The Kid from Kokomo

WELL NOW, WHAT have we here? In what could very well have been an obscure title that we'd passed up, our fancy was definitely tickled to a very high degree. Although this KID FROM KOKOMO was undoubtedly pre-classified as a "Pot Boiler" and definitely just one cog in Warner Brothers' yearly output, it certainly did it self proud in showcasing its containing pure entertainment and fun. And its lack of any pretension about being cinematic "art" underscores its true mission in pleasing a movie audience.

WE HAVE FORMULATED a few educated guesses in our review and plead "guilty as charged" about our high level of fondness generated.

WE'VE ALWAYS FELT that, whereas there are so many other great and near great examples of great pictures out there in our film archives and we have been blessed with such fine names behind the film industry, that Warner Brothers somehow had always managed to have its corporate finger right on the pulse of American tastes and preferences. This assertion extends all the way, across the board from the Class "A" features., the "B's", Short Subjects and even to their animation department's LOONEY TUNES and MERRY MELODIES.

AT LEAST SOME of the cause behind our thesis is attributable to the background of the Brothers Warner. Sons of Jewish Immigrants from Poland (Russian Empire), after immigrating to America, then to Ontario, Canada, they were raised in Youngstown, Ohio. This,we contend, gave them a less than provincial outlook on the country and the world. It also prevented them from being indoctrinated with any sort of "Big Apple" syndrome. (Although so many of their pictures were centered on life in our greatest city).

ANOTHER ATTRIBUTE WHICH we must bring to the floor is the Warner Brothers' propensity to simplify production matters. Jack W. was once quoted as saying something about if a script is too long to be read while sitting on and using the commode, it was too long.

THE STUDIO ALSO had a knack for taking stage plays , many having been unproduced, and turning them into celluloid gold. This movie would certainly fit into that category. (By the bye, ever heard of EVERYONE COMES TO RICK'S aka CASABLANCA ?)

AS FOR THE production itself, it is fine example of economy of time and shooting schedule. whereas it certainly was no cheapie or poverty row special, it made great use of many preexisting sets. Added to that we have a fine cast top to bottom. We had Pat O'Brien, Joan Blondell and Wayne Morris in the starring roles. In support we have May Robson, a young Jane Wyman, Edward Brophy, 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom, Sidney Toler (Charlie Chan), Morgan Conway (future Dick Tracy), rising star John Ridgley, Ward Bond and Paul Hurst. In an uncredited role, Al Hill appears (better known to us of the Baby Boomer generation as Heavyweight Champ, "Killer Kilduff" in the 3 Stooges' PUNCH DRUNKS (Columbia, 1934) and as bank robber "Filthy McNasty" in the W.C. Fields starring vehicle THE BANK DICK (Universal, 1940).

AND FOR JUST one last observation, it would appear that the studio was attempting to recapture at least some of the magic that was generated by the previous production of KID GALAHAD (WB/1937), which starred Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. It introduced a young Wayne Morris in a very similar role to this one.

A whole lot of the best players that Warner Brothers had under contract got signed for this film. But personally I found the whole thing a bit too much. No one could be as naive as Wayne Morris as The Kid From Kokomo.

Which is where Pat O'Brien fight manager, girlfriend Joan Blondell and trainer Edward Brophy have gone looking for a fighter with a reputed devastating right hand. But the guy whom they were seeking Ward Bond, they see get flattened by farm kid Wayne Morris.

It seems as though Morris was abandoned by his mom at a tender age and never knew his dad. God knows who raised him, but he's going to stay at the farm because even after 22 years mom will come home to claim him.

What to do but get a mother for him so in night court Pat O'Brien finds May Robson an old wino once an actress who has certainly seen better days.

Basically The Kid From Kokomo depends on Morris and Robson recycling roles that they got famous for, Morris in Kid Galahad and Robson from Lady For A Day. But their parts her are pale imitations of the roles from those better known pictures.

The Kid From Kokomo other than Morris's quest for mom is your usual boxing picture. Pat O'Brien and Joan Blondell are also in parts they've done a couple dozen times.

Usually with a cast like this I'd be more than generous, but Morris's character for me was so preposterous and so off putting that I can't believe in 1939 people took this any kind of seriously. Morris isn't naive, the guy is positively backward.

There has to be a story here: Warner Brothers celebrates the second anniversary (less three days) of the release of its own "Kid Galahad" with a similarly-titled, VERY similar story, "The Kid From Kokomo". Both films feature a tainted manager and his long-suffering girlfriend fleeing from a crooked situation and accidentally discovering a farmer they can turn into a champ in the ring. Both fighters are played by Wayne Morris. Both fighters find love, have mother issues, battle the mob, and are faced with throwing a title bout. There's also a key difference: "The Kid From Kokomo" is rowdy, fast-paced, and often hysterically funny.

I signed on for Joan Blondell here- I'll watch anything she's in- and this might be her most lovable performance. She sets the pace from the beginning, as usual for her bubbly thirties self- and she's crisply funny and spot-on as a semi-reformed bubble dancer. Her handling of two hilariously lazy hillbilly rustics in an early scene raises the bar on this comedy. But even Joan steps back to make way when a batty old kleptomaniac suddenly appears, hauled before a judge, and instantly takes over the film.

Holy H. Smokes, it's May Robson! This is the wildest, funniest performance you will ever see from anyone born before the American Civil War. May mugs, schemes, bellows, and prances as an aging con artist who stumbles into a sweet set-up. The fun she's clearly having is an irresistible force for the rest of the film.

"The Kid From Kokomo" has a major secret ingredient for a comedy of this type: wonderful, funny supporting characters (and the cast to play them). The whole thing feels like Preston Sturges might have waved his hand over it. It never loses the pace, and it never loses control- even the brawling is funny. It exits with a bang precisely when it should, and leaves us laughing.

I tried my best to dislike this, to see it for what it is: a cheap, quickly made B movie with hackneyed poorly written stereotypes....but I actually enjoyed it.

Sick and tired of being forced to play the same old role over and over again, Joan Blondell finally resigned from Warner Brothers but Jack Warner insisted she fulfil her contractual obligation by making one last film, this one. She'd complained that she was never given any proper dramatic roles but was told that she wasn't employed as an actress but just for her big eyes and big boobs. Everyone believed that this film was going to be dross so Jack Warner insisted that his deserting star would feature in this. If being associated with this wouldn't damage any future prospects of employment for her nothing would! Additionally, out of spite, her role was minimised, a younger female actress was put into the story and to cap it all, she was only given third billing.

It makes me angry that the studio treated this loveliest of all the 1930s actress so badly. That's what made me determined that I'd hate this - I only watched it to see if it was as bad as they said. I was annoyed with myself for actually enjoying this - almost disloyal to the memory of my 1930s crush!

It's hardly a great picture but you quickly begin to like the crassly conceived characters so have to keep watching. You might not want it to be but it's annoyingly engaging. The story (from the pen of a young Dalton Trumbull) is quite different if a little cruel. It's an unedifying endoscopy into the world of boxing promotion. Pat O'Brien and Joan Blondell cynically trick a feeble minded, orphaned country bumpkin into becoming a prize fighter by getting an old alcoholic ex-con to pretend to be his doting long-lost mother.

That old woman is the brilliant 80-year old May Robson (amazingly when she was born Disraeli was PM, Charles Dickens was still writing novels and Abraham Lincoln had yet to become president of America!) Although her performance is less impressive than in the fabulous LADY FOR A DAY, she is the real star of this - she imbues class and genuine humour to what otherwise be just another slightly shabby B feature. Poor Joan may have hated this but she'd been in many much worse pictures.

Minor little comedy that stars Pat O'Brien, Joan Blondell and Wayne Morris in a cross between Kid Galahad and Lady for a Day. The stars are good, but May Robson steals every scene she's in as the disreputable old lady O'Brien hires to play Morris' mother. Strange plot, but it all comes together thanks to these pros. Stanley Fields and pre-star Jane Wyman also add some fun. Robson is pretty much forgotten today but during the 30s she reigned as a top character actress who could steal a scene from anyone--and did. Catch her in Lady for a Day (Oscar nomination), A Star Is Born, or Bringing Up Baby.