Major Barbara (1941)

Pretty Good

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Wendy Hiller plays the title character, a devout missionary in the Salvation Army always trying to help and do good. A very young Rex Harrison witnesses one of her conversion speeches on the street, and so entranced by her beauty and passion, he joins the troupe. Before long they're engaged, but the story's just started! Barbara's estranged father, Robert Morley, returns to the scene and tries to buy his way back into the family by donating a small fortune to the Salvation Army-Barbara won't have it! And while she's busy volunteering with her aide Deborah Kerr, an unrepentant and mean-spirited sinner, Robert Newton, repeatedly causes trouble for everyone.Wendy Hiller does a very good job as the tireless Major Barbara, and Robert Newton is always a very frightening bad guy, but Rex Harrison absolutely ruins this movie. His ego oozes off the screen, and his horrific mannerisms and flippant deliveries made me want to run out of the room screaming. I didn't think I could dislike him any more than I already had in My Fair Lady, but I was proved wrong.Even without the terrible excuse for a romantic lead, the story of Major Barbara is pretty boring. Deborah Kerr has a very small role, and Robert Newton's character is the best part of the movie. Rather than this through this 2-hour snore-fest, rent Separate Tables, Elmer Gantry, and 1948's Oliver Twist instead.Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, there's a scene where Robert Newton strikes Deborah Kerr and a little old lady, and while some kids might not understand what's going on, it might be upsetting to watch. So, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

You know what they say, if you're still an activist at 40, there must be something wrong with you. When faced with the cold hard truth that no money is kosher money, Major Barbara can relax and enjoy being rich. Just like with every activist, her manner of speaking is at least half a century old and she sounds like a Victorian spinster. The film seems to be set in the flappers era, so you can imagine how comical she must be. Wendy Hiller is a great actress and I'm sorry she didn't make more films and Rex Harrison is her equal. Deborah Kerr appears in a minor role, good from the start (this is her first film). Anyway, they speak too much and too fast, which maybe makes things unclear for most viewers, but that was not typical only of Bernard Shaw, but also of the screwball comedies of that period, which was actually ending by the time this film was released. You can still see the great Art Deco design during the factory visit scenes, photographed in beautiful B&W.

If you can sit through the first half of MAJOR BARBARA there is some small reward in that the second half brightens up a bit and there is less of the tedious social commentary that infects the first half--with an outrageously hammy performance from ROBERT NEWTON. He's actually a turn-off for me in the first half of the film.WENDY HILLER is full of confidence in the title role and is charming throughout. REX HARRISON has an unusual character to play and he does so with his usual skill intact. ("I feel that I and nobody else would marry her"). But the real star of the film is ROBERT MORLEY, a leaner looking Morley with a becoming beard, who has some wonderful scenes with members of his family--particularly his son for whom he has no love at all.But overall, this is a stodgy, stage-bound looking production burdened by much too much of Shaw's lengthy rants, the social commentary overtaking the storyline and making the whole thing a pompous affair that had me waiting for "The End" to flash on the screen.I don't second the praise the film has received from intellectuals who love this sort of thing. Despite good performances from the leads, it's got a boring first half that is likely to turn off many would be viewers. Of course, there are some witty Shaw lines. ("You'd sell your soul to the Devil for a pint of beer!").And incidentally, DEBORAH KERR is totally wasted in a bit role that is very colorless and not at all memorable.

"Major Barbara (1941: **1/2). A lot of talent has gone into this film version of Shaw's play about a Salvation Army lass who is disillusioned when her Mission accepts a fat check from her father, a wealthy munitions manufacturer of wartime supplies. I happened to have the play on hand and referred back to it as I wasn't sure Shaw's meanings survived the rather tedious verbosity of the movie, which sags despite a great cast (Wendy Hiller, Rex Harrison, Robert Morley, etc.). Shaw seems to be saying that when religion and capitalism fight it out, capitalism will always win as it provides jobs and shelter for the poor, whereas all religion can do is to concentrate on saving their souls. To Shaw, a man's soul is best saved when his belly is full and his future is secured. Ultimately, the girl decides it's better to labor in her father's vast factory, where she can save souls while working within the system. I believe Shaw was something of a Utopian Socialist. He called this play a "Discussion in Four Acts" and that's pretty much what the movie seemed to be.