DVD Review: It’s The Old Army Game – W.C. Fields silent (1926)
When W.C. Fields was enjoying a hipster popularity in the rebellious late 1960s due to his rebellious Everyman character, books came out lauding his screen work. The books contained intriguing photos and info about an entire period of silent films that were, at that time, unavailable. Eventually “Pool Sharks,” his very first film, and “Sally of the Sawdust,” and early feature directed by D.W. Griffith, gave us a slight glimpse at how this master comedian responded to silent cinema. But it wasn’t enough to allow a truly serious look at how these early films compared to his sound classics. One of this best silents, “Running Wild,” came out on VHS from Paramount during the 1980s, and we had a bit better of an idea of how Fields worked in silent movies.
Kino Lorber has continued its magnificent track record in making important film history readily available with the release, on DVD and blu ray of two Fields silent features, one of which is “It’s the Old Army Game” in which he co-stars with silent movie icon Louise Brooks.
“It’s the Old Army Game” was W.C. Fields’ first starring film under a new Paramount contract, W.C. Fields has the opportunity to display his stage-honed comedy skills more effectively than any movie thus far. Surprisingly, for those who are most familiar with his later, more noted, sound films, his screen character is already quite well defined.
The character he plays in this film is clever, unscrupulous, at odds with society’s conventions and its citizens. He has a young woman friend who looks up to him and with whom he is smitten, an overbearing sister who does not appreciate him, and her bratty youngster who frustrates him. These elements of character, the way Fields presents the dysfunctional family dynamic, and his reactive comedy, would all be ingredients in later films that have been established as classics. To see them in a movie this early in Fields’ film career is fascinating. It allows us to realize how much of his comedy had already been honed on stage before he became active in film.
It’s The Old Army Game has a basic scenario, but it is enhanced by several ideas Fields had used on stage, including scenes from Poppy as well as sketches he’d performed in the Follies. Fields plays Elmer Prettywillie, a small town druggist, who lives above his shop. He and his pretty young clerk, Marilyn Sheridan do their best with marginal business netting little money. Then a snappy fellow named George Delevan comes into town with a lot of sharp ideas about real estate. He makes a deal with Elmer to lease part of his store for his real estate business, arranging to share his profits with the shop owner. Soon business is booming, and the store is filled with people looking for real estate investment deals. After several deals have been made, George then leaves for New York on business. While he is gone, a detective enters the store looking for him, telling Elmer that George is a crook and the real estate deals are no good. Elmer decides to drive to New York and confront George, but after several mishaps, he returns home. When, upon returning home, Elmer sees a large mob of townspeople heading toward him, he believes they are upset about being swindled and have formed a lynch mob. He starts to run away, and the people run after him. When they finally catch up to Elmer, he discovers that the deals are indeed good and the townsfolk were running up to thank him. It turns out that while George was indeed swindling the others at first, his relationship with Marilyn changed his mind, and he therefore changed his tactics. Everyone in town made money, especially Elmer.
The basic premise here, with Fields playing a character who is struggling, put-upon, means well, and triumphs in the end, would be a standard narrative basis for all of his best films. And while elements in It’s The Old Army Game would be revisited in later, more noted movies, this silent feature holds its own as one of the comedian’s best early films.
“It’s the Old Army Game” is the first movie to contain one of Fields’ routines from the Follies known as “The Comic Supplement.” It has Elmer attempting to sleep outside on a porch swing and constantly being interrupted. First he tries to quiet a crying baby. When he does, the baby shatters a full milk bottle over his head. By the time a vegetable man comes walking by hollering for business, Elmer brandishes a shotgun. While this sketch would work much more effectively in his 1934 sound feature It’s a Gift, it is fascinating to see what Fields does with the sketch in a silent movie, especially since the conflict in the scene deals specifically with noise.
Another of the big highlights in It’s the Old Army Game is when Elmer decides to take his family on a picnic after he starts making money with real estate deals. He and his brood stop at what they believe is a park, when it is in fact the grounds of a private estate. As they picnic, they systematically make a mess of the grounds. With no concern for their surroundings, they litter the place with paper and other debris, trample the carefully manicured grounds, and drive over the sensitive ground. This scene would also be reworked into the plot of It’s a Gift, but it works well in this movie also. It is quite interesting to see the foundation of these noted sequences from later films.
Some of the comedy in It’s The Old Army Game is exclusive to this movie. Fields does a lot of business with the car when he drives to New York to confront George. Elmer is first shown driving the wrong way on a one way street, carefully dodging the oncoming traffic. After more mishaps, Elmer lifts the hood of the car and the engine explodes in his face.
The importance of It’s the Old Army Game to the W.C. Fields filmography is rather significant. It is quite a turnaround from his previous features, in which he played supporting roles and was primarily relied upon for comic relief. It was deeper and more fulfilling than the short comedies he’d done a decade earlier. As the leading man, W.C. Fields gets to do so much more here; it is starting with this film and the first real opportunity we have to really see how truly talented a comedian Fields is.
The beautiful restoration by Kino is mastered in 2K fro 35mm elements that had been preserved by the Library of Congress. The wonderful accompanying music is an organ score performed by Ben Model. And, there is me, on commentary as one of the special features. For W.C. Fields fans, admirers of silent comedy, film historians and scholars, libraries, and research centers, “It’s the Old Army Game” is a must-buy.
The movie is available here.