Libramedi
Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant
Orla Zuniga
It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review
Derry Herrera
Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.
Allissa
.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
JohnHowardReid
Presented by Winchester Pictures. (An Alpha DVD). Copyright 29 June 1936 by Republic Pictures Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: 22 October 1936. 7 reels. 65 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Although described by the TV Feature Film Source Book as an "action western", this is not a western at all. Instead, Boyd plays a would-be hot-shot newspaper reporter on the trail of an absconding utilities chief/thief.NOTES: Final screen appearance of Bill Boyd in a role other than Hopalong Cassidy. In fact, Boyd had already starred in no less than seven "Hoppy" entries before Haines was released. COMMENT: It must have been no less of a surprise to contemporary audiences to find Bill Boyd playing a non-Hoppy role, as it is to us. Especially as he seems uncomfortable in the part. True, he does improve noticeably as the plot progresses, but this only serves to discomfort the audience even further. For the script turns out to be an odd - but surprisingly agreeable - mixture of musical comedy, light romance and murder mystery. As often as not, Boyd is the fall guy. But after the opening reel or two, he does handle the comic twists, the romantic banter and the eager helper rather charismatically. However, the title is a bit of a misnomer. Haines is a go-getter chiefly in his own imagination. In fact, he soon drops his brash manner and reveals himself to be a bit of a softie at heart. Boyd's rabid fans will undoubtedly be disappointed that he has only one real spurt of action - but it's an exciting little chase with Bill doing his own stunt-work. Another, if minor, unsettling feature for Hoppy fans is the somewhat less than flattering way our hero is presented and photographed. It's Eleanor Hunt (from Whoopee (1930) who captures all the best lighting and angles. True, despite her third billing, she has the most colorful part, plus two or three songs - which she handles delightfully - quite putting Miss Terry in the shade. LeRoy Mason plays the half-and-half heavy with just the right touch of heartiness, whilst Lloyd Ingraham as the seemingly too easily persuaded captain, Clarence Geldert as a ripe old avuncular actor, Louis Natheaux as a most untrustworthily nosy steward, Jimmy Aubrey as an invariably put-upon but amiable drunk, and Lee Shumway as the absconding financier make the most of the many golden opportunities the well-paced, neatly-drawn script hands them. Hilliard is a conventional editor, but his role is happily small. Most of the film was photographed on board a real ship, with plenty of passengers milling around as extras. This certainly gives production values a considerable boost. Director Sam Newfield has actually risen to the occasion, turning in such a remarkably polished job (at least by his extremely humble standards) that we have no hesitation in judging Go-Get-'Em Haines as the best of his output - an output so prolific he was forced to use no less than two pseudonyms ("Sherman Scott" and "Peter Stewart") to disguise his omni-presence.
MartinHafer
Long before he became famous as the cowboy 'Hopalong Cassidy', William Boyd was a star during the late silent and early talkie periods. By about 1936, his prospects had diminished a bit and by the mid-30s he was mostly making B-movies for smaller studios--in this case Winchester. Now this does not mean they were bad films--just lower budgeted ones that had relatively simple plots because the films were barely an hour long. Of all the B genres, the murder mystery movies were among the most popular. Now "Go Get 'Em, Haines" does not begin as a murder mystery. The reporter, Haines (Boyd) is following a tycoon aboard a cruise ship looking for a story but soon a murder occurs and who better to solve it other than our handsome hero (well, actually, the POLICE would be a good bet...but you rarely see them called in initially in such films).Overall, "Go Get 'Em, Haines" is about what you'd expect--a mildly entertaining film where the leading man does a very good job. This isn't surprising, as Cassidy had already made quite a few films and had a nice, natural manner in his acting. Not a great film by any stretch, but not bad and a decent time-passer.By the way, I complain a lot about the prints on Alpha Video's DVDs. However, I must admit that this one is pretty good--clean and worth seeing.
winner55
This should only be a genre-film "6 of 10" stars, but I've given it an extra star on the basis of William Boyd's performance. Although Boyd always entertained as Hopalong Cassidy, His eventual identification with that role alone essentially tunneled him out of any notice as the highly talented naturalistic actor that he was. He really shines in this film as a headstrong but clever reporter trying to discover why there would be two different murders of the same man.The rest of the film is typical of "Poverty Row" efforts of the time,although above average in its pacing - and once the mystery kicks in, it is surprisingly effective, playing with and against audience expectations in a way that leaves the discovery of who-done-it a surprise.As to the narrative that leads up to the mystery - it's breezy and not without its entertainment value. I admit considerable continuity lapses, but th pacing rushes us past them, so I won't complain.Most reviews I've seen complain of the musical number in the middle of the film, but anyone who knows the comic song tradition that came out of Vaudeville like "Second Hand Rose" or "Harrigan") will recognize it as a novelty song, and rather a charming one at that.But at any rate, at only about a hour's run, it's worth it to see Boyd in grand form as someone other than the cowboy savant, Hopalong.
Spuzzlightyear
Movie almost split in 3 it seems, the first almost is a comedy of manners, you know, those 1930's things with lots of characters, really no plot, and just sort of glides along. SO a whole whack of people get on a boat, a banker (or is it?) who has swindled a lot of money, an actress, her brother and other people are also on board too. Oops, and a reporter, who is trying to uncover the banker's saga. During the voyage, it is suggested that some of the passengers put on a show, which they do. This leads up to the 2nd part of the movie, where the musical takes place, and it's just nothing short of bizarre. It leads to a murder mystery play, where the banker is a last minute replacement for one of the actors. Anyways, the banker's character gets shot in the play - only of course SOMEONE has switched the guns and he's really dead! So then the third part comes up.. who did it? The captain and the reporter lead the inquest to find out the dirty secret! Honestly, I wasn't really absorbed in this movie at all, it wasn't really interesting, musical or suspenseful. The only weird thing that captivated me, was the very strange hair the reporter had, which looked like a sort of grayish blonde thing.