Salute

Dir. John Ford

84 Minutes

USA

1929

Starring: George O'Brien, Helen Chandler, William Janney, Stepin Fetchit, Frank Albertson, Ward Bond

*1/2/*****

While the advent of sound technology caused issues in several performers suddenly vulnerable to their less than ideal speaking voices, the transition appears to have been quite the startling one for John Ford, who in his late silent efforts seemed confident both in style and narrative voice. With Riley the Cop as a kind of simple bridge to experiment with synchronized audio and score, Salute brings Ford fully into talkie territory and the results are a mess of poor acting, less than inspired visuals, and a story so slight as to be inconsequential. This may be the worst film by Ford that I have seen. 

The simple narrative has Army and Navy brothers John and Paul Randall (George O'Brien and William Janney, the latter of whom is has a bundle of pre-code title that yield poor results) competing for the affections of a young woman, Nancy (Helen Chandler). The conflict lumbers along until the two settle things on the football field during the Army-Navy game. The film is absent of any real notable sequences, though it is fun to see Ward Bond enter Ford's cavalcade of supporting actors (alongside a brief appearance by an uncredited John Wayne). Not Ford's shining moment, and for all appearances this is a studio assignment that is for completists only.

Viewed on July 16th, 2020

Part of an ongoing John Ford Project with notes from selected films.