Starring: J. Farrell MacDonald, Nancy Drexel, David Rollins, Louise Fazenda, Harry Schultz
Writers: Fred Stanley & James Gruen
Cinematography: Charles G. Clarke
Editor: Alex Troffey
Music: Erno Rapee (musical director) & S.L. Rothafel (music arranger)
B&W, 1h 8m. 1.20:1 presentation.
Released on: November 25, 1928 by Fox Film Corporation.
My experience: YouTube
Well, I guess I was wrong about Hangman's House being John Ford's final silent film, as while Riley the Cop was made at the beginning of the sound era and has a musical score, it is still a silent film, of the sort Chaplin made in the 1930s (I'm specifically referencing 1931's City Lights and 1936's Modern Times). Reflecting on it, I am reminded that I should leave preconceived notions at the door, and accept films for what they are. I like to think that I do this anyways but at times I'm afraid I do fall into the trap on the odd occasion.
To wit, this viewing. Having recently watched a few films in which John Ford playing in the cinematic sandbox, utilizing expressionism, light and shadow, and his usual masterful camera placement, I was originally quite disappointed with Riley the Cop, which started off well enough with an interesting shot of the titular policeman's shadow on a cement sidewalk. I settled into my chair expecting a police drama with lots of chiaroscuro lighting and was a bit perplexed when it turned out to be a character comedy. No cinematic tricks, not much of a storyline to speak of. I was, quite frankly, disappointed. My original thoughts were that Ford must have been a director for hire on this one, and just phoned it in whilst in the midst of one of his drunken stupors. But something in the film stuck with me, and upon reflection I realized I was bringing my own preconceptions to the table. While nobody will mistake Riley the Cop for a masterpiece, it is a decent enough comedy and Ford seems to be enjoying focusing on the comedic elements rather than the technical.
Many of Ford's films are populated with side characters who serve as comic relief from the main storyline. Now imagine a film ignoring said main story, and focusing its gaze on the side characters for a whole movie. That, essentially, is what Riley the Cop does. In fact, one of Ford's favourite character actors, J. Farrell MacDonald, who he cast in many of his films in comedic sidekick roles over the years, is the titular Riley, which further hammers home this theory. Riley is the type of cop who does the least amount of work possible, content to walk his beat talking to people, playing stickball games with young kids (and running away after breaking a window), and encouraging bylaw breakers to move to another cop's beat. This bothers the sticklers in his squad, such as Krausmeyer (Harry Schultz), to no end. In fact, Riley hasn't made an arrest in twenty years of service. He encourages the romance of a young couple on his beat, Davy (David Rollins) and Mary (Nancy Drexel).
When Mary goes to Europe to visit her aunt for the summer, and Davy -- who works at a bakery -- follows her, having somehow come up with the $5,000 necessary to make the trop -- Riley is dispatched and tasked with bringing him back home on suspicion of misbegotten funds. While there, he meets Lena Krausmeyer (Louise Fazenda), a woman working at a bierhalle, and goes on an adventure -- prisoner in tow -- from Berlin to Paris, involving in his escapades a Parisian taxi driver (silent comedy star Billy Bevan). All is right as rain in the end, as these things go. Boy and girl are reunited, Davy is proven innocent, Riley keeps his job and his German liebchen (and gains an unwelcome brother-in-law), and everyone leaves the theatre happy.
There are some pretty funny moments in Riley the Cop, which I only appreciated when I had taken off my "John Ford is a serious filmmaker and visionary genius" glasses, and seen the film for what it is: Ford indulging his comic side. Understandable, after a couple of quite serious efforts in Four Sons and Hangman's House. While Riley's lack of effort on the job still annoys me, it's still somewhat amusing. What I really appreciated was that the film went off in directions I wasn't expecting, namely the 1920s style European Vacation back half of the flick. While Riley is ostensibly the cop and Davy his prisoner, a running gag has the suspected embezzler being the lackadaisical policeman's minder, trying to get him to focus on doing his job rather than larking around the continent. Another hilarious situation occurs in a hotel room in Paris, in a scene that would not have had a chance of playing six years later, in which Riley wakes up in a hotel room with two attractive females, only to have Lena walk in. Turns out they were undercover cops escorting their American counterpart back home after a bender at a Parisian nightclub, but the comedy involving Riley, Lena, the two ladies and the cab driver is handled quite well.
At the end of the day, Riley the Cop is both an unusual yet quite Fordian entry in John Ford's filmography. If you're expecting a piece of cinematic genius like The Searchers or The Grapes of Wrath, you'll be sorely disappointed. If you take it as what it is, a lighthearted silent comedy, you'll be entertained. How much is entirely up to you. YMMV.
Six procrastinating policemen out of ten.
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