Wonderfully offbeat film!

As Good As It Gets

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Should have been titled 'Hudson's Bay Company', since that is the main point of the film. Not a film about the discovery of the bay by Henry Hudson: another epic story.Paul Muni was born to play Louis Pasteur, Emile Zola, Benito Juarez, and, in the present film, Pierre Raddison, in partial biographical treatments. Spending his early life in eastern Europe, his family emigrated to NYC, where he came to shine in the local Yiddish theater, before being tapped by Hollywood in the early talky period. His roles mostly involved serious dramas, with little comic content. Thus, he must have enjoyed making the present film, in which he portrays a very bombastic, but often fun-loving, Radisson. No other actor could have come close to his portrayal, with constantly rolling fiery eyes, to help get his points across in serious or jestful moods. It's doubtful if the real Radisson had near this degree of charisma, but it's fun for the audience to imagine that he did. Muni largely carries this film, although some fine supporting actors help. Laird Cregar, all 300 lbs. of him, plays Muni's constant sidekick: Mr. Gooseberry, who is based on Radisson's real brother in law: Medard des Groseilliers(master of the gooseberries, in English translation). Although Cregar largely serves as Muni's enforcer and comic foil in the film, Groseilliers was probably equally important to Radisson in importance in leading to the establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company. Radisson gets more credit probably because he wrote up many of their experiences, not always accurately. Cregar would have a short Hollywood career, mostly playing sinister villains, including Jack the Ripper. Again, Mr. Gooseberry must have been his most fun role. He would die young a few years later, shortly after stomach surgery, necessitated by the consequences of an extreme crash diet initiated in an effort to avoid being further type-cast as a heavy heavy.John Sutton, who plays the fictional romantic lead, with much screen time, was a real life adventurer, born in British India, traveling much of the world, doing odd jobs, before landing in Hollywood. He would often be cast in swashbuckler roles in the '40s.. A very young Gene Tierney is the fictional female romantic lead, although her screen time was very limited. Vincent Price is well cast as King Charles II, and Virginia Field as his real life mistress: Neil Gwyn.Some aspects of the plot have reasonable historical accuracy. Radisson lived a while with the Mohawks, after being captured, escaped to Albany, NY, and eventually returned to New France via Europe, where he teamed up with Groseilliers on a fur trapping expedition to the Lake Superior region. Their furs were confiscated on a technicality,upon returning to Montreal, which instigated their seeking alliance with British financial backers. Radisson did have great rapport with most of the relevant Native American tribes, partly because of his insistence that they be fairly compensated for the furs they brought to the trading posts. This gave him great leverage in his demands upon his financial backers, as portrayed in the film. The film doesn't deal with the many later complications this pair of Frenchmen had in their relations with the Hudson's Bay region, and their complicated back and forth relations with the French and British crowns, which sometimes were officially at war with each other. Rather, in good Hollywood tradition for these times, the plot ends on a tidy note, in which all the principals seemingly get what they want, after resolving the complicated crisis created by the news that Tierney's (fictional) brother had been executed for disobeying Radisson's strict order to avoid giving the Native Americans alcoholic drinks.A few further notes.The plot suggests that Radisson and Mr. Gooseberry had no wives, being 'married' to the pristine Canadian wilderness. In fact, they both had wives at times. Radisson was 20 years younger than the middle-aged to elderly Groseilliers during their long association. In contrast, Muni was nearly 20 years older than Cregar, although the audience, no doubt, would be surprised to learn this.

Fox continued their run of pioneering biopics (that is to say, depicting the life stories of notable historical figures as opposed to the films themselves being particularly groundbreaking!) by recruiting the actor who had been most renowned for this type of fare, i.e. Paul Muni, albeit at another studio (Warners). In fact, Fox had earlier made LLOYD'S OF London (1936), SUEZ (1938), STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE (1939) and THE STORY OF Alexander GRAHAM BELL (1939) in this vein, whereas Muni had starred in THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR (1936), THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA (1937) and JUAREZ (1939). Though HUDSON'S BAY more or less maintained the standard of both parallel cycles, it proved to be Muni's last such vehicle.Anyway, this revolves around French fur-trapper Pierre Esprit Radisson's opening-up of Canada (at the time mostly populated by Red Indians and referred to as "New France") to do business with Europe and his dream of giving an identity to the still-untamed country. Muni (who actually looks quite a bit like director Pichel, himself an imposing character actor with a somewhat sinister countenance and a distinctive deep voice to match!) was once considered the greatest thespian of his generation, but his hammy acting style – rendered even more ludicrous by a variety of 'funny' accents – has dated badly in hindsight. Mind you, he is still a compelling screen presence and, in this case, he comes across as something of a man of action (whereas he had usually been restricted to presiding over laboratory flasks, books – of both literature and law – and the political arena in defence of the oppressed)! Typically, the production values and supporting cast are impressive: the latter includes Laird Cregar as Muni's equally uncouth sidekick; Gene Tierney (wasted in a smallish part – despite being second-billed – as the obligatory romantic interest of John Sutton, yet another of the protagonist's companions!); Vincent Price as the British King Charles II (to whom Radisson turns – thanks to banished subject Sutton's influence – when his request of an official Canadian expedition to the rightful French ruler falls on deaf ears and, having ventured forth solo, his prized pelts were subsequently appropriated by the State and himself thrown into prison!); and Nigel Bruce as an aristocrat (who, persuaded as to the benefits that could be reaped by England from the establishment of a Hudson Bay trading-post, vouches for Muni with His Majesty).Radisson emerges here a man who is able to elicit confidence from the savage people he deals with but, more importantly, he respects them in return – even making it a point to get to know them (so that he can then react accordingly to their unpredictable nature). For one thing, he notices the Redskins cannot withstand alcohol, and that its intake yields unbridled violence – when such an episode occurs, he does the right thing and condemns the man responsible to death by firing squad (even if, being Tierney's layabout brother, he is the prospective in-law of Muni's own pal Sutton!). This form of instant justice is not appreciated by Price (by the way, the King's infamous mistress Nell Gwynn, also puts in an appearance here: for the record, I recently acquired but have yet to watch her own 1934 biopic with Anna Neagle and Cedric Hardwicke as her sovereign lover) on their return, but eventually both he and Tierney resign themselves to the fact that Radisson acted in the best interest of all concerned.

After Paul Muni left Warner Brothers by mutual consent he was at liberty and took this one picture deal with 20th Century Fox. After playing such varied people as Louis Pasteur, Benito Juarez, and Emile Zola it was thought another biographical film was just the thing for him at Fox.In Cecil B. DeMille's autobiography he mentions that at one time he was considering a Hudson's Bay type story as a project at Paramount. When he heard Darryl F. Zanuck was doing one at Fox he abandoned his film and instead did Union Pacific. It might have been interesting how DeMille would have done the story of the founding of the Hudson's Bay Fur Company.Muni as he usually did played the role of Pierre-Espirit Radisson with gusto and bravado and he was probably a whole lot like Radisson really was in life. He's a curious figure in Canadian history, he was certainly the ideal that the French Habitants have as the men who pioneered and settled Canada. But he was also a rogue who dealt back and forth with the English and French as it suited him.In this film he and partner Laird Cregar have been cheated out of their furs by the governor of New France, Montague Love. Not taking this lying down, Muni, Cregar, and their new partner Englishman John Sutton who has been exiled to the New World by the king, go back to the old country with a proposition about a vast new colony based at the end of Hudson's Bay. After all it was an Englishman named Henry Hudson who discovered the bay and was left to die there by mutineers. Vincent Price who is Charles II is interested if he's brought proof of the riches. Sutton reunites with Gene Tierney and she persuades him to bring her brother along who is played by Morton Lowry and is a representative example of a Restoration fop. That causes trouble all around.A lot of the criticism that Paul Muni is subjected to today is that he does ham it up on occasion. He certainly does so here, but if he didn't we'd have been left with one ponderous and dull film. Certainly if DeMille instead of Irving Pichel directed Hudson's Bay it would have moved as all DeMille films did. Whatever life Hudson's Bay has is what Muni breathed into it. I should also add that he and sidekick Laird Cregar are a delightful pair of rogues.Hudson's Bay is a must for Paul Muni fans, I'm not sure how others will take to Hudson's Bay.

He's the goofy Quebecois trapper speaking with an accent, that's who. With World War Two raging in Europe, Great Britain was trying to make sure that the French-speaking Quebecois didn't decide to throw another revolution, which is why Laurence Olivier played one in 49TH PARALLEL. Nothing loath, Warner Brothers, not quite knowing how to deal with its acknowledged Great Actor, Paul Muni, who liked nothing better than to disappear into a bushy beard and an accent, cut a deal with Zanuck at Fox for him to appear in this film, in which he appears in a short beard. Which made him very hard to offer as a star and he would make one more war-based picture next year, playing a clean-shaven Norwegian, before disappearing from the screen for a few years. What the heck: George Tobias was cheaper for all-purpose ethnics.Anyway, this is a pretty amusing picture, if you don't take any of it seriously. The cinematography, co-credited to George Barnes, is very handsome. Muni plays the role for laughs, the roles are filled out with leading character actors and the soundtrack skips between 'Aupres de ma Blonde' and 'Oh, Canada.' Good enough.