The Boob (1926)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

From my favorite movies..

A Masterpiece!

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Boob, The (1926) ** (out of 4) William A. Wellman directed this comedy about a farm boy (George K. Arthur) who has his dreams dumped on when the girl he loves (Gertrude Olmstread) falls for a bootlegger. This film is heavily influenced by Keaton, Lloyd and Chaplin but it never reaches those heights because it's just not that funny. The funny joke is that the film takes place in the 1920s and an old cowboy makes the farm boy dress up as if it were the 1820s. There are a few funny moments but for the most part all the jokes fall flat on their face. Arthur makes for a rather poor leading man but Joan Crawford is good in her small role. Olmstread is decent in her role but it's another role where our hero falls for a woman who is a bitch throughout the movie. The one thing that sets this film apart is that Arthur's best friend in the movie is a small black boy and the film never plays down to racial jokes or racial stereotypes, which is certainly rare for this era.

Country boy George K. Arthur (as Peter Good) is in love with Gertrude Olmstead (as Amy), but she has taken up smooching with city-slicker Tony D'Algy (as Harry Benson). Mr. Arthur dons western Tom Mix-type clothing to appear more manly, but Ms. Olmstead is unimpressed. Arthur suspicions that Mr. D'Algy is really a criminal bootlegger are proved to be correct. Then, Arthur must rescue Olmstead from D'Algy's clutches... Though he is a likable character, this is a dated-to-the-point-of-unfunny comedy feature for Arthur. Most unfunny is Charles Murray (as Cactus Jim)'s running gag about hiding his endless supply of booze - helped, no doubt, by bootleggers. Joan Crawford (as Jane) lifts spirits considerably, with her turn as a crack revenue agent. D'Algy is a good kisser. "The Boob" is more of a curiosity than a comedy, but it's a chance to see some silent performers in well-preserved celluloid. **** The Boob (5/17/26) William A. Wellman ~ George K. Arthur, Gertrude Olmstead, Joan Crawford, Tony D'Algy

The Boob features the talents of George K. Arthur as a naive country boy who is trying very hard to impress a young lady Gertrude Olmstead, but she can't see him for beans, much preferring the slick talking city guy Antonio D'Algy. He even puts on a big cowboy outfit, but Olmstead laughs at him, saying he's just a Tom Mix wannabe.This was my first exposure to the comic talents of George K. Arthur whose career sputtered to a halt with the coming of sound. The role he plays here would be the kind that Joe E. Brown would do in the Thirties, Red Skelton might try in the Forties and after his split from Dino, Jerry Lewis might have a go in the Fifties at. There's rumor of bootlegging being done in the area and guess what, D'Algy's at the bottom of it. I think just about anyone else can figure out where the rest of this film is going.Former Mack Sennett employees Hank Mann as the soda jerk and Charles Murray as the grizzled old time western sidekick to Arthur are featured. Murray has a very nice turn as a man who just because Prohibition is in the land is not going to let that stand in the way of that old western tradition of the saloon. In fact I've often wondered what happened to the saloon in Prohibition times and The Boob does provide something of an answer.The film might have been forgotten today, but for the presence of Joan Crawford in a secondary role as a Treasury agent. In fact that's a feminist concept many years ahead of its time. What must Eliot Ness have thought of this film? Crawford could have been given a lot more to do in this film. In her next film she would also be in support of a silent screen comic, Harry Langdon in Tramp Tramp Tramp.The Boob was pleasantly amusing enough and it was interesting to see Joan Crawford in her silent days, something I hadn't done until now.

A naive country boy desperately tries to rescue his silly sweetheart from the affections of a shyster lawyer.Unseen for decades, THE BOOB is a wonderful surprise, a delightful silent comedy Western, full of the right mixture of good humor & pathos. At barely an hour in length and with the support of an excellent new piano score by Arthur Barrow, it will inevitably invite favorable comparison with Harold Lloyd's masterpiece, THE KID BROTHER (1927).Scots actor George K. Arthur, a popular MGM comic star at the end of the silent era, wins immediate sympathy with his sad face and diminutive stature. All decked out in cowboy duds he looks ridiculous, and the audience instinctively knows he'll have to endure much humiliation before the final fade-out.Character actor Charles Murray is hilarious as the boozy bowlegged old buckaroo who grubstakes Arthur - just watching his droll facial expressions is a joy. Special mention should be made of the uncredited African American lad playing the part of Ham Bunn, who, with his trusty mutt Benzine, faithfully shadows Arthur to keep him out of trouble.Pretty Gertrude Olmstead plays Arthur's fickle girlfriend; Antonio D'Algy is all hair oil and suavity as the sinister lawyer. A very young Joan Crawford is rather incongruously cast as the undercover leader of a team of agents tracking dangerous bootleggers. Movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Edythe Chapman as the impoverished old lady befriended by Arthur.In a very funny sequence that has little connection with the rest of the film, soda jerk Hank Mann receives tips on etiquette from his enormous sweetheart, an unbilled Babe London, while dining at a swanky speakeasy.The film enjoys all the customary MGM spit & polish.