A near-remake of Walsh's 1926 WHAT PRICE GLORY, again featuring the rivalry of Marine Sergeants Quirt and Flagg, this time in Russia and Central America. In a convincingly frigid Russia, Flagg (McLaglen) tricks Quirt (Lowe) into a beating from the enormous Sanovich (Ivan Lenow),an irate boyfriend returning home early, while in Central America Quirt steals Mariana Elenita (Lily Damita, effectively vivacious) from under Flagg's nose by posing as a major. In between, on leave in New York, Flagg discovers that Quirt, far from being the big-time promoter he claims, actually runs a Coney Island Guess-Your-Weight concession, but once again the more cunning Quirt plays on Flagg's hot temper to snatch the girl. Raoul Walsh, who knew military life from the inside, celebrates the camaraderie, contempt for authority and rank, and the unflagging pursuit of booze and sex that typify the life of a professional soldier; elements that recur in almost every war film from THE BIG PARADE to M.A.S.H and JARHEAD.
Review of The Cock-Eyed World
The Cock-Eyed World
(1929)
A skillful comedy/drama of military life between the wars.
4 December 2005