A Girl in Every Port (1928 Howard Hughes & scr, prod)

Lively silent buddy film about friendship of two rough sailors and the girl who comes between them. Victor McLaglen and Robert Armstrong are good; Lulu displays the same magnetic, natural playfulness she has in all her twenties films as the no good high diving gold-digger. Speaking of which, that high dive is terrifying.

Has good comic moments (McLaglen knocking out Armstrong so he won't pick any more fights) and moments of real sweetness, e.g. involving kid whose dad has been 'drownded'. And that business of McLaglen pulling Armstrong's finger back into place came from Victor Fleming to Howard Hawks when the latter had hit somebody! (As described in Bogdanovich's 'Who the Devil Made It?' In it, he also gets Hawks to agree that the men have a better relationship between them than with the woman - would say more honest things.)

Myrna Loy is apparently in it uncredited as 'girl in Singapore' which is odd, as I don't recall any scenes in Singapore, and I've only just watched it.