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No restatement of the plot of Smilin' Through"conceived by Jane Cowl who acted in it in 1919-22—can make it seem other than a balderdash tearjerker. Basically this is a fair estimate of the picture. But Smilin' Through possesses also all the qualities which make cinema a persuasive art and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer the most persuasive of cinemanufacturers. Director Sidney Franklin* treated his story with the manner appropriate for an afternoon in the attic peeking at grandmother's love letters. Leslie Howard and Fredric March act with finish and aplomb. Norma Shearer's part, immensely different from the ones she has lately played in parlor tragedies, is the one Norma Talmadge originated for the cinema in 1922. Miss Shearer performs it ably, a little less effectively in a blonde wig as Moonyeen than later as the grown-up Kathleen.
Madison Square Garden (Paramount). Local color has been an increasing fad in the cinema for the last two years and this picture is its apotheosis. There are some 19 shots of real sporting events at Manhattan's famed arena (which does not resemble a garden and is about two miles from Madison Square). An exact replica of the Garden marquee was made in Hollywood and reappears constantly. The faces of Jack Johnson, Stanislaus Zbyszko, Tommy Ryan, Billy Papke and Tod Sloan are introduced briefly; they represent the tradition of clean, wholesome sport. The picture was made during the Olympic Games at Los Angeles and it was therefore feasible for Paramount to persuade several real sportswriters to perform in it. Grantland Rice, Westbrook Pegler, Paul Gallico. Damon Runyon. Jack Lait appear momentarily, drinking coffee; Runyon speaks but Pegler is to be recognized only by his right out. In all this welter of authenticity, it is only natural for the story of Madison Square Garden to seem a little unreal by comparison. It is mainly about a young middleweight (Jack Oakie) and his manager (William Collier Sr.). The manager takes the job of matchmaker at the Garden and the middleweight, left to shift for himself, falls into the hands of a racketeering manager. Partly because Oakie's opponent is Mushey Callahan, a onetime contender for the U. S. welterweight championship, the climactic prizefight is better organized than most such scuffles in the cinema. Callahan has plaster of Paris on his bandages to make his fists hard, but it is not enough to knock out Oakie. When the fight is over, Oakie reassures his girl (Marion Nixon), then goes, accompanied by the other right-thinking members of the cast including Jack Johnson, to take physical revenge on the racketeers. Good shot: an addled headed wrestler (Warren Hymer) training in a gymnasium which is an exact reproduction of Lou Stillman's at 316 W. 5th St., Manhattan.