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Speedway (1929)
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Overview
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7 September 1929 (USA)
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Talking COMEDY! (original poster)
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Bill Whipple is a happy-go-lucky mechanic for MacDonald who thinks that he is the worlds greatest driver and lover...
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William Haines' Last Silent Film
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Cast
(Complete credited cast) | William Haines | ... | Bill Whipple |
 | Anita Page | ... | Patricia 'Pat' Bonner |
 | Ernest Torrence | ... | Jim MacDonald |
| Karl Dane | ... | Dugan |
| John Miljan | ... | Lee Renny |
| Eugenie Besserer | ... | Mrs. MacDonald |
| Polly Moran | ... | Waitress |
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This is a typical William Haines silent film: brash young man makes an ass of himself and lets everyone down. Then he has a "right of passage" in his humiliation and comes back to win the day. No one could play this formula like Haines could, and the formula made him a top MGM star of the late 20s and into the early 30s.
Here he is a mechanic, but the opening scene has him waving to the crowds as Mac's (Ernest Torrence) racing car is towed through the downtown streets of Indianapolis. But Haines is waving and mugging to the crowds as though he is the racing star. He acts the same way when he spies Anita Page and tries to get her attention in a hash house. Haines plays a big goofy kid, and there's no one quite like him in silent films. He's not really a comic, but filmgoers of the era loved his silly antics.
After being a fool and falling for the rival's promises, Haines comes back to save the day (and the race) for old Mac. He also wins the girl.
SPEEDWAY is notable for its location shooting and exciting racing sequences. There's a sound-effect track tacked on to the racing finale but no talking sequences.
Haines and Page are an attractive couple and have chemistry. Torrence is also good as the gruff old man. Karl Dane plays a mechanic. Eugenie Besserer is the mother figure, and Polly Moran is funny as the hash house waitress. John Miljan is the evil Renny.
But this is a William Haines film all the way and he's hardly ever off screen......