Smith's Pony (1927)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Jimmy Smith (Raymond McKee) takes his wife (Ruth Hiatt) and young daughter (Mary Ann Jackson) on a trip to San Francisco where they end up at a horse and pony show. Soon the kid is wanting a pony of her own so the father makes a deal with a worker (Carole Lombard), which his wife mistakes as them two having something else going on. SMITH'S PONY isn't a great film but it's certainly quite watchable. This was just one film in a very popular series and even though it's the first one I've seen, I will say that I enjoyed it enough to where I'd want to watch some of the others. There are a couple reasons that this film will remain interesting to film buffs. For one, Mary Ann Jackson appears here years before she'd get really famous for her work on Hal Roach's Our Gang series. There's also Lombard who gets a special billing here even though her role is pretty small. Most people seem to forget that Mack Sennett was the one who really found her and begin pushing her into bigger roles. She's certainly watchable here, although there's no question that she's not given too much to do. Both McKee and Hiatt have some nice chemistry together, which leads to some fun moments. I thought the best stuff happened during the first half of the film and especially a sequence in Chinatown were some Chinese men have their noddles replaced with something less tasty.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Jimmy Smith (Raymond McKee) takes his wife (Ruth Hiatt) and young daughter (Mary Ann Jackson) on a trip to San Francisco where they end up at a horse and pony show. Soon the kid is wanting a pony of her own so the father makes a deal with a worker (Carole Lombard), which his wife mistakes as them two having something else going on. SMITH'S PONY isn't a great film but it's certainly quite watchable. This was just one film in a very popular series and even though it's the first one I've seen, I will say that I enjoyed it enough to where I'd want to watch some of the others. There are a couple reasons that this film will remain interesting to film buffs. For one, Mary Ann Jackson appears here years before she'd get really famous for her work on Hal Roach's Our Gang series. There's also Lombard who gets a special billing here even though her role is pretty small. Most people seem to forget that Mack Sennett was the one who really found her and begin pushing her into bigger roles. She's certainly watchable here, although there's no question that she's not given too much to do. Both McKee and Hiatt have some nice chemistry together, which leads to some fun moments. I thought the best stuff happened during the first half of the film and especially a sequence in Chinatown were some Chinese men have their noddles replaced with something less tasty.