Sailor's Holiday (1929) User Reviews

I actually liked this one!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 11 July 2015]

This silent comedy starring Alan Hale (Senior) is available for free download from internet archive--and it's worth the trouble. It's a harmless but enjoyable film about two sailor buddies who are constantly at odds with a guy from the Shore Patrol (the navy's version of MPs). This time, however, they really are up to nothing...yet events sure make it look like they are. In the process, they get hooked up with a nice young lady (Sally Eilers) and the three of them are constantly on the run and are trying to make it to the home of Adam's (Hale) mama to deliver a gift.

This is a very simple film with a simple plot. But despite this, it is fun and kept my interest throughout and made me laugh. And fortunately, the print archive.org has is high quality and an easy download.

A boring talk-fest!

[JohnHowardReid · 3/10 · 12 June 2016]

This overly talkative little sound movie hails from the days when moviegoers loved to hear lots of talk, talk, talk hitting their ears from the screen. It runs for only 58 minutes, but it seems more like 158 minutes when you are actually watching its almost non-existent plot slowly, inexorably and repetitiously unfold. As said, the script is a nothing. Admittedly, there's plenty of dialogue and a lot of extremely repetitious running around. Production values are rather slim. The direction is also non-existent. It's credited to Fred C. Newmeyer who did such a good job on Seven Keys to Baldpate (1925). Fred obviously slept through this one and simply allowed the sound man to direct it. All the actors say their boring lines clearly, that's for sure. The star, Alan Hale, even has one boring scene in which he shoots off his mouth but says actually nothing of importance for at least five minutes. And the lovely Sally Eilers is disguised for most of the running time by a ridiculous hat.

Grapevine Video presents the movie in two versions, namely the original all-talking theatrical release and a special non-talkie for those theaters that had not yet converted to sound. Both versions run for 58 minutes, despite the insertion of numerous sub-titles in the no- sound print. Fortunately, both prints have survived. Needless to say, the no-sound print is better to watch, as most of the talkie-talkie- talkie dialogue has been scratched and has not been converted to dialogue cards!