Tell It To The Marines

(Note:
Resurrected by the way Back Machine... -GyG)

Tell It to the Marines

A review by John DeBartolo

"50 Years of Looking at the Movies"
A Film We Would Like To See On Video
Copyright © 1997 by John DeBartolo. All rights reserved.
5 stills from Tell It to the Marines.

The greatest public improvement made to Kansas City
was when Skeet Burns left to join the Marines.
- an intertitle

http://web.archive.org/web/20020208235304/http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/
FeaturedVideo/video90.htm

http://tinyurl.com/3bmzk8

Party boy Skeet Burns (played by William Haines ) travels to San Diego on the pretext of joining the Marines. Upon arriving at the Marine base, he makes a quick detour to Tijuana for some fun, although he is nearly collared by Sergeant O'Hara (played by Lon Chaney). O'Hara, a seasoned leatherneck, has seen this time and time again. Skeet may have slipped out of O'Hara's clutches for the moment, but "he'll be back - yeah he'll be back."

What is Sergeant O'Hara? Is he some kind of psychic? His prediction of Skeet's return and his subsequent enlistment is right on the money. Not only that, lucky Skeet will become O'Hara's personal responsibility. This new recruit is taken through all the rigors of boot camp, kicking and scheming all the way. O'Hara has a remedy for wiseacres like Skeet, called "driving the General's car." When he asks for a volunteer for this "cushy" task, Skeet naturally pushes his way to the head of the line. His enthusiasm turns to pure torture when he realizes that the General's car is actually a wheelbarrow for hauling loads (and loads) of rocks! He is assigned a keeper, Corporal Madden (played by Eddie Gribbon). Some keeper - he can't even keep the smitten Skeet from playfully "kidnapping" attractive nurse Norma Dale (played by Eleanor Boardman) or keep him out of the brig. To add to Skeet's problems, it just so happens that Sergeant O'Hara has been sweet on this particular nurse for quite some time. Poor Skeet, before he can honestly call himself a Marine he has a long way to go...

Tell It to the Marines is considered to be the tough, yet funny and sentimental, prototype of a military service film. The themes that were calculatedly presented for audiences were patriotism, loyalty, fraternity and the assurance that the military was protecting American interests. Taking these elements and putting them in a script that gave a human face to these ideals went over in a big way with the general public and the military itself. To be sure, this wasn't the only film of its kind released at this time. Other studios were producing their own buddy films with a military backdrop, such as Behind the Front (Famous Players-Lasky, 1926), starring Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton and What Price Glory (Fox Film Corp, 1926), starring Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe. The stars of the two latter films teamed up again and made more of the same, due to popular response. Tell It to the Marines was not followed up by related films starring Chaney and Haines. It did, however, become the most memorable of all the films of this genre and was much beloved in an official capacity by the USMC.

Tell It to the Marines premiered at the Embassy Theater (New York) on December 23, 1926, where it had a successful run for 13 weeks and became M-G-M's second-highest grossing film for that year. A private screening was held in Washington, D.C. and was attended by President Coolidge, Cabinet members and a score of senators. It deservedly received rave reviews:

Motion Picture Magazine, for March 1927, commented, "Lon Chaney's first appearance 'au naturel' for many years and it makes one plead for more."

The Variety review of December 29, 1926, crowed, "Tell It to the Marines is sure-fire box office if there ever was one...It's a special and that goes 100 percent...This picture is full of action, laughs and holds a lot of love interest. In addition, the photography is great. Some shots worthy of an artist's brush."

Harrison's Reports, on January 1, 1927, generously exclaimed, "Excellent. It is, in fact, a better picture than any Mr. Chaney has ever been in. There are laughs and thrills, and in many situations deep emotional appeal. The laughs are caused by the "fresh" conduct of the heroine's young sweetheart and by the treatment he receives at the hands of the hard-boiled marines."

Photoplay in March 1927, fell in the rank and file of positive acknowledgment by stating, "The adventures of the Devil Dogs in China. Grade A entertainment, with Lon Chaney and William Haines adding further glory to their reputations."

The plot line of Tell It to the Marines admittedly spreads itself magnanimously across the globe. The structure reminds one of today's military recruitment commercials, which tend to show a fabulous montage of adventures a recruit can look forward to. They start ordinarily enough with boot camp, and then on to the briny sea for battleship maneuvers. The next stop is a soggy island in the Philippines, complete with rebellious natives. Finally, it's on to a glorious encounter for the Marines in remote Hangchow, China, against a local warlord. Also, the feminine touch is not absent from these remote places. Conveniently, the same nurses from boot camp are assigned to Hangchow. (Pass the ammunition and the nurses.) In considering a career choice with the military, this high-budget recruitment film could certainly put the idea over with a young, healthy American male - Now, are there any volunteers to drive the General's car?
Behind the Scenes of Marines

The eight and a half week shooting schedule for Tell It to the Marines, under the direction of George Hill, was kicked off by an impressive ceremony. Almost the entire M-G-M studio personnel was at the base when the USMC band played as the Commandant of the Corp presented studio chief Louis B. Mayer an American flag to be flown at the studio. Lon Chaney was in attendance in his sergeant's uniform with actual Marines and their mascot bulldog, Sgt. Jiggs, who made a cameo playing O'Hara's pooch. In fact, Chaney was made an honorary Marine by the Corps - one of his proudest moments. The battleship USS California was used in the scenes that took place at sea. (Later, the famous ship would fall victim to the Japanese during their attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.)

Much of the film was shot at the Marine base in San Diego with technical assistance from the Marines and from Marine General Smedley Butler, who became a personal friend of Chaney's. In return for their assistance, M-G-M lent a deluxe steam shovel to the Marines to help landscape the base. General Butler's son recalled in 1991 what it was like at the Marine base during the filming, and he remembered Lon Chaney eating dinner at their home. The event was captured in home movies with the lucky boy on screen with the great star.

There is a lot to recommend about Tell It to the Marines. This well-produced film is considered by many to be one of Chaney's finest works. It's about time that it be restored and put on video for the patient fans who have believed in it all along. The best way to get our message across is to - tell it to Time Warner!

Tell It to the Marines (M-G-M, 1926). Cast: Lon Chaney, William Haines, Eleanor Boardman, Eddie Gribbon, Carmel Myers, Warner Oland, Mitchell Lewis, Frank Currier, Maurice E. Kains and Sgt. Jiggs (the USMC's official mascot). Directed by George Hill. Photographed by Ira H. Morgan. B&W. The film runs approximately 94 minutes. Note: to our knowledge, Tell It to the Marines has never been aired on TCM. Be sure to request that this classic be shown! This is a film we would like to see released on video .

Sources: The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films, 1921-1930; Lon Chaney by Michael F. Blake; and The Film Encyclopedia by Ephraim Katz.

Note: Lon Chaney by Michael F. Blake (Vestal Press,1993) features many photographs taken at San Diego when the film was being shot.

Copyright © 1997, by John DeBartolo , at mdle@primenet.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Copyright © 1997, Diane MacIntyre, The Silents Majority On-Line Journal of Silent Film, at mdle@primenet.com. All rights reserved.


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