Way for a Sailor

Dir. Sam Wood

85 Minutes

USA

1930

Starring: John Gilbert, Wallace Beery, Jim Tully, Leila Hyams, Polly Moran

***1/2/*****

John Gilbert-led talking picture about a group of sailors dealing with the gig, squabbles between themselves, and, for Gilbert at least, falling in love. Gilbert was somewhat pressured to break his contract by Louis B. Mayer and many of his talking films are often pointed out as being quite poor. He remained professional throughout, and a myth is that he could not adapt to sound film because of a poor voice. But his role in this film is actually quite good and seems evident that it did have it in him to be a leading man. Though at times the primitive nature of the sound film gets in the way (odd edits, awkward transitions, etc). There are some poor layered special effects as well, but I admired that the film attempted to be a little bit of a spectacle rather than something akin to filmed theatre.

The first half hour or so is a bit sprawling and the situations feel inclined towards exposition in establishing the relationships rather than organic. For instance, Gilbert's character has a beef with Wallace Beery, though not too much goes into that (though it is effective when, thinking Beery dead, Gilbert refers to him as a friend). Things get far more enjoyable upon the introduction of Gilbert's love interest played by Leila Hyams and forces him to consider whether he wants to continue the aimless life of a sailor or the more structured and ordered life of a married man (thought about the recently viewed Joel McCrea film Youth Takes a Fling which covers a similar conflict but from the point of view of the woman). Some criticisms involved Gilbert's seediness when it comes to his behavior towards Hyams, but I found it natural and truthful in showing the arc of the character. He is not a particular good man and does question that quality in himself. Beery is fun in a role that is not very challenging for him, and provides some comic relief especially involving his accordion. But I found myself engaged with these characters and enjoyed their company, and thought director Sam Wood did a nice job balancing the various aspects of the narrative.

August 25th, 2019