I've seen two of Doug's five talkies, this and "The Private Life of Don Juan" (1934). This one was the better of the two, at least in my opinion. I bought it in one of those 50-musicals pack by Mill Creek Entertainment which transfered it from a very high quality VHS master (thinking of it as a 16 mm transfer would be going a little too low because the quality of the picture was great but the sound was very brushy but audible) from a 66 minute cut (the most common version) and while I was watching it, I listened closely in on Doug's rather high-pitched voice, which sounded much better in this picture than in "PLODJ" and at times his performance was gut-bustingly hilarious. I'm referring to a scene where he gets drunk, and starts leaping around the room, climbing up walls, and tackling other hotel guests when they break in to see what all the commotion's about. Had Doug stuck around a little while longer, made more pictures like this one, and not have been so resilient to the constraint of sound (which was slightly improving) he would have been a much better known celebrity even today. I mean, yeah, he was better known for his athletics in the Zorro films, "The Black Pirate", and "Robin Hood" (among others), but even after the days of silent pictures were over, I still think he gave it his best effort when he moved to talkies, as little as he did.
Review of Reaching for the Moon
