"The Smart Set" (1928)

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Out Yonder 1919 The Woman God Forgot 1917 That Model from Paris 1926 For Better for Worse 1919 Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall 1924

OUR DOCUMENTARY

We are proud to present to all silent film lovers our multiple award-winning documentary! In March 2015 it won the distinction "Award of Merit" at the San Francisco Film Awards. In May it won the Silver Award at the 2015 International Independent Film Awards. In September 2015 it won the Award of Recognition at the Accolade Global Film Competition. Of equal merit is the inclusion of the documentary in the Official Selection of the San Jose International Short Film Festival in October 2015. In December the documentary won the extremely prestigious Diamond Award at the 2015 California Film Awards. The amazing run of recognition for our documentary continued in 2016. In February it was included in the Official Selection of the Buffalo Niagara International Film Festival.

San Francisco Film Awards new International Independent Film Awards new Accolade Global Film Competition Award new San Jose International Short Film Festival new California Film Awards small new

Alice-Day-and-William-Haines-in-The-Smart-Set-director-Jack-Conway-1928-60

Alice Day and William Haines

Directed by Jack Conway
Produced by       Louis B. Mayer, Irving Thalberg
Starring    William Haines, Alice Day
Cinematography    Oliver Marsh
Distributed by    Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date             March 24, 1928
Running time       80 minutes
Country    United States
Language    Silent, English intertitles

We have included this film in our program to illustrate the work and contributions of our star Alice Day.

The film is still under copyright, which prevents us from streaming it on our site. We will be able to show you this nice movie in 2023.

"The Smart Set" is a romantic comedy-drama of the kind that involves a sports game. In this case it is an English game by the name of polo, where horse riders chase a little ball with sticks across the field and score goals in a gate without a goalkeeper.

William Haines plays the role of Tommy, a superficial and conceited young fellow, who is gifted at polo, and gets a place in the team just before an important international competition. William Haines bumps into Alice Day (Polly) at a traffic stop and starts following her around. By a trick of circumstance Alice Day is the daughter of a veteran polo player, whose place William Haines has been chosen to take. Of course, when Alice Day learns this, she is further put off by this guy with strange mannerisms.

William Haines's disregard for fellow team members and reckless riding are the cause for his expulsion from the team. His father decides that William Haines has disgraced the family name, with which generations before have been national team polo players. His horse is put up for an auction, but Alice Day steps in and makes sure that her father makes the winning bid and the horse doesn't go to a stranger. She is moved to see William Haines bid a tearful farewell to his beloved horse.

Later William Haines mans up - he first rescues his horse after a fire breaks out in the stable, and then speaking with Alice Day takes responsibility for his actions. She sees that he is a new kind of guy, and they reconcile. During the final game the captain gets injured, and although William Haines is his bitter rival for Alice Day's affections, the captain convinces the trainer to invite William back into the team for the few final minutes. Being the best player, and now concentrating on team work, William Haines turns a losing game around and brings victory to the US team.

By the way, during this final America beat the British at their own game, at least in this film.

It appears that occasionally William Haines goes a little over the top with his comic antics in this film. On the contrary, Alice Day delivers a very nice measured performance in both the comedic and the dramatic episodes.

The film enjoys a very strong rating in IMDB.