Joyce in Salute (1929)

 

After a time spent toiling in Hollywood’s margins, Joyce Compton finally arrived as a full-fledged actress in 1929. That year, she received one of her earliest substantial roles in Salute—a film also important in the career of its director, the legendary John Ford. 

In Salute, Joyce is her usual delightful self as a saucy young temptress named Marian Wilson. As with Ford’s other movies, however, the predominant focus lay with the male characters and the strong camaraderie between them. This melodrama splashed with comedy follows the relationship of two brothers: confident, athletic John Randall (George O’Brien, a bit smarmy and reminding this viewer of Pre Code star Ricardo Cortez) and his more cerebral younger brother, Paul Randall (forgettable William Janney). Through a strange set of circumstances, they are raised by separate grandparents, and thus when they come of age they end up attending rival colleges. O’Brien stands out an Army cadet at West Point, while Janney becomes a midshipman at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. The personal and scholarly rivalry between the two young men reaches a climax during the exciting Army-Navy football game at the film’s conclusion.

Salute stumbles along in a clunky mess, displaying all the hallmarks of early talking pictures—it’s awkward, molasses-paced, and incomprehensible at times. Ironically, it became the biggest grosser of 1929 for Fox Studios. I think this was mostly due to the appeal of the young cast and the fact that much of it was shot on location at Annapolis Navy school in Maryland. The film spends an interminable amount of time showing documentary footage of hazing rituals, mealtime procedures, dances, and military dress parades at the school. Based on the sloppy results, one would never suspect that it was directed by the man who would helm iconic Westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers. Ford had already set up his regular players, however, with his casting of the reliable Ward Bond and an uncredited John Wayne as Annapolis upperclassmen who make life difficult for Janney’s green cadet. They add some much-needed spice to the movie, as does the solidly chummy Frank Albertson as another midshipman. It was also fun to see Lee Tracy in his first movie, as the energetic color commentator at the climactic football game.

Joyce is vivacious and lovely as the flirty Marian, a fellow student who comes on the scene as O’Brien’s girlfriend and develops a swift attraction for Janney. She has a rivalry of her own with another girl, Nancy Wayne, played by the delicate and intriguing Helen Chandler of Dracula fame (made two years later at Universal). Joyce’s winning performance in Salute led to Fox offering the 23 year-old actress a long term contract soon after the film’s September, 1929 release.

An additional note: the African American actor Stepin Fetchit appears as one of the offensively slow-witted, subservient comic-relief characters he became famous for. As the regrettably named “Smoke Screen,” Fetchit is every bit as cringe-inducing as you would expect. Proceed with caution.

Salute is one of hundred of films released in 1929 which entered the public domain in the U.S. on January 1st, 2025. Despite its original success and high-profile director, the film never got an official release on DVD. It can be viewed on Archive.org here. 

Salute lobby card with O'Brien, Compton and Janney

Joyce Compton, George O'Brien, William Janney and Helen Chandler

 

Salute lobby card with O'Brien, Janney and Compton

Publicity photo with Janney and Compton

Chandler, Janney, Compton and O'Brien (clockwise) in a scene not included in the final cut.

Publicity photo of Janney and Compton