''A Girl in Every Port'' is a 1928 American
silent comedy film based on an original story by
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name."
A v ...
, who directed the film as well. The feature stars
Victor McLaglen,
Robert Armstrong, and
Louise Brooks. It was produced and distributed by the
Fox Film Corporation, which later remade it as ''
Goldie'' in 1931, with
Spencer Tracy and
Jean Harlow. A print of the 1928 movie exists at the
George Eastman House and a DVD-R was released in 2002.
Plot
Spike (McLaglen) travels the world as the mate of a
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
. He has a little address book full of sweethearts, but everywhere he goes, he finds that someone has been there before him, leaving behind with each girl a heart-shaped charm with an anchor inscribed on it. In Central America, he takes a dislike to another sailor, Salami (Armstrong), but before they can settle their differences, they brawl with the police and are thrown in jail. Then Spike notices that Salami has a ring shaped like a heart with an anchor inscribed. He has finally found his nemesis. When they are released, they look for a private place to fight, but accidentally fall into the water. Oddly, Spike cannot swim, so when Salami rescues him, they become the best of friends. Inseparable, they sail the seas on the same ships.
Just before they reach
Marseille, Spike tells Salami he has finally saved enough money to buy a house and some horses, cows and chickens, but Salami scoffs at the idea. When they dock, Salami has to stay aboard due to a toothache and worries that Spike will get into trouble without him. At a carnival, Spike becomes entranced by the high diver "Mam'selle Godiva" (Brooks). When the
barker
Barker may refer to:
Occupations
* Barker (occupation), a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events
* Barker (coachbuilder), a builder of horse-drawn coaches and later of bodywork for prestige cars
* a person who strips tanbar ...
signals her that Spike gave him the most money to watch her performance, she latches onto him. He is so in love with her that he asks her if she would like to settle down with him; she leads him on so she can get the rest of his money.
When Spike first introduces Salami to her, Salami recognizes her. She was his girlfriend at
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
until he left her. She makes it clear that she would very much like to renew their relationship, but he is not interested, nor does he want to hurt Spike by telling him the truth. One night, she sends Spike on an errand so she can visit Salami, whom she finds asleep in bed. She tells him that she has gotten most of Spike's savings and is about to drop him. Salami refuses to take her back; he gets dressed and goes to a bar to get away from her. However, Spike returns to their lodgings and finds her there. He also spots Salami's unmade bed, so he assumes the worst. Meanwhile, Salami gets into a fight with two other sailors and yells for his friend's help. Spike knocks the two men out, then does the same to Salami. After thinking over all the fun they had together, however, he asks Salami if he betrayed him. When Salami says no, they become friends again.
Cast
*
Victor McLaglen as Spike Madden
*
Robert Armstrong as Salami
*
Louise Brooks as Marie
*
Maria Casajuana as Chiquita
*
Natalie Joyce as Girl in Panama
*
Francis McDonald as Gang Leader
*
Leila Hyams as Sailor's Wife
*
Natalie Kingston
Natalie Kingston (born Natalia Ringstrom; May 19, 1905 – February 2, 1991) was an American actress.
Background
Kingston was born as Natalia Ringstrom in Vallejo, California, and raised in San Francisco. She was of Spanish, Hungarian, ...
as South Sea Island Girl
*
Sally Rand as Girl in Bombay
*Dorothy Mathews as Girl in Panama
*Elena Jurado as Girl in Panama
*Phalba Morgan as Lena, girl in Holland
*Felix Valle as Lena's husband
*
Greta Yoltz as Other girl in Holland
*
Caryl Lincoln as Girl from Liverpool
*
William Demarest (uncredited)
*
Myrna Loy (uncredited)
Background
Howard Hawks went on to direct many notable movies, including, ''
Bringing Up Baby'', ''
Sergeant York
Alvin Cullum York (December 13, 1887 – September 2, 1964), also known as Sergeant York, was one of the most decorated United States Army soldiers of World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine ...
'' (nominated for Best Director), ''
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' and ''
Rio Bravo
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
''. Author
Todd McCarthy wrote in his book ''Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood'', that ''A Girl in Every Port'' is considered by film scholars to be the most important film of Hawks's silent career because it is his first film to introduce many of the Hawksian themes and characters that would continue until his final films. It was his first "love story between two men," with two men bonding over their duty, skills and careers and considering their friendship to be more important than relationships with women.
In his book ''Hawks on Hawks'',
Joseph McBride asked the director: "What is the reason for the running bit of business in ''A Girl in Every Port'' of one guy pulling the other guy’s finger?" Hawks replied: "You ever hit anybody hard? Your finger goes out of joint, and somebody takes it and pulls it back into joint. I hit
Hemingway, and I broke the whole back of my hand. I wish it had just gone out of joint." McBride asks him why he hit Hemingway, which Hawks replies: "He just said, Can you hit? I broke my whole hand. He laughed like hell, and he sat up all night making a splint out of a tomato can so that I could go shooting with him the next morning. It didn’t do my hand any good. It’s an absolutely different shape." McBride then asks of Hawks: "Was the finger business in ''A Girl in Every Port'' supposed to be a gesture of friendship? You used it again with
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...
and
Dewey Martin in
The Big Sky." Hawks stated, "Oh, it’s just like Wayne rolling cigarettes for
Dean Martin
Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...
. One thing you can do is look at all the pictures I’ve ever made, and you’ll see that nobody pats another on the back. That’s the goddamnedest inane thing I’ve ever known."
Semper Paratus
During the film's run at the Fox Theater in Washington D.C., a detachment of 50
Coast Guard officers were recruited to appear at the theater for the inauguration of
Semper Paratus, the official song of the U.S. Coast Guard. The song had recently been written by an officer and adopted by Admiral
Frederick C. Billard
Frederick Chamberlayne Billard (22 September 187317 May 1932) served as the sixth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard from 1924 until his death. Billard's military career began with his appointment to the School of Instruction of the Reve ...
,
Commandant of the Coast Guard. The officers appeared at each performance during the rendition of the song.
Versions
The 78-minutes currently available version omits chapters with girls in Liverpool, a South Sea Island, Singapore and Bombay.
These girls are mentioned in some reviews and publicity.
Reviews and reception
Swiss writer
Blaise Cendrars said the film "definitively marked the first appearance of contemporary cinema", and that the movie represented the first of Hawks' "buddy films". A reviewer for ''
The New York Times'' praised the film saying, "the incidents are set forth in a rollicking fashion with none other than the towering Victor McLaglen filling the part of Madden...Robert Armstrong’s acting of the part of Salami is natural. He gives you a good idea of the fearlessness of the individual."
[
'' Variety'']
A Girl in Every Port
', '' Variety'', December 31, 1927. compares the friendship to that of Damon and Pythias.
'' The Film Daily'' reported in March 1928 that the feature had broken the "world's record" for a single day's box office receipts at the Roxy Theater in New York, when it grossed $29,463.00 on Washington's Birthday. An exhibitor from Michigan wrote in the ''Exhibitor's Herald The ''Motion Picture Herald'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1931 to December 1972.Anthony Slide, ed. (1985)''International Film, Radio, and Television Journals'' Greenwood Press. p. 242. It was replaced by the ''QP Heral ...
'' that, "the salesman said that this was a good picture when he sold it to me...time must have rotted it for it is one of the smuttiest pictures on the market. If you want to promote immorality, by all means play this one. I have to use care and precaution in the selection of pictures, and this one brought plenty of criticism".
References
External links
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''A Girl in Every Port''
at Virtual History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Girl In Every Port (1928 Film), A
1928 films
American silent feature films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Howard Hawks
Films produced by William Fox
Films set in Marseille
Seafaring films
Fox Film films
1928 romantic comedy films
American romantic comedy films
Surviving American silent films
1920s American films
Silent romantic comedy films
Silent adventure films
Silent American comedy films