Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

MartinHafer In the late silent and early talking picture era, William Haines was one of MGM's top stars. While his films were EXTREMELY formulaic (they invariably involved a very accomplished blowhard finally screwing up and then making good by the end of the film), they were super- popular and he was money in the bank. But by the time he made "The Marines Are Coming", he was a has-been--starring in films by third-rate studios and this one is from tiny little Mascot. Some blame this on Louis B. Mayer's hatred of Haines, some blame it on the new Production Code and the code's dislike of anything hinting at gay but I honestly think most of the problem was because Haines just wasn't pretty any more and there was a serious sameness to his film. He'd put on a few pounds, his hair starting receding and he looked more like an accountant than a handsome leading man by 1934. Whatever the reason, after finishing this film he changed careers and became an interior decorator to the stars...and a very successful one.This film finds Haines a Lieutenant in the Marines and is a bit of a bad boy. After causing all sorts of problems involving two ladies, he is forced to resign in disgrace but per the usual Haines formula, he makes good by the end of the film. He rejoins as a lowly private and ends up earning back his self-respect after he tangles with a low- life named 'The Torch'.Overall, there's nothing new but nothing objectionable about this one. Worth seeing if you are a Haines fan, otherwise it's just an agreeable time passer.

earlytalkie I had never seen William Haines in a feature film until I saw this, and while many people say that this was far from his best effort, I found it and the Haines persona displayed here to be quite entertaining. This was a Mascot film, and that studio was not known for great films, but it was competently made with an entertaining story about a "renegade" marine who never seems to follow the rules. Esther Ralston appears as the leading lady to good effect. Both she and William Haines were banished from MGM at about the same time. It almost seems like a reunion of tarnished MGM stars to watch these two very talented people at a poverty row studio. Conrad Nagel has the most thankless job as the bland good guy of the piece. Armida adds spice to the film as Willie's erstwhile girlfriend, and she does a musical number competently. A pleasant way to spend 70 minutes. The Alpha DVD of this has it as a double feature with a 1937 Republic feature, Join The Marines.

dbborroughs Odd mix of action and comedy never completely works. The plot has a Marine Lieutenant assigned to a base in San Diego. he is pursued by a Latin singer who is love with him. Our hero also ends up wooing the fiancé of his former rival and winning her. He ends up disgraced when a fracas in a gambling den goes wrong and resigns his commission and starts over as a private. Eventually sent to South America he ends up fighting a bandit who seeks t kill the marine contingent sent to stop him.First half comedy gives way to second half action and the two halves don't quite come together. The cast is game and manages to sell it as best they can but the shifting gears from one genre to another never quite works. What doesn't help the proceedings is the fact that the film is trapped in the weird warp between silent and sound films that many independent films got caught in where some of the actors seem overly made up, the sound track is free of a musical score and some of the performances are a bit over done. Its not a bad film, its just not a great one.

elpep49 A sad end to a popular star's career. William Haines tries hard to recapture his former glory in this comedy/drama that also features silent star Conrad Nagel. But this grade Z production just can't do it. You can tell that Haines had no real illusions about regaining his stardom. Using the formula that was so successful in the late 20 and early 30s--a formula that had made Haines a top-5 box office star--the storyline just seems tired.