The Smart Set

Only William Haines, back in the day, could pull something like this off. Haines was MGM's resident ego maniac, always in trouble wise guy -- in search of a gal pal. And he usually got her, after a lot of friction.

This is fun stuff, and after all these years. Haines actually was the mold for so many slick, smart guys to come, though, in a way, you still liked this guy because he was the one to watch, getting in and out of trouble with the greatest of ease. And didn't we all know someone like that as kids, too?

Here, Haines plays Tommy Van Buren who has the good fortune(?) to join the US polo team. That in itself is absolutely amazing. Of course he is drawn to a beautiful girl and sets out, in his own outrageous way, to make a shambles out of everything for both him and her. That's about the best way you can put it, and the pattern for so many of Haines films to come. He cranked them out on a regular basis into the 1930s.

It's a long and adventurous way to the end, so buckle up and have fun watching this practical joking, smooth operator do his thing. Also this is a neat historical trip thru Hollywood, filmed on location in the late 1920s, with some landmarks that are still there after all these years.

A salute to the great William Haines, who is missed.

A film you will want to see again, restored dvd by MGM.

Another of the "Haines Formula" films from MGM in the late silent era casts William Haines as a wealthy polo player, but because this is a Haines film, he's also a swell-headed, brash, brat. He meets a girl (Alice Day) and of course her father (Hobart Bosworth) is also a polo player and she's being pursued by the polo team captain (Jack Holt).

The Haines films were the "feel good" movies of their day. Haines was a terrific comic actor, never afraid of making a total ass of himself. Part of the fun of a Haines film is seeing how bratty and obnoxious he can get because you know he'll get his comeuppance through some "rite of passage" and become a man, win the girl, and save the day.

THE SMART SET is filled with nice comedy bits of business until the big dramatic finale. Holt and Day are OK, and Haines is front and center as STAR. Haines covered most sports and arms of the military in making his films so that the "big game" finale is almost unimportant. He's made the change to manhood and that's really what the finale is about.

I can't think of another actor who could have gotten away with the comic antics Haines displays on screen. The gay subtext is impossible not to see now but apparently contemporary audiences were pretty much unaware. Haines could certainly have made it in films simply by being a romantic leading man--he had the looks. But he invented a unique character in films: the bratty silly goof who always goes too far before he realizes his mistakes. The character didn't play quite so well in talkies but Haines continued the basic formula in most of his films.

Jack Holt starred in a few films with Ralph Graves that seemed to be trying to copy this formula--DIRIGIBLE and FLIGHT come to mind--but without Haines the films were pale copies. Alice Day was the sister of Marceline Day.

Haines made about a dozen talkies, including cameos as himself in a few films. The films were popular but forgettable, although FAST LIFE, REMOTE CONTROL, JUST A GIGOLO, and GET-RICH-QUICK WALLINGFORD are all pretty good.

The Smart Set is the only film I know based on polo. It's not a sport that attracts popular attention, the care and feeding of the animals needed to play polo puts it far beyond the means of the average working person to participate. It's not like bowling.

Not too many people today could tell you who the name polo players are, me included. But in the Golden Age of Sports that the Roaring Twenties was categorized as the Babe Ruth or Jack Dempsey of polo was one Thomas Hitchcock, Jr. who was one colorful character himself. From the horsey set on Long Island, Tommy Hitchcock was among other things a member of the Lafayette Escadrille in World War I, joining as a teen. He was killed in a plane crash in 1941 piloting a test plane for the RAF before America got into that war. Between wars he played a mean game of polo and was quite the society party animal.

And it's his character that William Haines's character of Tommy Van Buren is based. Most of the clichés involving sports films are present here, it's just that they're new for polo. It's a triangle with Haines and fellow polo player Jack Holt in love with Alice Day, a débutante from Long Island. Of course it all ends in the big championship polo match between the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Guess who comes in and saves the day? One guess per reader.

Haines is cocky and brash, Holt is strong and silent, and Day is sweet and demure. That about sums up their characters. Oh, and Haines plays a mean game of footsie at parties. The stars pretty much fit into the stereotyped characters they normally played. Haines even has a horse he loves like a western cowboy normally does, a crack pinto polo pony called Pronto.

It's not a bad film and most typical of the parts on the silent and early sound films that William Haines did. But I can't believe that polo would have too wide an audience today.

I miss silent movies. Even setting aside that the medium lost something (or many somethings) after transitioning to talkies, the least that could be said is that getting a peek into a world of another era, with the values of another era, is fascinating. Being so far removed from the Roaring Twenties there are of course nonetheless many themes and ideas that are timeless, holding true decades later for better and for worse, but it's also the case that even characters who wouldn't be remotely sympathetic in a modern title - such as, say, the self-absorbed athlete of a sport that's known as recreation for the very wealthy - can be made amusing (to one degree or another) through the lens of the past. And so we have 'The smart set,' produced by titanic figures Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg and released in 1928. Even within only the first several minutes there is much to take in in all the above capacities, and I can't say that it's not enjoyable.

For sure, protagonist Tommy is smarmy, conceited, and unlikable, thoughtlessly putting others at risk and actively disregarding norms, laws, and others' wishes and well-being. He's indistinguishable from the worst of modern men; gag me with a spoon. Yet this flick is built as a comedy, and between the contributions of all involved, it quickly shows itself to be a mild delight. It would be more so if Tommy weren't such a complete ogre - I mean, good grief - yet Byron Morgan penned smart, flavorful, peppy scene writing to fill out the narrative of a buffoonish man in desperate need of self-realization, self-awareness, and redemption. Robert Hopkins, serving up the intertitles, similarly provides some sharp, clever dialogue (and expository slides). This is to say nothing of the spirited acting of the cast, including above all William Haines (Tommy) and Alice Day (Polly), and the capable direction of Jack Conway that maintains a zestful spark about the proceedings.

From top to bottom the writing is full of personality (some really awful personality, but still), and that is unfailingly brought out in the direction and acting. No matter the complexity of stunts or any given sequence, all are orchestrated and executed with a deft, skillful hand, including the polo scenes, which are surely a credit as well to the horses and their trainers. To that same end, cinematographer Oliver T. Marsh illustrates a keen eye for detail just like filmmaker Conway, and we're sure at all times to get eyefuls of that which will meaningfully advance the story and/or add to the fun to be had. Even Sam Zimbalist's editing is notably admirable in my opinion. Of course the crew operating behind the scenes also turned in fine work, including sets, costume design, and hair and makeup, not least in visualizing a bygone era. Provided we can abide how loathsome the protagonist is on his rocky, pothole-ridden path to being even a slightly decent person, is there actually anything amiss in this picture?

Well, there's this: over the course of seven reels, this takes a long, long time to move the needle even a little from deep, deep in the territory of "Tommy is a despicable beast" to the nearest border of "maybe there's hope for him after all." Even at that, it seems to me that while it's all played for gentle entertainment, the humor relies heavily on an ugly mean streak at least as much as if not more than on silliness or wit. Tommy gets away with behavior that he never, ever should, in any timeframe or context, and we as an audience are supposed to find it funny? We're supposed to accept that someone so ghoulish would in any reality be fawned over by women, or should gain sympathy - from anyone - before he demonstrates the slightest contrition? After everything he did we're supposed to extend total forgiveness when, within only the last quarter of the length, he starts to show glimmers of humanity? For good measure, add in late, small moments of racist stereotyping, and a racist joke. Oof.

Suffice to say that by the values of any decade, I believe 'The smart set' is far too willing to give our protagonist a pass for his grave flaws, and is far too willing to accept him back into the good graces of civilized society. The allowances we extend for suspension of disbelief, for fiction, and for comedy only go so far. Still, we do get a character arc, and a duly compelling story, and we do have a good time as is intended. It bears repeating that all involved did a swell job, including the stunts (even through to the end), and inasmuch as this is a sports film, the exhibition is unexpectedly splendid, too. I have problems with this title, but it's still worthwhile on its own merits even almost a full century later. Even if you're wholly enamored with the silent era, as I am, I don't think there's any need to go out of your way for this, but even as you should be aware of the issues on hand 'The smart set' is fairly deserving if you have a chance to check it out.

WILLIAM HAINES was Hollywood's early "out of the closet" gay star who became a well-known decorator after he "retired" from his budding film career, thanks to the help of his friend Joan Crawford who had him design her home and led to his successful designer career.

He's at the center of this amusing comedy about a polo player who can't resist grandstanding all the time and showing his high opinion of himself, much to the annoyance of the girl of his dreams (ALICE DAY) and her boyfriend JACK HOLT.

The bulk of the story is energetically played and there's lot of physical comedy as he pursues the girl (mostly in an auto chase that is delightfully filmed) and at a swanky dinner affair where he pulls all sorts of stunts to attract her attention, always with the effect of alienating her affections.

But the last twenty minutes devoted to polo sequences gets a little stale and you begin to miss the comedy aspects that distinguished the first part of the film. The story turns serious with the game about to be lost unless our hero can get in there and play, and there's a stable fire that almost takes the life of his favorite horse during which he becomes the man who leads the horse from the stable.

All in all, a very diverting piece of entertainment, thanks to the presence and charm of WILLIAM HAINES. He does a lot of mugging and isn't afraid to show his gayness by way of gestures and movements that are quite obvious and even daring by today's standards for a leading man. But he radiates cheerfulness and charm in huge doses throughout.

Well worth watching, even if there's too much of the polo game on display toward the end.