Movie Reviews

I’d be lying if I told you I don’t care about actors when watching a film. I 100 % care and bad acting can even spoil a viewing for me. Considering that is one of the film elements I notice during my viewings, I’m always thrilled when discovering a new star to admire. Therefore, it leads me to add a bunch of films to my endless watchlist. With that idea in mind, I started doing actors’ film marathons back in 2015 (already) and gave feedback on my blog. I kicked things off with Olivia De Havilland and then went on with William Holden and Dolores Hart. Then, things changed when I decided to kill two birds with one stone and merge this concept into a blogathon idea, The Marathon Stars Blogathon. The idea with this blogging event is for participants to choose an actor or an actress they have seen in a maximum of three movies and do a little film marathon with at least five new-to-them movies and give their feedback on these films and the chosen actor/actress. I hosted the first edition with Crystal from In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood and chose Claire Trevor as a subject. Then, Samantha from Musings of a Classic Film Addict joined us for the second edition in 2019 (my choice was Tallulah Bankhead). And here we are, five years later, finally co-hosting the third edition!

While writing these lines, we’re still very early in the process. However, it’s that kind of blog article that is better to write as you watch the films instead of waiting until the end. Anyway, I know February will be a busy month for me, so better start now than waiting at the last minute! That won’t be a big surprise as the name is basically in the title of this article: the lucky one for my marathon is William Haines! But why William Haines? Last year, I saw Haines in Show People (King Vidor, 1928). It became my favourite film watched in 2023. I really liked him there, especially his chemistry with Marion Davies, and was eager to see more of his work. I also saw him in Free and Easy, a Buster Keaton talkie, but he plays a cameo, so it doesn’t count. Anyway, he was a perfect candidate for the criteria required for that blogathon!

Reading about him via Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies by Lara Gabrielle also made me curious to explore his work as he had far from an ordinary life. A major star during the silent era who was able to transition into the talkies, his career stopped quite suddenly as he refused to hide in the closet and chose not to hide his homosexuality. Sadly, this forced him to stop his acting career, but you have to admire him for being faithful to himself and his convictions. It must have been difficult, especially at that time. Afterwards, he became a successful interior designer and worked for many stars of that period and after.

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In view of my marathon, I watched five new-to-me films and explored his work in silent and talking pictures. Without further ado, here they are!

Film 1: Little Annie Rooney (William Beaudine, 1925)

Role: Joe Kelly

The film tells the story of Annie Rooney (yes!), a young girl played by 33-year-old Mary Pickford. She lives in a slum with her brother, Tim (Gordon Griffith), and their father, Timothy Rooney (Walter James), a policeman. Annie constantly spends her time fighting with other kids in the neighbourhood. On his side, Tim is a member of the Kelly Gang, led by Joe Kelly (Haines). They raise money selling tickets to a dance and take advantage of people that way. Annie and Joe Kelly bump into each other in a fight during which the kids scare a horse, and the poor Annie immediately develops a crush on Kelly (who’s in his 20s, let’s remember that). Although Kelly respects Mr Rooney, the fusion between gangs and the authorities creates sparkes and drama soon ensues.

Ok, it’s hard to tell the story of this film without spoiling too much because I feel that, for most of the film, it’s just Annie and her friends fighting and throwing bricks at each other. Then, many things happen in the last tier of the film. I have a confession to make. Mary Pickford could also have been a choice for this blogathon because I’m pretty sure that’s the first movie with her I watched. Although she was 33, she’s surprisingly believable playing a young girl who’s maybe around 12, a bit similar to Joan Fontaine in The Constant Nymph (Edmund Goulding, 1943). Although William Haines found himself at the centre of a box office success and was on his way to becoming a true star, I feel this was primarly Mary Pickford’s film (she’s there practically all the time). I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this film if you want to get into William Haines’s work. He’s there, not often, does the job, but I don’t think it’s the kind of role that allowed him to showcase his acting abilities. My favourite moment in the film is when he’s arguing with Officer Rooney. Annie (who’s very much in love with him, let’s remember) tries to get his attention, and he just freaking doesn’t care lol. Otherwise, it would have been creepy. The film brings this as Annie being this young girl having a crush on a grown-up man, and, luckily, the feeling isn’t reciprocal. She says, at one point, she will marry him when she’s older. Fair enough. The film is labelled as a dramatic comedy. While there are some amusing situations, it’s much more dramatic than funny. One scene is particularly heartbreaking. To end that on a positive note (sorry, I don’t have much more to say about Haines’s acting), I was impressed with the print quality available on Tubi. Let’s remember that it was released almost 100 years ago!

Film 2: Fast Life (Harry A. Pollard, 1932)

Role: Sandy Burton

In Fast Life, William Haines and Cliff Edwards play Sandy and Bumpy, two men who leave the army after serving as sailors for ten years. Sandy, an inventor, has created a carburettor that is supposed to increase considerably the speed of boats. There’s one problem, however. It’s not on point, and the two chaps damage a boat during a test. Having to face the consequences (or not really), Sandy and Bumpy, broke, coincidentally meet famous boat builder John D. Jameson (Arthur Byron). He’s looking for the fastest boat in the world to enter a race. Sandy, therefore, sees a work opportunity and to prove that he doesn’t have anything to lose with his invention. Of course, things don’t go as planned. And, of course, Mr Jameson has a daughter, Shirley (Madge Evans), who doesn’t leave Sandy indifferent. And, of course, there’s a jealous boyfriend: Burton (Conrad Nagel).

Fast Life was my introduction to the world of William Haines’ talkies. Although we automatically see him as a silent film star, he made quite a few before his forced career change. Unlike the previous film, Fast Life was much more about Haines. He was one of those stars with fine potential while transitioning into the talkie. However, he could have developed his talent if his career had been going on. But, from what I’ve seen so far, although his delivery is a bit clumsy at times, he remains credible and has a voice that matches the face. Interestingly, he was paired with Cliff Edwards, who was first and foremost known as a singer and voice actor (think Jiminy Cricket), someone you’ll more often associate with talking pictures. The film also made me discover Madge Evans, who was also in Dinner at Eight (George Cukor, 1933), but I don’t remember her. She seemed to be an intriguing actress with a screwball aura. However, she seemed more associated with the pre-code era, films made before the golden age of screwball comedies. But back to Haines. I think the title of this film reflects very much the type of character he plays and the physicality of his acting game. Sandy is arrogant and mischievous, likes to prank people and seems to enjoy it very much. He doesn’t stop, whether it is while driving a boat full speed or trying to make his way through the obstacle often caused by his own mistakes. I like the inventive ways he finds to reach his means and how he doesn’t hesitate to do something we wouldn’t dare (like pulling down a boat officer’s pants). I have no idea if that’s true, but you feel like Haines had fun playing this character (maybe he didn’t, I don’t know) and found ways to make us conflicted about how we perceive him. It’s easy to have a love/hate relationship with his character, which is the basis of his connection with Madge Evans’s character. Although Haines delivers a great performance, it would be difficult to say that Cliff Edwards doesn’t steal the show at moments.

Film 3 : Spring Fever (Edward Sedgwick, 1927)

Role : Jack Kelly

Spring Fever takes us into the fancy and posh world of golfing. William Haines plays Jack Kelly. He is a shipping clerk and works with his father. The two men live a pretty modest life together. Aside from being a shipping clerk, Jack has a taste and talent for golf. His boss, Mr Walters (George Fawcett), is a frustrated little old man who only dreams of being a talented golfer. One day, when Jack witnesses Mr Walters firing his father for no good reason, he takes revenge and breaks a window using his golf club. Unexpectedly, Mr Walters is not angry but rather impressed by Jack’s skills at using his golf club with such precision. So, he invites him as a guest to The Oakmont Country Club and hopes to learn some of his golfing techniques. At the club, a place full of rich people and fancy cars, Jack meets the beautiful Allie (Joan Crawford). She doesn’t leave him indifferent.

Although the subject of Spring Fever was a bit dull (I mean, how exciting is golf…?), this is so far my favourite performance of Haines I’ve seen for this marathon! And it saves the movie from precisely being too dull. That is the same William Haines I saw in Show People and who made me want to explore more of his filmography. I was glad to reach that level of appreciation. It’s the mischievous and playful William Haines, and he’s altogether adorable. He has that contagious energy and doesn’t bear the same type of arrogance as Sandy Burton in Fast Life. He can be, and I think he’ll always have that glimpse of arrogance (sort of part of his charm. But here, it’s much more subtle, and I feel his character has a better evolution and learns more from his mistakes. Overall, it’s an excellent performance. Haines’s reactions were on point and played on a beautiful subtlety without too much exaggeration. It was interesting also to see a young Joan Crawford in a silent film (a first for me)! She and Haines have a very noteworthy acting game together. I don’t know if we can talk about chemistry because, for most of the film, the relationship between their characters is not narratively developed in a way that gives place to a lot of frontal chemistry, but there’s definitely something between them. I mentionned the subtlety of Haines’s acting in the film. I think one of the best examples would be the looks they throw at each other, and while this film has a lot of intertitles (despite being silent), these looks worth a thousand words. So, even if you are not a golf fan (I’m not), I would recommend giving a chance to this film for Haines himself.

Film 4 : Are You Listening? (Harry Beaumont, 1932)

Role : Bill Grimes

Are You Listening? takes place in the radio world. Bill Grimes (William Haines) is a radio writer who is loves radio actress Laura O’Neill (Madge Evans). The only problem is that he is trapped in an unhappy marriage, and his wife, Alice (Karen Morley), doesn’t want to get a divorce. On her side, Laura lives her sister Sally (Anita Page), who has a habit of dating rich men and attending fancy parties. They are soon joined by their third and younger sister, the sparkling and naive Honey (Joan Marsh). She also hopes to make her big break as a radio actress. The characters face their problems without necessarily having connections with each other aside from being relatives or working at the same place.

With Are You Listening?, we were back to talkies starring William Haines. It was among his last films before the brutal end of his acting career and, in opposition to the films previously discussed for this article, a much more sober and serious type of acting. The film has some elements of comedy but is mostly dramatic, and Haine’s acting goes along with it. If you want to discover his work, I wouldn’t necessarily suggest starting with this one, as it might not be the most representative of Haines’s products. Of course, he’s far from being bad, and it was proof that he was smoothly able to transition into the talkies, but something is lacking. Overall, it’s a bit of a weird film where it’s difficult to place the characters and evaluate their involvement in the story. As I said, they each live their intrigue without necessarily being influenced by the other characters’ lives and development. It’s a forgettable film. HOWEVER, since we talk about acting in this article, I want to point out the acting of Anita Page, who, for once, plays something else than a damsel in distress. I was shocked! Her voice is much lower than what I had heard before. She plays a character with much more confidence than the one in Broadway Melody (Harry Beaumont, 1929). She has an aura reminding me of a mix between Joan Blondell and Jean Harlow. It makes me want to see her in more roles like that. Shoutout also to character actor Hank Mann, who often steals the show as the sound effects man and who was weirdly uncredited. And how could I forget Wallace Ford?? Always a pleasure to see him, and he has very cute chemistry with Joan Marsh. Overall, it’s a film with potential, but it was too afraid to fully take charge.

Film 5: Just a Gigolo (Jack Conway, 1931)

Role: Lord Robert ‘Bobby’ Brummel

In this vehicle, Haines plays Lord Robert Brummel, a bachelor who loves to spend time with women at the great despair of his uncle, George Hampton (C. Aubrey Smith), who would like his nephew to settle with a wife once and for all. Robert doesn’t wish to settle down with a woman and is ready to prove that no woman is worthy of him by pretending to be a gigolo. Uncle Hampton hopes to settle her with Roxana Hartley (Irene Purcell). The latter doesn’t quite fall into Robert’s game and is indifferent to his charm. However, if this all started as a game for Robert, he doesn’t take long to develop feelings for Roxana.

I was hesitant about which film to choose to close this marathon. My choice stopped on Just a Gigolo because I saw that one of my very favourite actors, Ray Milland, had a part in it. I’ll be honest: I have no idea where he was supposed to be in the film. I suppose it was a very minor role, and I didn’t recognize him! Regardless, I’m glad I chose this film to wrap up things. It was quite amusing and had no false pretences. Here, Haines plays the seduction card quite brilliantly and uses both physical manners and words with tact to deliver his intentions. I especially liked his interaction with C. Aubrey Smith, who plays his uncle and is hilarious. His acting game is not “typical Haines” like in Spring Fever, but there’s something that makes it worthy of your attention and makes him the perfect candidate for such a role. Although not necessarily a masterpiece, remember that the film was directed by Jack Conwa, who gave us films like Libeled Lady (1936) or Saratoga (1937). It seems he directed a few films starring William Haines, so I’m glad I got to see at least one of them. It made me smile a lot.

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Here we conclude this blogathon! I wish I had seen more than five films, but time flies, and I also want to have the time to read the other participant’s entries.

William Haines was a relevant choice for this marathon/blogathon. I discovered an actor with charm, contagious energy and an impressive sense of fun. He added a lot of flavour to his roles and was never dull to watch! Would I say that he is now a huge favourite of mine? I think I’ll have to see even more of his films to say that, but he certainly is now an actor I appreciate a lot. My only regret is the film material itself. As I told you, I initially discovered Haines via Show People, a film I’d consider a masterpiece. However, I feel that most of his films are minor films that are fun to watch but forgettable. I sadly didn’t come across anything I would consider a masterpiece. If there’s something I might have missed, please let me know! And I mean a film where Haines has a starring role. Nevertheless, it’s always fun to discover more obscure stuff!

Overall, among these five new-to-me films, my favourite would be Just a Gigolo or Fast Life and, if thinking more precisely about William Haines, my favourite performance would be the one in Spring Fever. However, if you are not familiar with Haines and still haven’t seen Show People, it’s really the one I would recommend you to see first!

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Make sure to take a look at the other entries written for this blogathon here!

See you!