ROOKIES
Starring George K. Arthur and Karl Dane
SCREENLAND
July, 1927
They're in the Army -- again. But only in fun this time. And such fun! My, my -- the regulars and the recruits won't know themselves when they see this picture. Probably they never suspected that a soldier's life is such a merry one.
There may be a kind-hearted Sergeant in the world but if so,
he has kept out of the movies. Karl Dane plays another one of
the private-eating variety -- another treat for the lip-reading
experts. George Arthur is a timid rookie; and to make it worse
for Georgie, they both love the same girl. She's Marceline Day
so no blueprint is needed. Sarg. Dane makes it so snappy for
the rookies at the Citizens' Military Training Camp that the audience,
and Karl, are the only ones who seem to be enjoying themselves
-- and at that, your dogs will bark in sympathy. Private Arthur's
stock rises, however -- in an airplane, as it turns out. Karl
and Marceline are marooned in a balloon and Georgie, who was a
parachute jumper in his youth, goes up to rescue them. Yes --
it's that kind of a comedy. After all the French-pastry farce
they have been feeding us lately, "Rookies" is like
hamburger smothered in onions; and if the accent is on the ham,
who cares? Go ahead and laugh.
Video source: Turner