If you like movies about football then you might give this silent film a try, though most of the football scenes are near the end of the film. The plot of The Drop Kick is predictable but any film with the wonderful actor Richard Barthelmess in it is worth watching. Richard plays a wealthy college age young man and campus football hero named Jack, who is best friend to the school's football coach named Brad. He also used to date Brad's wife Eunice (played vampishly by actress Dorothy Revier) before the two were married, and she still has her eye on Jack. Eunice spends so much money on herself that her husband's bills are mushrooming, so he steals money from the football team to pay them off. Meanwhile Jack's mother introduces Jack to the lovely Cecily, played by Barbara Kent. At first Jack is polite but uninterested, and takes her to a dance just because his mother (played by Hedda Hopper) asks him to. At the dance Cecily sees Eunice throwing herself at Jack, and Jack kisses her briefly on the dance floor. Crying, Cecily runs outside and Jack follows her. Jack reassures Cecily that she is the prettiest girl at the dance and he suddenly realizes he has fallen in love with her. Eunice is still after Jack, however, or rather, his money, and so the plot thickens as we see Eunice maneuver events to her own selfish purposes. The print I have is from Grapevine Video and the quality is acceptable. I give the film an 8 out of 10.
Review of The Drop Kick
