Some of this director's later films like "Vagabond Lady" (1935) are a bit disappointing, but this movie is much more like the Sam Taylor we all know and love! Beatrice Lillie (in her first movie appearance) is a wow as a maid-of-all-work in a delightfully rundown touring company of fourth and fifth rate thespians. She sets her cap at an unresponsive newcomer (most ingratiatingly played by Jack Pickford) and the fun really begins to sparkle. The other players, led by Doris Lloyd, DeWitt Jennings, Harry Myers, Tenen Holtz, Louise Lorraine, and Franklin Pangborn lend solid support. This was actually only the second film appearance of Franklin Pangborn. His first was a 1926 short, "The Jelly Fish", in which he played the title role. I'm a little surprised that nearly all the reviewers on IMDb focused on Lillie, Pickford and Pangborn and made no mention of the other players, all of whom I thought contributed excellent work: Louise Lorraine is the beautiful Phyllis, the daughter of the bank president; Harry Myers is the villain, Watson, who frames our hero with the aid of bootlegger, Tenen Holtz; De Witt Jennings is Orlando Wainwright. True, some of these actors are not so well-known. But then there's Doris Lloyd who played Olga. She made nearly 200 appearances in movies and TV! On the other side of the camera, I'd single out André Barlatier's superlative photography. He does wonders here for both Beatrice and Jack, as well as Doris and Louise! But even Barlatier's very first film, "Neptune's Daughter" (1914), is outstandingly beautiful! And as for "Exit Smiling", it's good to report that the Warner Archive DVD is really top-drawer in photographic quality!
Review of Exit Smiling
