How to Break 90 #2: Position and Back Swing

Things get kind of futuristic in this Bobby Jones short subject about the art of playing golf. With him it was an art. But in real life he and Guy Kibbee and Glenda Farrell did live long enough to see television come into being.

Guy Kibbee after a horrible day on the links in disgust throws his clubs in the fireplace. But then flicks on television and sees Bobby Jones has taped him and proceeds to show the world what Kibbee is doing wrong with his golf fame.

With Glenda Farrell playing Kibbee's wife this particular Jones feature boasts a bit of plot to it as well as the golf instructions. Those short subjects are invaluable to golfers today. Jones was as much a student of the art of hitting golf ball as Ted Williams was of hitting a baseball.

Did Ted ever make any instructional films for his sport.

Bobby Jones made a number of 'How to Break 90' golf shorts for Warner Bros. in 1933--- the most famous one included Bobby giving James Cagney a golf lesson. But How To Break 90: Position and Backswing (Directed by no less than the great George Marshall) stars another Warner's character-level stalwart, Guy Kibbee. The most fascinating thing about this 1933 short is the fact that Guy '42nd Street' Kibbee owns a TV (tuned to 'KFWB Hollywood'... gee a Warner's station)! The second most fascinating thing is how an old poop like Kibbee could conceivably be married to a hottie like Glenda Farrell. There's the suspension of disbelief of having Kibbee watch himself on TV. Bobby Jones' narration is woefully stiff (if lumber could talk, it would sound exactly like Bobby Jones). Kibbee was one of the greatest 30's character actors around and he makes this short a treat.

Rarely do I read a review and wish I'd written it myself, but I sure did here. Jbacks3 summarized this short film on the golf swing wonderfully and there isn't a whole lot to add. I particularly liked their comment that they felt there was no way that veteran character actor, Guy Kibbee, could have married a relatively "hot" lady like Glenda Farrell! Despite this being a not especially interesting film since I hate golf, I decided to watch it for one reason--I love Guy Kibbee. He's one of my favorite old-time character actors. He was usually very funny and seeing him in any film made it just a bit better. Here, while Booby Jones expertly teaches how to drive a golf ball, his delivery is dry as dust--thank goodness for Kibbee's antics to provide a few laughs.

By the way, as jbacks3 also pointed out, get a load of the television that Kibbee has! The device had only just been invented and was still years away from its being demonstrated at the New York World's Fair (1939) and almost two decades before they began appearing in homes in appreciable numbers. At this point, TV was VERY experimental--practically no one owned one and there were almost no broadcasts--just a few trials to either show off or help perfect the device. While the image on the screen is NOT really televised (it was a film and was superimposed on the screen), it still was a neat gimmick in the film, though the screen and quality of the show was light-years better than TVs really were in the late 1940s and well into the 1950s. Early TVs in the post-war years often had screen of only 6-8" or less and the images were poor and "snowy".

This film is an interesting archival piece, but mostly only to history teachers (like me), cinemaniacs (like me) and golf nuts (well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad).

How to Break 90 #2: Position and Back Swing (1933)

*** (out of 4)

A husband (Guy Kibbee) returns home in a foul mood and takes it out on his wife (Glenda Farrell). It turns out the husband had a horrid day at the golf course but the wife turns on their TV and Bobby Jones is there to teach him the proper positions and how to do a correct back swing. HOW TO BREAK 90 #2 features enough entertaining moments to make it worth viewing even to those like myself who have very little interest in playing golf. I think the film works well because film buffs can enjoy the two stars and golf fans can enjoy seeing a legend explaining how he does things. Sure, it's hard to believe Kibbee and Farrell would be married but I've gone through plenty of the actor's films and he always seemed to get the hot ones. His little tantrum was actually pretty funny and seeing him throw his clubs into the fire was well worth sitting through the film. The information by Jones will be enjoyed by his fans or those who simply want to hear from the legend. Of course, the biggest reason to sit through this is just getting to see the incredibly silly looking TV.