What did critics think of It’s the Old Army Game (1926)? Opinion was generally positive. Here is a survey, in the form of a number of quotes, from some of the newspapers and magazines of the time. All sources are American unless otherwise noted.
“Louise Brooks played in Ziegfeld’s Follies when Fields was running wild with Ray Dooley, et all. In this picture she has the feminine lead, and she surely confirms all promises of being the movie ‘‘find’ of the season.” — Irvin, Washington Herald
“. . . a chance for Louise Brooks to strut her stuff. Miss Brooks photographs like a million dollars and shows a screen personality that’s ‘there.’ This girl is going to land right at the top in the picture racket and is a real bet at this time.” — Variety
“W. C. Fields is very amusing, and Louise Brooks, featured with Mr. Fields, gives a dandy performance.” — Betty Craig, Denver Post
“A new actress has broken into pictures in the name of Louise Brooks, she shines like a gem in the rough.” — W. R. S., Film Mercury
“Of course Louise Brooks is in The Old Army Game just to add spice to the picture: she is certainly good to look at.” — Santa Barbara Daily News
“Louise Brooks is evidently very proud of her comely figure. This is the third picture in which she has worn that black bathing suit. However, Louise is a clever little actress.” — Jimmy Starr, Los Angeles Record
“ . . . the gloriously-wrought Louise Brooks. . . has nothing much to do but look lovely in a swimming suit, no difficult task for her.” — Carl Helm, San Francisco Examiner
“Louise Brooks and William Gaxton carry what is generally known as the necessary love interest. Gaxton amounts to nothing, but Miss Brooks parades the personal magnetism to the limit, and late in the story is found wandering around in a bathing suit — for no sound reason except to display a form which assuredly needs not a bathing suit to set it off. There is no complaint, however, on the appearance in the bathing suit.” — Ward W. Marsh, Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Next to Fields, the chief attraction of It’s the Old Army Game is Louise Brooks, one of the most promising finds of the season. All that she has to do to make a hit is wear a bathing suit, which she does in this picture.” — Carl B. Adams, Cincinnati Enquirer
“Louise Brooks, a dainty little brunette, with cute girlish ways, a way of flirting, a way of kissing and with a figure that formerly earned Ziegfeld or Carroll honors, looks like a good screen personality. If properly handled, she will be a real comer.” — H. E. Cherrington, Columbus Dispatch
“The picture is worth going to see just to look at Louise Brooks, one of the most ornamental young persons we have on the screen.” — Roscoe McGowen, New York Daily News
“Louise Brooks shows great possibilities though her part is small.” — Motion Pictures Today
“Louise Brooks furnishes all the pictorial appeal. She is one of the prettiest of the screen’s younger players.” — Film Daily
“Fields bears the brunt of almost the entire production in which Louise Brooks proves his efficient aid and adds attractiveness.” — C. S. Sewell, Moving Picture World
“The decorative Louise Brooks acts as the romantic ballast. But she adds nothing to the picture other than a pleasing figure and a pretty pout.” — Motion Picture