THE DUKE OF WEST POINT (1938)

Once M-G-M’s A YANK AT OXFORD* made a ton of dough and a regular guy out of pretty-boy Robert Taylor, it was only a matter of time before someone thought to reverse trajectory: A BRIT AT HARVARD?  Well, almost.  Instead, indie producer Ed Small, working on the R.K.O. lot, cooked up a similar story where American-born/British-bred Louis Hayward, follows family tradition into West Point and finds his arrogant attitude & sense of entitlement only partially offset by athletic prowess on the gridiron.  Can’t say just how similar this is to YANK (not a film made for revisiting), but both obviously stick fairly close to M-G-M’s old William Haines template: cocky prick annoys everyone only to come thru in the end and save the day/win the girl.  Hayward’s supercilious manner always kept him just shy of A-list status, but works like a charm here, building sympathy in the second half as he finds out that even at West Point a good deed never goes unpunished, suffering thru Cadet Silent Treatment (a real sadistic hazing ritual at the Point) till he wins the big hockey game and has his altruism unmasked.  (Hockey?  That’s a new finale.  Note the total lack of face guards, even on the goalies.  Yikes!)  Richard Carlson & Tom Brown make endearing roommates and Joan Fontaine proves she really was a hopeless actress till George Cukor got her up to speed in THE WOMEN/’39.  Vet director Alfred E. Green goes thru the motions and hides behind a lot of stock footage, while the second unit tries to figure out how to shoot a hockey game..  The latter, mistakes and all, proves pretty good fun.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Might as well see what’s the same and what’s not in A YANK AT OXFORD/38.  (Not that you weren’t warned!)  OR:  Producer Small & Hayward must have hit it off, reuniting on next year’s superior THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK/’39. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/05/man-in-iron-mask-1939.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  The running time listed on IMDb is a reel shy of the mark. The full cut runs 107".

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  *Y@O.  Most succinct title ever?