One of Canada's earliest feature-length movies, Carry On, Sergeant! spreads itself so thin that it fails to create anything but the sketchiest of personalities. At least its appearance some years after the end of WWI, and just a few before censorship was tightened, means that it's not just a blindly patriotic flag-waver. While the emotional torture of its lead character leads to a believable conclusion, most of the film's good stuff is undone by a comic sidekick who is painful beyond belief.
2 Reviews
Not the British film comedy
Mbakkel26 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
"Carry on, Sergeant!" (1928, Canada). Director: Bruce Bairnsfather.
Starring: Hugh Buckler, Jimmy Savo, Niles Welch and Lewis Dayton.
This film must not be confused with the British comedy with the same name.
If you devote 117 minutes of your life to "Carry on, Sergeant!", you'll probably watch two "firsts": Your first Canadian silent film and your first Canadian war film. It is considered one of the most important films in Canadian film history.
"Carry on Sergeant!" may neither be a classic like "The Big Parade" nor a masterpiece like "All Quiet on the Western Front", but is nonetheless very exciting.
At a cost of $500,000, "Carry on, Sergeant!" was once the biggest-budget film produced in Canada. Much of it was used in the recreation of WWI-era France, with sprawling sets and battlefield scenes (which included hundreds of extras) and the usage of real explosives.
The cinematography is great. The extensive use of chiascuoro lightning adds a touch of poetry to the life in the trenches.
Produced as a silent film when cinemas were transitioning to sound, "Carry on Sergeant!" had only a brief two-month run at the box office before it was removed from circulation in January 1929. The film fell into obscurity for several years before Gordon Sparling donated a print to Library and Archives Canada, which resulted in a complete restoration of the film in 1990.
Talented Canadian actors and directors - like Mack Sennett, Walter Pidgeon and Mary Pickford - went to USA and pursued successful careers in Hollywood.
The director of this film, Bruce Bairnsfather, and one of the lead actors, Hugh Buckler, were British, while the other lead actor, Jimmy Savo, was an American comedian.
Bairnsfather's insistence on portraying the soldiers as flawed human beings lead to some criticism from those who expected a straightforward glorification of Canada's war effort.
"Carry on, Sergeant!" briefly also deals with the war effort of soldiers from the French colonies in Africa. I was sad when I watched them being poisoned to death in the trenches. I thought: So far away from their homes, fighting for the cause of a people who oppresses them.
Jimmy Savo (who looks like a cross between Åke Söderblom and Eddie Cantor) seems to have been thrown in from a military farce. Some viewers may therefore find his appearance inappropriate. His gags never interfere with the progression of the story and they don't downplay the brutality and grimness of the war. In fact, I think that Savo's funny character serves as a counterbalace to the dark realities.
STORY: "Carry on, Sergeant" is about the WWI experiences of three men, all of which are connected with the Atlas Locomotive Works. Fireman Bob MacKay is adept both as a worker, soldier and officer. His fellow fireman, Syd Small, is inept both as a worker and soldier. Donald Cameron is the son of the company's president.
MacKay hears of the urgent need for information and abducts a German soldier, who carries important papers in his pocket. For this brave effort Private MacKay is promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
A minor subplot features a German spy, using the fake name of Mr. Moran.
Starring: Hugh Buckler, Jimmy Savo, Niles Welch and Lewis Dayton.
This film must not be confused with the British comedy with the same name.
If you devote 117 minutes of your life to "Carry on, Sergeant!", you'll probably watch two "firsts": Your first Canadian silent film and your first Canadian war film. It is considered one of the most important films in Canadian film history.
"Carry on Sergeant!" may neither be a classic like "The Big Parade" nor a masterpiece like "All Quiet on the Western Front", but is nonetheless very exciting.
At a cost of $500,000, "Carry on, Sergeant!" was once the biggest-budget film produced in Canada. Much of it was used in the recreation of WWI-era France, with sprawling sets and battlefield scenes (which included hundreds of extras) and the usage of real explosives.
The cinematography is great. The extensive use of chiascuoro lightning adds a touch of poetry to the life in the trenches.
Produced as a silent film when cinemas were transitioning to sound, "Carry on Sergeant!" had only a brief two-month run at the box office before it was removed from circulation in January 1929. The film fell into obscurity for several years before Gordon Sparling donated a print to Library and Archives Canada, which resulted in a complete restoration of the film in 1990.
Talented Canadian actors and directors - like Mack Sennett, Walter Pidgeon and Mary Pickford - went to USA and pursued successful careers in Hollywood.
The director of this film, Bruce Bairnsfather, and one of the lead actors, Hugh Buckler, were British, while the other lead actor, Jimmy Savo, was an American comedian.
Bairnsfather's insistence on portraying the soldiers as flawed human beings lead to some criticism from those who expected a straightforward glorification of Canada's war effort.
"Carry on, Sergeant!" briefly also deals with the war effort of soldiers from the French colonies in Africa. I was sad when I watched them being poisoned to death in the trenches. I thought: So far away from their homes, fighting for the cause of a people who oppresses them.
Jimmy Savo (who looks like a cross between Åke Söderblom and Eddie Cantor) seems to have been thrown in from a military farce. Some viewers may therefore find his appearance inappropriate. His gags never interfere with the progression of the story and they don't downplay the brutality and grimness of the war. In fact, I think that Savo's funny character serves as a counterbalace to the dark realities.
STORY: "Carry on, Sergeant" is about the WWI experiences of three men, all of which are connected with the Atlas Locomotive Works. Fireman Bob MacKay is adept both as a worker, soldier and officer. His fellow fireman, Syd Small, is inept both as a worker and soldier. Donald Cameron is the son of the company's president.
MacKay hears of the urgent need for information and abducts a German soldier, who carries important papers in his pocket. For this brave effort Private MacKay is promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
A minor subplot features a German spy, using the fake name of Mr. Moran.
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