THE OLD ARMY GAME
starring W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks
MOTION PICTURE MAGAZINE
October, 1926
Here is a distinct disappointment. After W.C. Fields started the comic ball a-rolling in "Poppy," we expected o see him revel some more of his funny antics in his own individual style. It isn't the comedian's fault so much as it is the plot behind him. There just isn't any. So they introduce some of this gags which formerly decorated the Follies. Upon the stage these episodes crackled with mirth, but on the screen one is reminded of the fact that most of them have been done some time or other.
These gags are used as a frame for the plot - but the picture
is so episodic that it simply fails to register.
If you care to know the meaning of the title, it is defined as
"never give a sucker an even break." So Fields flits
from one gag to another, occasionally playing the sucker himself
and at times making suckers of the other players.
The decorative Louis Brooks acts as the romantic ballast. But she adds nothing to the picture other than a pleasing figure and a pretty pout. Fields is a real comedian. Will someone do him the honor of writing a suitable story for him?