The Great Garrick (1937)

Pretty Good

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Beautiful, moving film.

Alas, this one is presented on the Warner Archive DVD in black-and-white rather than the movie's original sepia. When filming with a sepia wash in mind, the cameraman would open up at least another stop. If this is not corrected in the printing, everything will have a washed-out look in black-and-white – which it certainly does here! So we already have one strike against the movie even before we start to watch it. Strike two turns out to be Brian Aherne. Frankly, as presented on the DVD, Aherne doesn't have enough charisma for a role as large and as demanding as this one. True, Aherne seems larger than life on the DVD – which is a good thing to aim for, especially if you are impersonating an actor – but he doesn't project the charisma that Garrick undoubtedly possessed. An actors' actor like Bill Powell could certainly get away with it, but not Mr. Aherne. He lacks the punch, the identification, the admiration, the larger-than-life personality. Director James Whale obviously realized that Aherne was not exactly the greatest Garrick in the world, so he has attempted to place Garrick center stage every time the camera catches him – which is far too often. Poor Olivia de Havilland receives hardly any attention from the director at all. Her role was small enough to start off with, but although I saw the movie only a few hours ago, I can remember her in only one shot. Yes, just a single shot in which she figured! On the other hand, Aherne comes to mind in so many shots, he literally smothers just about everyone else in the cast. I didn't spot Lana Turner at all. I'm told that she "hovers around in the background." Well, that could be true. Melville Cooper, on the other hand, has a comparatively large role – and he makes the most of it! So this is definitely one for Melville Cooper fans! The plot, such as it is, turns around on what is meant to be an elaborate joke. Personally, I feel that a joke is too weak an instrument to sustain interest in a movie that runs 90 minutes. You could get away with it in a two-reel short maybe! But 90 minutes, despite all the glossy production values, and a support cast as long as your arm – no!

If anyone is expecting the story of the real David Garrick than this is not the film for you. According to Wikipedia, the real Garrick was rather short, but his talent added several inches in stage height and happily married to a German dancer for many years. Though I'm sure then as now the celebrated actor attracted his share of groupies. I also doubt that Garrick ever made an appearance at the Comedy Francaise as a guest artist. Mainly because Great Britain and France were at war a whole lot during the 18th century. Just as I doubt Moliere saw much of his work playing at London's Drury Lane Theater where Garrick was the managing director as well as star attraction.However The Great Garrick is a charming comedy of manners about a quick witted actor who is given an unforgettable night at a roadside inn by the Comedy Francaise. Garrick played with effortless ease by Brian Aherne and when he announces that he will be off the London stage for a while because he's going to be a guest artist at the Comedy Francaise, the crowd reacts bad. With a quick wit Garrick gets the audience on his side when he appeals to their nationalism by implying he will be giving them acting lessons. He leaves with the ringing cry of "teach the French".Of course the company of The Comedy Francaise reacts real bad when they hear that news. They resolve under managing director Melville Cooper to teach Garrick a lesson. They rent out an inn where Garrick is supposed to stop overnight and prepare a bit of theatrics for him.Aherne is tipped to it and he and valet Edward Everett Horton just act oblivious to some madcap behavior. A young woman played by Olivia DeHavilland arrives at the inn and she's running away from a proposed marriage. Aherne just thinks she's one of the players though he offers her accommodations in his suite.I think you get the idea how this is going. Though The Great Garrick has no relation at all with the real David Garrick it's not a bad film with several good comic spots. This was another costume film where Olivia got cast in and got rooted in at Warner Brothers. She's pretty and classy, but the laughs all belong to the guys. And Aherne became family for a while, soon marrying Olivia's sister Joan Fontaine shortly after The Great Garrick came out.

Brian Aherne is the great actor David Garrick in "The Great Garrick," directed by James Whale and costarring Olivia DeHavilland. The actress was 21 years old when this film was released. The Comedy Francaise, insulted by comments made by Garrick about working with them, decides to give him a night in a French inn he won't ever forget. Knowing he will stop there en route to Paris, the head of the company rents the place for the day, dismissing the staff. The company take roles as maids, waiters, servants, etc. in a play written for the occasion by Beaumarchis, full of love triangles, duels, a crazy man, and lots of noise. What they don't know is that the old prompter, who once worked with Garrick, has gone ahead and warned him of what is to happen. One other thing they're not counting on is the appearance of another guest (DeHavilland) besides Garrick. Garrick, however, thinks she's part of the troupe.This is a witty, well done comedy. Aherne, an accomplished Shakespearean actor, is great as the egomaniacal Garrick. He was equally good in "Merrily We Live," but for some reason, stopped getting the showy roles, possibly because of Errol Flynn. Edward Everett Horton is excellent as his manservant. The supporting cast, including Lionel Atwill, Melville Cooper, Fritz Leiber, and Marie Wilson are all wonderful. Lana Turner has a tiny role as one of the maids. Olivia DeHavilland is luminously beautiful in a true ingénue role, done before Warners realized what a wonderful actress they had in her.Very entertaining, and a good chance to see a very young DeHavilland and Aherne shine.

James Whale's "The Great Garrick" is perhaps the most overlooked classic of 1937, a year that also saw such classics as "Stage Door", "The Awful Truth", "Make Way for Tomorrow", "History is Made at Night", "Angel" and some others."Great Garrick" is a brazen but abundantly enthralling costume comedy on David Garrick, a Shakespearen ham actor and the most famous English actor of the 18th century. Garrick played a significant role in the development of English stage in this period which saw the rise of Shakespeare and other playwrights. Garrick had a reputation of enthralling his audiences on and off stage. Here in "Great Garrick", he is ingeniously played by Brian Aherne, a sadly underrated actor giving one of his most memorable performances. Aherne's co-stars include Olivia de Havilland as Garrick's love interest Germaine, Edward Everett Horton as Garrick's sidekick Tubby, Melville Cooper, Lionel Atwill, Lana Turner, and Luis Alberni.Beautifully shot in stark black-and-white photography by Ernest Haller, "Great Garrick" is a nonstop laugh riot. The opening titles tell us, "David Garrick the actor was at the height of his fame. He was the idol of London and the tale we are now unfold is a romantic adventure that might have happened during the vividly gay career of the colourful Garrick". Garrick is just finishing playing "Hamlet" and makes a farewell curtain speech to the audience at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane. He has been invited to Paris by the Comédie Francaise, a famous French theatre which rivalled in fame London's Theatre Royal. To convince the audience he is not actually ditching them, he reads a blank letter telling them that he is going there to teach the French. In Paris, the actors of the Comédie Francaise hold an emergency meeting to discuss what they consider to be an insult. "Ridicule kills" says one of the actors. Thus, they perpetrate a series of hoaxes at an Adam and Eve inn near Paris where Garrick and his Tubby will be staying there before they arrive in Paris.Some of the hoaxes are outrageously hammy and over-the-top, especially Luis Alberni's annoying Basset, but that doesn't really hurt the picture at all. There are genuine glories in "Great Garrick" and most important of all are Whale's inventive, stylized direction, Ernest Vajda's endlessly witty screenplay, and Aherne's quietly graceful incarnation of Garrick.The film works as a companion piece to Whale's underrated 1936 musical "Show Boat" in that both films are entrancing and exuberant celebrations of the theatre. "Show Boat" concerns a group of traveling actors who are putting on a show; "Garrick" is bio-pic of a famous actor. Both films display the talent and versatility of a great director.