Tell It to the Marines

Lon Chaney in a rare departure from horror and crime — a rousing, entertaining military comedy-drama that became one of the biggest box-office hits of 1926. Chaney plays Sergeant O'Hara, a grizzled Marine Corps drill instructor who whips raw recruits into shape while secretly harboring a soft spot for his most troublesome charge (William Haines, charming and cocky). When the action shifts to the Philippines and China, the film delivers genuinely exciting combat sequences alongside a tender romance and Chaney's unexpectedly warm comic performance. The U.S. Marines cooperated fully with the production, and the military authenticity shows. Chaney proves that without any makeup or prosthetics, armed only with his extraordinary face and his gift for physical expression, he could command the screen as powerfully as any monster or villain he ever played.