Brown of Harvard *** (1926, William Haines, Ralph Bushman, Mary Brian, Jack Pickford) – Classic Movie Review 7640

Director Jack Conway’s 1926 MGM silent drama Brown of Harvard stars William Haines, Jack Pickford and Mary Brian and is based on the hit 1906 Broadway play by Rida Johnson Young, who also co-wrote the popular music for the play with Melvin Ellis. Haines does well in this once highly popular MGM silent movie, one of the first and finest college buddy movies, a fairly sparky screen adaptation of the pre-World War One stage hit.

The film is best known of the three Brown of Harvard films, following two previous silents in 1911 and 1918. It is notable for a typical Haines starring role and for featuring John Wayne’s uncredited screen debut, playing a Yale football player.

Grady Sutton and Robert Livingston, who went on to long careers, also appear uncredited and it also includes future Boston Redskins coach William ‘Lone Star’ Dietz and the only Washington State University football team to win a Rose Bowl.

Haines plays caddishly handsome, athletic, carefree, confident and cocky Harvard University student Tom Brown, a Don Juan popular on campus but in conflict with studious Bob McAndrew (Francis X Bushman Jr, aka Ralph Bushman), his rival in the football team and rowing crew and also for the heroine, beautiful professor’s daughter Mary Abbott (Mary Brian). Tom rooms with nice introspective bookworm Jim Doolittle (Jack Pickford), who idolises him. Tom wins over his dorm mates and refuses to let them ostracise the sickly Jim.

Also in the cast are David Torrence as Mr Brown, Mary Alden as Mrs Brown, Edward Connelly, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams and Ernest Gillen [aka Donald Reed], with Richard Alexander, Robert Livingston, Doris Lloyd, Grady Sutton,  Daniel G Tomlinson and Percy Williams Butler.

Brown of Harvard is directed by Jack Conway, runs 85 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Donald Ogden Stuart (adaptation), A P Younger [Andrew Percival Younger] (scenario) and Joe [Joseph] Farnham (titles), is shot in black and white by Ira H Morgan, and is designed by Cedric Gibbons and Arnold Gillespie.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7640

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