanwhile Sandy tries to get the dad to invest in his engine and build a new speedboat to run in the upcoming International Cup race.

Well, I thought this film was just so so, it drags quite a bit through the middle, and has a lot of pretty improbable action going on involving Sandy and Bumpy stealing the new speedboat to try to improve the engine, with the cops constantly on their tails, firing gunshots that never hit them, chasing them via speedboats yet never catching them, and all the while the two men keep arriving back on shore, yet never get caught! This film does have some nice on-location scenes shot at Catalina Island, plus William Haines is always likable and Cliff Edwards (shucks, no ukulele in sight) as Bumpy is somewhat amusing here. Pete Smith plays himself in this, appearing briefly as the Cup race announcer. I thought this was a pretty mediocre film, though boosted up a bit by the appeal of the actors.

Navy buddies, Sanderson 'Sandy' Burton (William Haines) and Franz 'Bumpy' Jurgens, leave the service after blowing up a boat. Sandy had invented a revolutionary carburetor and befriends boat builder John D. Jameson who is eager to race the fastest boat. The daughter Shirley Jameson (Madge Evans) is weary of her father racing, but falls for the rogue inventor.

This is a bit of dumb fun. It is maybe too dumb for some people. I would like it to get even dumber and do it more often. They set up some gags. They just need to push them over the top and I would get rid of the gunplay. This is sometimes fun.

William Haines' last movie for MGM has him and Cliff Edwards trying to get their speedboat engine perfected. After he hitches a ride to Catalina Island with Madge Evans, he convinces her father, Arthur Byron, to back him. But he's almost broke, and when the engine explodes, he's busted, leading Haines to rob yachts and leave IOUs. Meanwhile, Conrad Nagel is trying to marry Miss Evans, which doesn't suit Haines at all.

There's quite a lot of location shooting on Catalina Island, and Pete Smith turns up for a rare on-screen appearance. Yet while this movie follows the Haines performance -- minus all the gay not-quite-subtext --it wasn't enough. The standard story is that Louis Mayer ordered Haines to marry a woman and ditch his longtime partner Jimmy Shields, or else. Apparently Haines chose or else. But in truth his screen vehicles were not drawing as well as they had when he was Metro's solo talking star. He was aging out of his wise-guy-juvenile persona, and his contract was undoubtedly priced above his current drawing power. So he made two more movies a couple of years later, stayed with his lover for the next fifty, and ran a very successful decorating firm. For a Hollywood second act, it was a happy one.

As much as I love comedies of this era, formulae and all, I struggle with them when there is no character for which to root and the punchline is missing. William Haynes as the "hero," Sandy, is a schemer, and you never know when he's on the level. Cliff Edwards as the his stereotypical sidekick is at least interesting, but Madge Evans as "the girl" is not. Kenneth Thomson as her father ads some light moments, even as he's being swindled by Haynes. In fact, truth be told, Haynes wants to swindle the daughter, as well, but I won't spoil that one. Suffice it to say that she's the "love interest" and you know how these pictures work.

It won't hurt to watch this if you have a few minutes. It would have been much better as an hour long film, but at 82 minutes, it is still watchable. If you're a William Haynes fan, you ought to like it.

And I agree with Ron Oliver's review in this space.

This is a so-so story, with the typical formula of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back again, in combination with a story about speedboat design and racing. There isn't much here to interest today's movie viewer. While there are some movies of the early 1930s which continue to delight us (e.g. Dinner At Eight), this movie isn't one of them.

Lead star William Haines was at the end of his film career. In his biography of Haines, "Wisecracker", author William J. Mann alleges that Haines's career was on the decline partly due to his aging out of the roles he had become typecast in, and also to becoming pudgy. Yet, Haines appears in a swimsuit in this film, looking fit and trim.

The Great Depression made film studios reluctant to make long-term contracts with actors, and when they did, they substantially reduced the salaries paid. Stories of Haines's enmity with MGM brass, and the effects of his personal life, may be apocryphal. The net net is that Haines wasn't making money for MGM any longer, and so he was out.

I wouldn't recommend this film unless you are a real die-hard Haines fan.