During World War I, thousands of soldiers trained at Camp Lewis, now JBLM, before being sent overseas. A decade later, the post was transformed into war-torn France for the silent film “The Patent Leather Kid.”
From Page to Screen
One of the last silent films, “The Patent Leather Kid,” tells the story of a boxer from New York City’s Lower Eastside—who uses patent leather boxing gloves—who tries to avoid military service during World War I but ends up drafted into the Army. Ultimately, he finds courage and becomes a war hero, although badly wounded.
Created by First National Pictures, the story was written by Rupert Hughes and Winifred Dunn. The 12-reel war drama/romance was a departure for director Alfred Santell, better known for his two-reel comedies. The film starred Richard Barthelmess (1895-1963), one of the highest-paid actors of the era, as “The Kid” and Molly O’Day (1909-1998) as his girlfriend “Curley.” Although her first feature film, she beat 2,000 contenders for the role.
While interior shots were filmed in the studio, the company needed somewhere to film outdoor battle scenes. They chose Camp Lewis, near Tacoma, perhaps inspired by H.C. Weaver Productions Company, which made silent movies in Tacoma during the 1920s.
The film crew transformed Camp Lewis into the fields and forests of France. They reused the barracks for training camp scenes, constructed a French village and church, and reused the 35 miles of trenches dug a decade before. Painted glass backgrounds did the rest.
Roll Film!
Location work began in March 1927. Cast and crew arrived by special train from Hollywood, making the Camp Lewis Inn their headquarters. The Inn is now home to the Lewis Army Museum.
Four thousand soldiers from the Sixth Engineers (Camp Lewis), Fourth Infantry (Fort Lawton) and Seventh Infantry (Vancouver Barracks) played American soldiers. Five hundred ROTC students from the University of Washington and 500 civilians from Tacoma and Seattle played the Germans. Extras were paid two dollars a day, plus meals and board in the leaky old 364th Infantry barracks. A few wives of the members of the 6th Engineers played French refugee women. Molly O’Day never came to Tacoma.
Among the extras was Lester Hunt, Tacoma Daily Ledger political writer. He wrote about filming in his daily column. “I served a ten-minute enlistment with the American Army,” he quipped on April 24, after he played a machine gunner in a tank driven by Corporal K.M. Scarfine of the Third Tank Company. That same day, Hunt portrayed a dead German soldier and a dying American. Another time, he even played a French peasant woman cheering marching American soldiers. Hunt was a German machine gunner atop the church’s belfry during the climax.
Filming began with training camp scenes on March 18. The weather proved a problem, and rain stopped shooting for many days.
Battle scenes were handled in cooperation with Brigadier General Robert Alexander, commander of Camp Lewis. Some scenes, especially ones involving explosions, proved dangerous. One crewman nearly had his head blown off by a flare, and an ROTC student was hospitalized after being hit in the eye by flying rocks.
Thousands flocked to watch the filming. Some brought picnic baskets. Police directed parking for people coming to watch filming nighttime battle scenes.
Cast and Crew in Tacoma
Cast and crew made several appearances in Tacoma during filming. Lawford Davis, advertised in local newspapers as “Screenland’s Most Celebrated Villain,” appeared at Pantages before the showing of his film, “The County Beyond.” He played Captain Breen in “The Patient Leather Kid.”
Star Richard Barthelmess made several appearances as well. On March 21, he shared the stage at Tacoma’s First Baptist Church with director Santell, producer Al Rockett and Brigadier General Alexander, where they were roasted by comedian Will Rogers.
On Tacoma Screens
Filming wrapped up in May, and “The Patent Leather Kid” premiered in August. The movie’s depiction of tank warfare was praised for its realism.
Tacoma theaters were already playing sound films when the movie finally arrived in Tacoma on Friday, April 27, 1928, at the Rialto Theater. According to advertisements, by May 1, an estimated 20,000 Tacomans had come to see it. “You’ll see a Great Picture,” promised the Tacoma News Tribune on April 28, “possibly you are in it.” Lester Hunt was sure of it himself. “I am in that picture somewhere,” he wrote in the Ledger, “and I’ll find myself if I have to run the film all night.”
The movie passed through other local theaters in the coming months.
Today, “The Patent Leather Kid” is considered a classic. Richard Barthelmess was nominated for Best Actor Oscar for his role in the film, and Molly O’Day was declared one of the upcoming 1928 “WAMPAS Baby Stars” actresses. The two reunited in the 1928 film “Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come.” Both were able to transition to “talkies.” Director Alfred Santell continued making movies into the mid-1940s.
Unlike many silent films, “The Patent Leather Kid” movie has been preserved and is available online. But the story was more than that of one fictional boxer. It was about a generation’s sacrifice. “We hope,” star Richard Barthelmess told the Tacoma Ledger during filming, “the picture will be a real credit to the service and to the boys who were ‘over there.’” Camp Lewis helped tell that story.
