The Tomboy (1924) User Reviews

Romantic Comedy

[boblipton · 6/10 · 14 May 2007]

Although listed as a melodrama, this is a romantic comedy of the Mabel Normand feature mold, with the lead charmingly played by Dorothy Devore. Miss Devore plays Tommy, a young woman who runs a boarding house for her father, an inventor of eccentric devices, and the boarders are the usual collection of neurotics in such an effort.

Although no world beater, Miss Devore knows how to play this sort of role, and while there is little subtlety expended in the performances or title cards, there is a good effort, a subplot involving moonshiners that is well integrated into the story and, for once, the usually pointless Harry Gribbon has a good comic role. This one is worth looking at.

Sky Horses!

[kidboots · 7/10 · 18 September 2014]

Dorothy Devore was one of the highest paid comic heroines of the 1920s. She started out in Christie Comedies but in the 20s found herself at Warners where her salary reached $2,500. Eventually she brought out her contract when she was asked to be one of Rin Tin Tin's leading ladies, a sure sign that her fortunes were falling (June Marlowe inherited that thankless role). Devore's fortunes never recovered and her career petered out in the late 1920s.

Initially the film comes across as a tedious comedy better suited to a three reeler - first title is "Oakville - all that ever stopped there was the clocks", I've seen that title in so many comedies!! "Tomboy" Tommy Smith (Devore) has inherited a run down boarding house - and all work falls to her especially when Dad's rheumatics limit his activities to just sitting in an easy chair!! The titles are whimsical, the sheriff "couldn't run down a pair of heels even though he puts his sole into it"!! Yes, it is similar to "Mickey" and Devore even dresses the same with dungarees and long ringlets but she is no Mabel Normand (by a long way) and there are no touches of pathos or sensitivity. All comedy is played very broadly!!

When a new man comes to stay, Alden Farwell (Herbert Rawlinson), the race is on between Tommy and Sweetie (Helen Lynch), the town vamp, as to who will grab his attention. One person who is very keen not to be noticed by Farwell is Daddy Smith and "Our Gang's" Pete the pup makes his appearance as the family dog and provides one of the funniest moments in the movie when Tommy takes his chain collar to give her father a watch chain - after all "that's how you can tell a gentleman from a ne'er do well". Pete sure makes his feelings felt - just by the expressions on his face!!

There is a scene half way through that lifts the movie above the also rans. Alden really likes Tommy and tells her she can go anywhere in the world using her imagination - so on their "sky horses" they travel to New York, Hollywood and romantic Italy. There is also some trick photography involved when Tommy's dead mother appears, to warn her that danger is afoot!! The new man is not just an amiable traveller, he is a federal agent whose trailing of rum runners leads him to sleepy Oakville and Tommy is anxious that the trail doesn't end with her father!! The ending is completely unexpected and it was interesting to see Herbert Rawlinson in a role where he felt more at home, other than the hilariously harassed plastic surgeon from Ed. Wood Jnr's "Jailbait".

Tomboy, yes! Beautiful too!

[JohnHowardReid · 9/10 · 19 April 2014]

The present outpouring of interesting, extremely watchable silent movies made by small, independent companies like Chadwick Pictures, continues with The Tomboy. By minor studio standards, production values are excellent. Whatever you do, don't look up the cast credits for this movie before you actually see it, as they are a dead plot giveaway. So long as you remain in the dark, it's a pretty interesting plot too and extremely well acted by all concerned, particularly by pretty, tomboyish heroine, Dorothy Devore, hero Herbert Rawlinson, and heroine's grand-dad, James Barrows. The director, David Kirkland, was previously unknown to me, but if The Tomboy represents his usual standards, I hope some more of his work soon becomes available. This movie was excitingly photographed by Hollywood's then top freelance (He Who Gets Slapped, The Goose Woman), Milton Moore. Fortunately, a very good print of the full 6-reel, 83 minutes version of the movie is now available on an Alpha DVD.