Have a Heart

Thanks to Turner Classic Movies I saw this film today. Una Merkel is billed below Jean Parker, but of course she steal the show without even trying. She's just that kind of actress. Jean Parker plays her younger sister and they sound amazingly alike in accent and inflection. I checked on IMDb to see if they were really sisters. They are not. Good performances by everyone, including James Dunn as Jean's Love Interest and Stuart Erwin, who, along with Una, have the best lines in every scene. Besides the credited actors, the movie is full of great supporting actors you'll instantly recognize: Edward Brophy, Tom Dugan, and Pat Flaherty, among others.

I absolutely love early 1930s movies, but this one I thought was just awful. It has a quality of having been made up as the actors went along (perhaps it was made up as the writers went along!), and doesn't realistically address the problem of a disability, even for 1934.

Jean Parker has a speech pattern similar to Una Merkel's, and in appearance reminds me of Mary Martin, but somehow her personality lacks the spark that would have made me care more about her character's plight. I've always loved Una Merkel, and the film would have been deadly without her, but this wasn't anyone's best performance. It certainly is a cornucopia of character actors, though, as an earlier commenter said.

The plot of this lovely movie is set in motion by a shocking event, which takes the viewer by surprise: Jean Parker, at an impromptu engagement party, runs to a fire escape, which gives way beneath her, hurling her to the street.

She survives but has injuries that necessitate her wearing very realistic looking orthopedic shoes, the more disturbing as the movie has opened with her teaching children to dance and with her own lighthearted dancing.

The plot get s a bit complicated, but basically it is about four honorable people: Parker, her friend Una Merkel, Merkel's beau the always appealing Stuart Erwin, and James Dunn.

Dunn drives a truck for the Have a Heart ice cream company and falls in love with her because of her sweet face. She tries to hide her disability from him but he is not the shallow type to be put off by it.

This could make a stone cry (speaking as a stone.)

This is a romantic comedy that is funny in parts, but the romance story does not hold up well. Jean Parker plays a young woman who has an accident which causes her fiance to run out on her. James Dunn is the hero who woos her next and is not turned off by her "handicap" (according to the film). A very busy plot that was too melodramatic to hold my interest all that well. Una Merkel (fast-talking cynical dame) and Stu Erwin (country bumpkin oaf) are the comic relief, and they are as good as ever. But otherwise poor acting. Still, well worth seeing once - I caught it on TCM.

This film is typical of the "little" productions that made up the double bills in theaters during the 30's and 40's. It's dated but enjoyable and is great for those rainy Saturdays when you are snuggled up on the couch. The stars are faces familiar to all movie buffs and of course, any film with Una Merkel is worth a watch. She plays the pal of Jean Parker and wisecracks her way through the movie in her own inimitable style. Along with Glenda Farrell and Joan Blondell, Merkel was tops at playing a "dame" with a quick answer and rapid fire repartee. James Dunn, who went on to play his greates part in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", is Parker's love interest, a breezy Irishman who gets himself in trouble but in the end, prevails. Stu Erwin plays.....well, Stu Erwin. His parts never varied much but he was always a welcome addition to any film. The story is a little forced but still provides a chuckle or two. This is the type of film that leaves you with a warm feeling and wondering why you never heard of it before. So if you like the era of the 1930s and don't expect a classic story with lavish sets and big name actors, this one's for you. It's fun!