Sunny Skies (1930) is a loud, weird time capsule

If you're looking for a lost masterpiece of the early sound era, Sunny Skies isn't going to be it. It is mostly for people who like to see how clunky and loud movies were right after they stopped being silent. If you hate high-pitched 1930s comedy, you will probably want to turn this off after five minutes. 🎬

Rex Lease plays Jim, the football star. He's got a terrible temper and likes his liquor way too much. It's funny how movies back then handled drinking; it’s either a total joke or a world-ending tragedy with no middle ground. 🍺

Then there is Benny Rubin. He plays the roommate, also named Benny. He’s doing this very specific, high-energy "naive" character that was clearly meant to be the main draw. Sometimes he's funny, but mostly he’s just loud. It feels like he's trying to shout loud enough so the people in the back of the theater in 1930 could hear him without the speakers.

I noticed the way Jim wears his football jersey. It looks about three sizes too small and made of scratchy wool. You can almost feel the itch through the screen. The football scenes themselves are... well, they aren't exactly Friday Night Lights. It mostly looks like a bunch of guys falling over each other in a park while someone blows a whistle. 🏈

The Weird Energy of Early Talkies

The movie has this strange rhythm where people stop talking and just stare at the camera for a second too long. It’s like they were waiting for a cue that came late. It reminds me of the pacing in The Lady of the Lake, where everything feels just a bit off-beat.

There is a scene in the dorm room where Benny is trying to be helpful, and the lighting is so harsh it makes everyone look like they haven't slept in three days. It adds this accidental grittiness to a movie that is supposed to be a light college romp. I kind of liked it, honestly. It felt realy unintentional.

The romantic subplot with Mary (played by Marceline Day) feels like it was added because the script felt too short. She doesn't have much to do except look disappointed in Jim. Which, to be fair, is pretty easy to do because Jim is a bit of a jerk for most of the runtime.

Stuff that stuck with me:

• The way the sound of the crowd is just a constant hissing noise.
• Benny's hat. It never seems to sit straight on his head.
• A scene where someone drinks out of a flask that is clearly empty because it doesn't have any weight to it.
• The sudden shift in tone at the end that feels like it belongs in a different movie.

When Benny gets sick/hurt (the "brush with death"), the movie tries to get very serious very fast. It’s a bit like watching a cartoon character suddenly start crying about their taxes. It’s jarring. But Rex Lease actually does a decent job showing he’s scared. You can see the panic in his eyes, which is probably the most honest acting in the whole thing.

It’s definitely better than some of the other stuff from this year, like maybe Collars and Cuffs which is just pure slapstick. This at least tries to have a soul, even if that soul is a bit confused. It’s a movie about a guy who needs to stop being a loser, and it takes his best friend almost dying to make that happen. 🏥

I kept thinking about the writer, Andrew Percival Younger. He wrote alot of these types of stories. You can tell he knew the formula, even if the technology of 1930 was fighting him every step of the way. The dialogue is snappy in a way that feels like it was written for a stage play.

Is it worth a watch? Only if you’re a completionist for this era. Or if you want to see what college life looked like in the imagination of people ninety years ago. It’s messy, it’s silly, and the ending happens so fast you might blink and miss it. 💨

The movie stops taking itself seriously for a few minutes in the middle, and those are the best parts. Whenever Benny is just being a weirdo without the plot getting in the way, it works. It’s not a "profound exploration" of anything. It’s just a movie about a guy and his annoying, loyal friend.

One last thing: the music is way too loud during the transitions. My ears are still ringing. It’s that old-school tinny sound that cuts right through you. Still, there’s a charm to it. It’s human in its mistakes. 🎶