Buddy films have always been popular throughout cinematic history. Mention Thelma and Louise, Butch Cassidy and Harry Longabaugh, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and movie fans can instantaneously riddle off the movies they appeared in. The screen's first buddy pairing in cinema was Sergeant Quirt and Captain Flagg in November 1926's "What Price Glory?"
Ironically, the pioneering film was based on the 1924 play of the same name by the pairing of Laurence Stallings, a World War One wounded veteran-turned-writer, and teacher-turned-playwright Maxwell Anderson. The stage play was known for its spoken vulgarity by the two leads, a fact that transferred over to the screen, much to the consternation of lip-readers in the movie theaters. "What Price Glory?" details a years-long rivalry between Quirt (Edmund Lowe) and Flagg (Victor McLaglen) for a women. Their initial confrontation before the camera serves as an example of the profanities spewing from their mouths between them. Since the film was silent, and the inter titles didn't quite transcribe the exact words, those who could read lips were stunned at what the two mouthed. They flooded the Fox Films Studio with tons of complaining letters.
William Fox wanted to replicate the success of King Vidor's earlier "The Big Parade" showing the struggle in WW1 between American and German forces. "What Price Glory?" Almost equaled the success of its counterpart MGM epic, with the Raoul Walsh directed film the year's second highest box office motion picture, combining comedy and dramatic battle scenes. The film follows Quirt and Flagg as they scrap one other again for the love of another woman, this time for Charlemagne (Dolores del Rio), the daughter of a French innkeeper they met while taking a break from the front.
This was only the fifth American film Mexican-born Del Rio appeared. Discovered in Mexico the year before, she was the first Latin American actress to become a major star in Hollywood. Her stunning looks were compared to the male version of Rudolph Valentino during those silent movie days. Despite her Spanish-language upbringing, Del Rio was able to make the transition to sound with an English lint to her Hispanic accent.
"What Price Glory?" box office allure was helped by an accompanying sound track released three months after its premier in January 1927. Fox had contracted with Theodore Case, the former partner to inventor Lee de Forest in developing a sound-on-film technique. The two had combined their innovations on placing sound waves on the same film strip alongside the visuals. The two had a falling out, allowing Case to modify and improve the technology. Fox provided the funding to fine-tune the audio system as well as to bring the technology into movie theaters. The end result, called Movietone, gave Fox the ability to provide a musical and sound effects audio track to run coincidedly with its earlier-produced silent movie. "What Price Glory?" was the first feature film introducing Movietone to the public. Case's sound system was the third of four competing formats vying for dominance in the transition from silent to 'talkie' movies.
Raoul Walsh directed two of the three sequels to "What Price Glory?": a very early talkie, 1929's 'The Cock-Eyed World,' and 1931's "Women of All Nations." John Blystone directed the third sequel, 1933's "Hot Pepper." All three stared the buddies Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen, who became fast friends towards the end of "What Price Glory?" Director John Ford took a swing at the original play's storyline in his 1952 film, "What Price Glory," with James Cagney and Dan Daily, arch-enemies-turned-best friends.
Ironically, the pioneering film was based on the 1924 play of the same name by the pairing of Laurence Stallings, a World War One wounded veteran-turned-writer, and teacher-turned-playwright Maxwell Anderson. The stage play was known for its spoken vulgarity by the two leads, a fact that transferred over to the screen, much to the consternation of lip-readers in the movie theaters. "What Price Glory?" details a years-long rivalry between Quirt (Edmund Lowe) and Flagg (Victor McLaglen) for a women. Their initial confrontation before the camera serves as an example of the profanities spewing from their mouths between them. Since the film was silent, and the inter titles didn't quite transcribe the exact words, those who could read lips were stunned at what the two mouthed. They flooded the Fox Films Studio with tons of complaining letters.
William Fox wanted to replicate the success of King Vidor's earlier "The Big Parade" showing the struggle in WW1 between American and German forces. "What Price Glory?" Almost equaled the success of its counterpart MGM epic, with the Raoul Walsh directed film the year's second highest box office motion picture, combining comedy and dramatic battle scenes. The film follows Quirt and Flagg as they scrap one other again for the love of another woman, this time for Charlemagne (Dolores del Rio), the daughter of a French innkeeper they met while taking a break from the front.
This was only the fifth American film Mexican-born Del Rio appeared. Discovered in Mexico the year before, she was the first Latin American actress to become a major star in Hollywood. Her stunning looks were compared to the male version of Rudolph Valentino during those silent movie days. Despite her Spanish-language upbringing, Del Rio was able to make the transition to sound with an English lint to her Hispanic accent.
"What Price Glory?" box office allure was helped by an accompanying sound track released three months after its premier in January 1927. Fox had contracted with Theodore Case, the former partner to inventor Lee de Forest in developing a sound-on-film technique. The two had combined their innovations on placing sound waves on the same film strip alongside the visuals. The two had a falling out, allowing Case to modify and improve the technology. Fox provided the funding to fine-tune the audio system as well as to bring the technology into movie theaters. The end result, called Movietone, gave Fox the ability to provide a musical and sound effects audio track to run coincidedly with its earlier-produced silent movie. "What Price Glory?" was the first feature film introducing Movietone to the public. Case's sound system was the third of four competing formats vying for dominance in the transition from silent to 'talkie' movies.
Raoul Walsh directed two of the three sequels to "What Price Glory?": a very early talkie, 1929's 'The Cock-Eyed World,' and 1931's "Women of All Nations." John Blystone directed the third sequel, 1933's "Hot Pepper." All three stared the buddies Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen, who became fast friends towards the end of "What Price Glory?" Director John Ford took a swing at the original play's storyline in his 1952 film, "What Price Glory," with James Cagney and Dan Daily, arch-enemies-turned-best friends.