Jack Conway,William Haines, Alice Day, silent film, silent movie stars, classic film, old movies, silent film, silent era, archive films, rare films, silent comedy, silent classics

    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.

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   Alice Day and William Haines