The story in "Get the Girl" is simple. Dick (Talmadge) gets on a train where he meets an heiress heading to collect her fortune. However, if she doesn't arrive on time, Ruth (Shirley Grey) will forfeit her money–and a gang of hired thugs will do anything to stop her. Naturally, Dick comes to the rescue and spends almost the entire movie trying to save her from these crooks…as well as a mad doctor.<br/><br/>According to IMDb, while Richard Talmadge wasn't a famous movie star in the US, he was popular abroad (particularly in the USSR). When you see this film, it's easy to see why. Although he didn't have good looks, Talmadge was an acrobat…and he is VERY acrobatic in the film. And, since it was intended for international release, the film has a super-simple plot and is action-oriented. They didn't even bother adding any music to the movie–but relied almost exclusively on Tadmadge's physical stunts to carry the film. While Americans wouldn't think much of "Get That Girl", I could see how it would do better abroad…especially in countries where they hadn't yet switched to sound. In many ways, the film is like a silent action movie and simply adding a few intertitle cards could make it a silent. Overall, I'd say it's not a very good sound film but would make a dandy silent–particularly since the sound quality is rather poor. Richard Talmadge had started off as a stuntman and made a big splash in the Thanhauser serial "The Million Dollar Mystery" where his daredevil stunts got him noticed. By the end of the silents he had a high reputation as a stuntman and producer of solid action films but his soft, high pitched, slightly accented voice (he was from Munich) made him yet another talkie casualty. He kept up his stunt work and production company but now it was strictly small time and his films were released on a state's rights basis. In fact the death defying stunts are the best part of "Get That Girl" which also starred Shirley Grey, a pretty, sensitive actress whose career just didn't take off - she in turn had to compete with sultry Geneva Mitchell as Nedra, nymphomaniac wife of mad scientist Dr. Tito.<br/><br/>Grey plays Ruth Dale who is pursued onto the train by three men (one dressed as a woman!!) and she seems to think one of them is<br/><br/>tractor salesman Dick (Talmadge) who has persistently tried to be friendly with her but is tricked into making a disturbance and then thrown off the train. It's the old story, Ruth is an heiress and the three men are after her inheritance.<br/><br/>She is taken to an old sanitarium (followed closely by Dick) that is being run as a cover for oddball experiments. Drug addicted Doctor Tito ("you know what that stuff does to you") is experimenting with trying to turn women into mannequins - there are a few "unfortunate mistakes" lying around. There is one unexplained plot line. The old gardener brings forth a scream of recognition in Nedra, it is obvious that they know each other but that is not explained and later on the same elderly gentleman seems fascinated with Ruth and tries to help her escape but, again, that plot line is dropped and never explained!!
Reiath replied
344 weeks ago