It's the Old Army Game
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DVD Cover Information
Primary Contributor: W.C. FieldsPrimary Contributor: Louise Brooks
DVD: Region Code 0
Format: Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC
Running Time: 105 minutes
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Movie Reviews of It's the Old Army Game
Movie Review: For fans - *****; for others ***
Summary: 4 Stars
Fans of W.C. will love watching this silent movie which features alot of material which turned up in his later 2-reelers and features. His talent as a mime is widely apparent in this somewhat overlong, and occasionally disjointed affair.
Mr. Prettywillie, the Druggist of the small midwestern town, can't seem to get any rest. When he's not woken up by an hysterical high-society lady (played well by Dale Fuller, the triple-jointed "patient" in The Dentist; she shows up later on, apprently exhausted by the walk to the mailbox, and it seems her dress refuses to stay in place, and she transforms from the upper crust socialite to the flapper) who must have have a single stamp right now, or by a neighbor's infant just doing what an infant will do, or by various delivery men who dare to make a sound while Fields sleeps on a hammock on the backporch, he's beleaguered by the normal walk-in traffic, who have an eye on Louise Brooks, the pretty assistant who falls for a Real Estate man with a surefire plan.
He's even tormented at a distance by the Aunt of Louise, who cannot contain her crush on her neice's employer; he must feign appreciation as a courtesy to his employee.
There's a very long scene with Fields and co. picnicing on the lawn of a great estate - Fields does some wonderful pantomine but the whole segment could have been excised for a two-reeler. Also, it has no bearing on the plot at all.
The soundtrack was performed and recorded live and some of the non-musical ambience bleeds through.
This reasonably priced DVD is a great companion to the rare "You're Telling Me", from 1934.
Summary of It's the Old Army Game
Blundering druggist Elmer Prettywillie (W. C. Fields) suffers a catastrophic day at his store until the scheming "president" of a real estate company makes him an offer he can't refuse. This entertaining silent film includes a concoction of silly skits, and features a trashy picnic on an elegant estate lawn that Prettywillie thought was a public park. Louise Brooks plays a radiant drug store "counter attraction" who also attracts the schemer's eye. The moral of the story, according to Prettywille, is "a bird in the hand is a hard pill to swallow. In a word, never give a sucker an even break -- it's the old army game." A similar film, It's a Gift, starring W.C. Fields, was released in 1934