The Cock-Eyed World (1929)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

These are the adventures of marines Flagg and Quirt which were first seen in "What Price Glory"This film really has little plot and just seems to be a combination of episodes where the two characters played by McLaglen and Lowe in what can only be described as a very broad manner,continually try to get the upper hand against each other whether it be in the romantic field or in military matters.The humour is definitely pre code.El Brendel introduces his girl as "the lay of the land".The joke being that she has a map of the country in her hand.Maltin says this film runs like slow molasses and by god he is right.I can only presume that they were so enamoured of the Movietone process that they decided to make this their big production.If you were to cut out all the exchanges where they are saying"Sez you" "Sez me"i think that you would loose half the running time.I know that i thought that films today are far to long.Well it seems that they have many precedents for this.

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.