Wow! Such a good movie.

As Good As It Gets

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The first must-see film of the year.

Copyright 18 November 1932 by Paramount Publix Corp. New York opening at the Rivoli: 2 December 1932. U.K. release: 10 June 1933. 83 minutes.COMMENT: On the whole, the film suffers from the lack of background music, though very occasionally "natural" music does provide a welcome break from the oppressive soundtrack silence. One thing that's not silent, however, are the actors; and, unfortunately, our players here do tend to be over-heavily theatrical — with a few notable exceptions, including Wynne Gibson, Charles Laughton, Joyce Compton and, to a lesser extent, George Raft. Frances Dee has a tiny part, as has Berton Churchill in "The Condemned Man" sequence in which James Cruze (definitely NOT Bruce Humberstone who denies he directed this sequence) makes effective use of Negro singing for background music. Production values are excellent. After a slow start — the Prologue seems to take forever to get to the point which we already know (thanks to all the film's publicity) — we move (in the current television print) to "The China Shop" episode, which is very enjoyable; then on to "The Streetwalker" which, with its wonderful evocation of mood and atmosphere, is one of the film's three high-points. "The Forger" is also an enjoyable episode, as is "The Auto" (though slightly below the usually brilliantly comic standard of W.C. Fields). "The Condemned Man" is a so-so entry. Gene Raymond is miscast, the dialogue is repetitious and we can spot the conclusion right from the start. Fortunately, it's short. With "The Clerk", we have another high-point, thanks both to Lubitsch's masterfully inventive (all the sweeping tracking shots through myriad corridors and up the stairs) yet thoroughly detailed (Laughton making last-minute adjustments to his dress, before the deferential knock on the door of Brown's office) direction and the comic genius of Charles Laughton. "The Three Marines", alas, is the film's really big disappointment. It runs far too long, and neither players nor director are able to do a great deal with a one-line joke that basically misfires. "The Old Ladies' Home" provides a final high point, before a somewhat anticlimactic Epilogue. Another of the film's delights should be mentioned, and that of course is the splendid gallery of support cameos, a list that includes Jack Pennick as the ungainly sailor who even the prostitute rejects in "The Streetwalker", Willard Robertson as a doctor in the Prologue, Samuel S. Hinds as a relative in closing, Tom Kennedy as Tough Joe in "The Three Marines", Fred Kelsey as a prison warder, and Robert Homans as an identification policeman in "The Forger".All told, this is grand entertainment. P.S. A big star in 1932 and 1933, Wynne Gibson overshadows everyone else on Paramount's re-issue posters – even though her name is hilariously misspelled as Wynne Bigson!

Mr. Glidden, millionaire, is dying. Everyone wonders who will get his money. His relatives hang around the mansion but he keeps changing his will. "I'm dying," he complains, "and I don't know of one man in all the thousands that I employ that's fit to leave in charge of a peanut stand." So he comes up with a great idea: picking people out of the phone book and giving them $1,000,000 each—thus introducing an entertaining series of episodes showing various recipients and how their lives are affected.The episodes vary in tone as well as length; overall it's a mostly lighthearted picture that doesn't overwhelm in any way but does offer a chance to see a number of Hollywood stars and character actors in unique roles:W.C. Fields and Alison Skipworth have trouble with a road hog; Charlie Ruggles has a ball smashing up a china shop; Charles Laughton gives his boss the raspberry. Wynne Gibson is memorable in one poignant story as a rescued dance hall girl who climbs into a fancy hotel bed and tosses the second pillow into a closet. The final story features May Robson trapped in a home for elderly ladies. They won't let her make biscuits, won't allow card playing…they won't even let her have a kitten because cats are disease carriers. ("Disease carriers, then why ain't I dead?" Robson retorts. "I've had cats all my life.") It's all pretty melodramatic but made worthwhile by the joyous transformation brought about by Mr. Glidden's gift. Robson is excellent.Richard Bennett is energetic (especially for someone allegedly on death's door) and really quite appealing as the old Mr. Glidden. Also featured in separate stories are Gary Cooper as a Marine and George Raft as a counterfeiter. While it's no masterpiece, it's certainly worth a look, particularly for fans of Fields and Robson.

I wanted to see this movie for a couple of decades after I first heard about it, but none of the TV stations in my area ever aired it, and (despite its cult) it has never been released on video or DVD. Thank goodness for Turner Classic Movies, which aired this recently.Was it worth the wait? Yes it was. Certainly, the movie isn't perfect - there are several episodes that seem a bit too close to their themes. Two segments concern criminals who can't cash their checks, and there are two segments about cowed individuals who get revenge against their bosses once they get their checks. But there's a lot more positive to say about the movie. ALL the episodes are entertaining, the best being the W. C. Fields episode (hilarious even though you'll think of modern day and deadly road rage while watching it.) And enough of the segments concern people getting what they have desired to get for a long time - you'll really relate to them.Come on, Universal, release this on DVD!

This box of Paramount chocolates contains a couple of duds but enough tasty morsels to justify consumption. The episodes are housed in a raucous, funny framing story starring the one and only Richard Bennett as a cantankerous millionaire who decides to give his fortune away to total strangers rather than leave it to the greedy pack of family vultures lurking around his death bed. We are presented with several outcomes of the bestowal of sudden unearned wealth: fulfillment of revenge fantasies, degrees of self-indulgence, and even two unfortunate cases where character flaws or plain old uncooperative fate prevent the recipient from enjoying the miraculous bounty offered.The best segment, combining high comedy with deep drama, stars the incomparable May Robson as a sad denizen of an old ladies' home who turns the tables on management when her ship comes in. Another geriatric entry stars Alison Skipworth as a tea shoppe proprietress (and former vaudeville performer) and her male companion (WC Fields) who avenge themselves on every roadhog they can find after one such menace totals their new car. Although much of this little adventure is given to repeated car crashes, the performances of the leads lift it from common slapstick.Second runners up: A sweet tale about a mild-mannered, henpecked clerk in a china shop (Charles Ruggles, in the kind of role one would normally associate with WC Fields) whose money provides the opportunity for messy and satisfying revenge on his boss; Mary Boland is on hand as his chatterbox wife. Equally good is Charles Laughton in a very short segment about how a clerk reacts to the arrival of a check in the mail—simple, beautiful, stately and very obviously directed by Ernst Lubitsch. One notch down from these are segments with George Raft as a desperate forger who can't cash his check because he's wanted by the law; Wynne Gibson as a prostitute who treats herself to a luxury hotel room as reward for having suffered a life of degradation. At the bottom: a uncomfortable bit with Gene Raymond as a death row prisoner; a rather strained segment with Gary Cooper, Roscoe Karns and Jack Oakie as three disobedient Marines who think their check is a practical joke.