Life, 1927-04-07 · page 38 of 59
Life — April 7, 1927 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page reviews a silent film called "The Rough Riders" about Theodore Roosevelt's famous cavalry unit in the Spanish-American War (1898). The critic argues the subject matter was inherently unheroic—America defeated a weak enemy while suffering excessive casualties due to military bungling and corruption ("rotten meat from the Quartermaster Corps"). The film itself, directed by Victor Fleming and starring Frank Hopper as Roosevelt, is praised as competently made, though necessarily tainted by its subject. The cast includes Charles Emmett Mack and Mary Astor. The critic notes George Bancroft and Noah Beery provide comic relief, though Beery's humor (pulling a face "in the manner of Willie Howard") is considered inferior. The page also includes brief reviews of other contemporary films starring Gloria Swanson, Douglas MacLean, and Buster Keaton. An apology corrects attribution of "The Man Nobody Knows" to Ted Cook rather than John Held Jr.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“The Rough Riders” HE Spanish War has been neglected by novelists, | dramatists and scenarists as a source of inspira- tional material—and mercifully so. It was a re- grettably unheroic episode, in which our great and glorious country, confronting a feeble enemy, succeeded in achieving long casualty lists in its own forces by dint of almost superhuman graft, inefficiency and bureau- tic boneheadedn Now a movie been built around the spectacular career of the Rough Riders, and while it is as good a movie as could be expected, it is necessarily tainted with the odor of rotten meat from the Quarte! rmaster Corps. This does much to sour the enthusiasm which the assault on San Juan Hill should justifiably promote. We see the boisterous Rough Riders in training at San Antonio, boarding the transport at Tampa, landing in the surf at Daiquiri and finally plodding, mount- less, through the feverish jungle toward Santiago. Through it all moves the restless figure of T. R. himself, impersonated by a Los Angeles book-agent named Frank Hopper. VicTor FLEMING directed “The Rough Riders,” following the James Cruze tradition faithfully in all respects; Herman Hagedorn was on hand to help with the story and to attend to the accuracy of the details. They and the others involved have done their jobs well and have given to the pic- ture an authentic flavor; they have even provided one fleeting glimpse of the bad meat, and more than one suggestion of the terrible red tape that hobbled Roose- velt and every other Ameri- can soldicr in Cuba, HE cast in “The Rough Riders” is a fine one, with adinirable — perform- ances by Charles Emmett Mack and Charles Farrell, and with the lovely Mary Astor looking for all the world like any one of the daughters of Mr. Pipp. It being a matter of rou- tine that every “epic” pic- ture shall be heavily weighted with comedy, Gcorge Bancroft and Noah Beery are present to con- tribute a full quota of “Be- hind the Front” gags. Mr. Bancroft is pretty good, but Mr. Beery’s notion of being funny is to stick his nose 4 J} IN manta Lyre in the air and draw down his eyelids in the manner of Willie Howard (who does it much better). Abject Apology XACTLY forty-nine thousand, seven hundred and ighteen correspondents h written in to tell me he Man Nobody N as applied to Cecil B. DeMille, originated with Ted Cook and not with John Held, Jr., who, it must be admitted, didn’t take credit for it when he passed it on to me. To Mr. Cook, and to his forty-nine thousand, seven hundred and eighteen loyal supporters, I can only say that I am terribly, terribly sorry. RR. E. Sherwood. Recent Developments The Love of Sunya. Gloria Swanson at her best in a picture that is almost glacial in pace. Let It Rain. Hilarious antics of sailors and marines on sea and land, with Douglas MacLean working overtime to be comical, and succeeding. Metropolis. Mechanically miraculous, but intellectually silly. When a Man Loves. It's too bad that John Barrymore and Dolores Costello are no longer connected with the same firm. They make a great team for amorous purposes. The Kid Brother. Lloyd. It. Clara Bow in the shop- girl's paradise, described (in person) by Mme. Glyn. The Night of Love. eral tons of melodrama and world romance, with R Colman and Vilma Banky st gering under the load. The General. Buster Kea- ton as an unsung hero of the Confed y, with a railway locomotive as his principal prop. Blonde or Brunette. Adolphe Menjou as a particu- larly gay deceiver. Tell It to the Marines. The embattled leathernecks at home and abroad, with ‘ Chaney and William Hair The Better 'Ole. Sydney Chaplin as Old Bill, the com- posite Tommy, in a rowdy comedy. Ben-Hur. The famous char- jot race, with all the fixings. Flesh and the Devil. John Gilbert and Greta Garbo give the impression that they like their work. Stark Love, The Fire Bri- gade, What Price Glory, Beau Geste, Old Ironsides, The Scarlet Letter and The Big Parade. There's a week's entertainment right here. Harold ‘*Good-by, Old Pal ** AS HIS WIFE AND PAMILY SAIL FOR FOREIGN PARTS, PATHER HAS A PEW LAST MINUTES WITH IIS BANK- ROLL. comicbooks.com the elu ul tre M