Despite much being said about John Gilbert not transitioning well from silent to sound and that his sound pictures were poor, to me actually Gilbert didn't come off that badly (even if his voice is not what one expects) and again from personal opinion his sound pictures varied in quality. Actually really did enjoy 'Downstairs' for example and 'Phantom of Paris' started off very well. Others are not too good though, 'Redemption' had a lot of problems (Gilbert wasn't one of them though) for instance. Have not been able to find the maligned 'His Glorious Night' as of yet.
'Way for a Sailor' is another one of his weaker outings, though marginally better than 'Redemption'. Am not going as far to say that it is a terrible film. It isn't, it does have its moments and good things (Gilbert again being one of the best things about it despite his reputation when he transitioned to sound, actually think it was his personal problems that hurt him). 'Way for a Sailor' is heavily flawed though and is one strange film to put it lightly, very weak narratively and even worse technically and visually.
Gilbert is dashing and charismatic and his character was likeable (flawed but with good intentions), also haven't ever had anywhere near as big a problem with his voice either. Wallace Beery has a lot of fun in his role and gives his all, just about resisting the temptation to ham it up which he was prone to doing. Actually thought on the whole that the acting was not too bad at all with one exception.
It, the film that is, does pick up by quite a bit in the second half while still not ever wowing the viewer over. The rescue sequence is a very exciting and compelling set piece and the one scene in the film that holds up reasonably.
The exception to the acting however is Leila Hyams, the character is a very flat one and Hyams is a real bore and very bland in the role. She is not helped though, well nobody is, by Sam Wood's pretty hopeless direction that is indicative of inexperience and lack of ease in the transition into sound pictures. Am well aware that one cannot expect early talkies to be completely perfect so early on, but 'Applause' for example was an early sound film and was great because one could see that a lot of effort went into it. Not enough of the case with 'Way for a Sailor' though.
Visually and technically 'Way for a Sailor' is pretty disastrous. The photography is static and too dimly lit while the editing is sloppy and lacks cohesion. Just as bad are the glaringly obvious and cheap-looking rear projections and very limited at best settings. Lets not get started on the sound, which is actually pretty amateurishly done, in both mixing (very distorted and erratic in volume) and placement (some effects sounding random). The script contributes towards bogging the sluggish pace down, with it being like a draft for a stage play full of padded fat, awkwardness and attempts at being perceptive and poetic but ends up instead being over-literal. The story is truly sluggish in the first half, enough to make one want to bail early on, because it is very dull in pace, uneventful in story and dreary in atmosphere. It gets better in the second half, but is still predictable and very slight, never feeling opened up in the action. Throughout it felt like an under-rehearsed filmed stage play, saved by the game efforts of the actors.
Concluding, worth a one time watch but strange. 5/10
'Way for a Sailor' is another one of his weaker outings, though marginally better than 'Redemption'. Am not going as far to say that it is a terrible film. It isn't, it does have its moments and good things (Gilbert again being one of the best things about it despite his reputation when he transitioned to sound, actually think it was his personal problems that hurt him). 'Way for a Sailor' is heavily flawed though and is one strange film to put it lightly, very weak narratively and even worse technically and visually.
Gilbert is dashing and charismatic and his character was likeable (flawed but with good intentions), also haven't ever had anywhere near as big a problem with his voice either. Wallace Beery has a lot of fun in his role and gives his all, just about resisting the temptation to ham it up which he was prone to doing. Actually thought on the whole that the acting was not too bad at all with one exception.
It, the film that is, does pick up by quite a bit in the second half while still not ever wowing the viewer over. The rescue sequence is a very exciting and compelling set piece and the one scene in the film that holds up reasonably.
The exception to the acting however is Leila Hyams, the character is a very flat one and Hyams is a real bore and very bland in the role. She is not helped though, well nobody is, by Sam Wood's pretty hopeless direction that is indicative of inexperience and lack of ease in the transition into sound pictures. Am well aware that one cannot expect early talkies to be completely perfect so early on, but 'Applause' for example was an early sound film and was great because one could see that a lot of effort went into it. Not enough of the case with 'Way for a Sailor' though.
Visually and technically 'Way for a Sailor' is pretty disastrous. The photography is static and too dimly lit while the editing is sloppy and lacks cohesion. Just as bad are the glaringly obvious and cheap-looking rear projections and very limited at best settings. Lets not get started on the sound, which is actually pretty amateurishly done, in both mixing (very distorted and erratic in volume) and placement (some effects sounding random). The script contributes towards bogging the sluggish pace down, with it being like a draft for a stage play full of padded fat, awkwardness and attempts at being perceptive and poetic but ends up instead being over-literal. The story is truly sluggish in the first half, enough to make one want to bail early on, because it is very dull in pace, uneventful in story and dreary in atmosphere. It gets better in the second half, but is still predictable and very slight, never feeling opened up in the action. Throughout it felt like an under-rehearsed filmed stage play, saved by the game efforts of the actors.
Concluding, worth a one time watch but strange. 5/10