Review of Tell It to the Marines

I know that many people consider Chaney's best performances to be Quasimodo and the Phantom, but I found his acting overwrought and slightly impossible to watch. This film, however, shows a more understated Chaney, gruff and lovable, kind of like Victor McLaglen without all the soppy John Ford Irish sentimentality and slapstick. Chaney's performance isn't the only highlight. William Haines plays yet another of his engaging all-American heroes and he's cute, too! Eleanor Boardman has little to do, but she does it well. As far as I'm concerned, she should have gone off with Chaney, not Haines, because I think Chaney was as much of a looker as the sex symbols of the time!