Life, 1926-07-29 · page 26 of 37
Life — July 29, 1926 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three film reviews from Life's "Silent Drama" section, critiquing contemporary movies: **"The Road to Mandalay"** reviews Lon Chaney's latest role. Chaney, known for grotesque character work ("Man of a Thousand Faces"), plays a blind proprietor in a Singapore dive. The review notes the film has been sanitized by Will H. Hays (the film industry's censor), removing any genuine edge from its source material. **"It's the Old Army Game"** reviews W.C. Fields's screen debut as a lead. The critic finds Fields unable to carry a full feature—his physical comedy works in short sketches but needs "crazy backgrounds" and supporting comedians (Fannie Brice, Rae Dooley) to succeed. The review suggests Fields belongs on stage, not film. **"Summer Reading"** (bottom illustration) shows a domestic scene of people leisurely reading during summer—likely advertising Life itself as vacation entertainment. The reviews reflect 1920s attitudes about silent film comedy and the nascent censorship apparatus.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“The Road to Mandalay” ON CHANEY—the Man of a L Thousand Faces (none of them human)—is developing into a prime box-office attraction. Women flock to see him, and shudder deliciously when he leers at them through the lens of a movie cam- era, He evidently provides them with a medium of relief from the schoolboy complexions of the other male stars. “The Road to Mandala: which was directed by Tod Browning, is fine fare for those parlor tourists who take thrilling mental journeys to the dives of the Far East. It has everything in the of melod matic sensation, with Mr. Chaney rolling a sightless ¢ s the pro- prictor of a foul joint in Singapore. Lois Moran, as a pure girl in these evil surroundings, is sadly out of her depth—or any one else's depth, for that matter. Owen Moore brings \OOKIT ITS LON CHANEY! eSLENT RAMA. his usual impeccable finesse to the rdle of a renegade Britisher. “The Road to Mandalay” has no connection with Kipling. It is actu- ally a thin solution of “The Shang- hai Gesture,” deodorized and ren- dered absolutely antiseptic by spe- cial arrangement with Will H. Hays. “It’s the Old Army Game” HE début of W. C. Fields as a ar comedian of the sercen is in- sufficient cause for the release of fireworks. This superlative clown, who has enlivened short snatches of three bad pictures in the past, ap- pears to be unable to go the full six- reel distance by himself. In “It's the Old Army Game,” Mr. Fields has to carry the entire production on his own shoulders, with some slight assistance from the sparkling Louise Brooks but with no help whatsoever from the director or the scenario writer. The story of this film—although “story” is hardly the word—is just so much dead weight; it is a shapeless jumble of inconsequential gags, with neither a beginning nor an end. Some of the scenes are funny—but were much funnier when d them in the y humor like this docan't photogeaph well. It suffers when subjected to the ruth- less realism of the mov: Tt needs crazy backgrounds to off, and crazy people, Fannie Brice and Rae Dooley, to interpret it. Mr. Fields ought to go bs the stage, where he belongs, ich he is unbeatable. agine that he will. R. EL Kk to and on I rather Sherwood. DDED SIMILI helpless as a traffic cop who can’t whistle through his teeth. payyees Summer Reading comicbooks.com