Imagine a version of What Price Glory in which the two brawlin' rivals take on a big drug dealer who has a James Bond-like lair complete with submarine. You couldn't have sold that as a blaxploitation film to AIP in the 70s-- though you might be able to sell it as a Jackie Chan movie now-- but who'd have ever thought that you could have sold it as a John Ford picture at Fox in the twenties? That's basically what this very minor but watchable Ford film is about; it might be better if the lost footage, sadly, didn't include the big naval battle scene in the middle. Gaynor is charming as the object of the rivals' affection, though this is no rival to Sunrise as a pairing of her and O'Brien.
Review of The Blue Eagle
