Saturday's Children

As most IMDB folks already know, this film version of Saturday's Children (SC) is derived from a Maxwell Anderson play that first appeared on Broadway in 1927. After it opened on Jan. 26th of that year, the play ran for a respectable 310 performances before closing. While another IMDB reviewer has noted that the Rimes Rosson character (performed in the film by John Garfield) was played on the stage by Humphrey Bogart, it should be pointed out that Bogart did not originate the part. That honor was given to one Roger Pryor, who sometime after the opening came down with an undisclosed illness which necessitated his being replaced by Bogart. The female lead (Bobby) was portrayed on the stage by Ruth Gordon and in this film version by Anne Shirley. Interestingly, while Bobby's family name in both the play and film is the same ("Halevy"), in the play the male lead is known as Rimes O'Neil and not Rimes Rosson as in the film. There appears to be no known explanation for this change of names, nor is there one to clarify why Bobby's family name is pronounced in the film with the accent on its first syllable. The more common way to pronounce the name "Halevy" is with the accent on the second syllable. It is possible that the film's producers were attempting to downplay the ethnic origins of that family name. We just do not know.

In any event, Bogart left the play after a few months to then assume his next role on the Broadway stage in a farce entitled "Baby Mine.". It opened on June 9, 1927 and closed unsuccessfully after just 12 performances. The play starred Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, and was intended to be a comeback vehicle for Arbuckle from a well known scandal that ultimately doomed him as an actor in Hollywood.

Garfield's role in SC is not like the work he was doing at Warner Brothers at this stage of his career. He played it in a somewhat subdued and understated way that greatly enhanced both its realism and charm. Some reviewers have suggested that Garfield was miscast in this role. Others have opined that he took it on to show that he had a broader acting range than he was able to demonstrate in his previous WB films. The latter explanation seems to be the more plausible one, based upon the many examples of similar efforts made by other Hollywood actors presented with like situations. See e.g. Fred Astaire in On the Beach (1959), Gene Kelly in Inherit the Wind (1960), Lucille Ball in The Big Street (1942), Frank Sinatra in Suddenly (1954), Bob Hope in Beau James (1957) etc. Bogart's assuming an atypical (for him) romantic and comedic leading man role in Sabrina (1954) would appear to be yet another illustration of the same phenomenon. To this reviewer, Garfield was believable, likable and quite natural playing Rimes. It is possible that under the right set of circumstances, Garfield (like James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson before him) might have also developed into a reasonably successful comedic actor. Again-----unfortunately-----we will never know.

SC is a sensitive and touching film that was greatly aided by Garfield's likable and boyish performance. Special mention also must be made of Claude Rains's nuanced portrayal as Anne Shirley's warm and kindly father. The rest of the supporting cast was strong and greatly enhanced the story's Depression-era narrative.

To many filmgoers, SC is probably an unknown or forgotten movie. Because it is so endearing, SC deserves to be seen and appreciated anew by a contemporary audience.

This version of Saturday's Children is the third film version of a popular Maxwell Anderson play that ran for 326 performances on Broadway during the 1927-28 season. It's a story of young love with sad to say a most miscast John Garfield.

Of course Garfield might not have thought so since back on stage the role he plays as the young calf-eyed Rube Goldberg inventor was originated by none other than fellow Warner Brothers tough guy Humphrey Bogart. Hard to believe, but Bogey on stage played those kind of roles until The Petrified Forest changed his image. He and Ruth Gordon starred in the stage version.

But image is everything and Garfield's similar image of a tough guy was set in the mind of the movie-going public then. Garfield insisted on doing this film and Jack Warner gave in. But when it flopped at the box office and it did, Warner was ready with the 'I told you so'.

A silent version was done with Grant Withers and Corinne Griffith in 1928 and Warner Brothers later did the story again in 1935 with a more suitable Ross Alexander in the lead opposite Gloria Stuart.

I suppose it was the thing back then for young marrieds to live with their parents. This film has Garfield and Anne Shirley living with her parents, Claude Rains and Elizabeth Risdon, along with other married sister Lee Patrick and her husband Roscoe Karns. No wonder these two want a little privacy.

Rains brings Shirley to work in the office where he is a clerk and there she meets Garfield whom she falls for. Garfield is like George Bailey, a guy with an itch to do great things and sees an opportunity in the Phillipines for adventurous type work. But now he's got a wife who doesn't quite share that disposition.

The best performance in the film belongs to Claude Rains. He almost makes quite the sacrifice to keep our young folk together.

Even with a John Garfield that you can't quite get over, Saturday's Children is a nice film about people in love. That's a formula that always sells.

This very entertaining film is directed flawlessly by Vincent Sherman and based on a Maxwell Anderson play. Top notch script providing laughter, sympathy and reflective determination.

A lovely young woman(Anne Shirley) ends up tricking a hopeless schemer/inventor(John Garfield) into marriage. Is it tricked or trapped? The young couple struggle to the point of almost breaking up. They earn $101 a month, but spend $108. The poor lovers try to prove two can live as cheap as one...maybe if one doesn't eat!

My favorite scene is when Garfield and brother-in-law(Roscoe Karns)come home drunk. Also funny is when Garfield is told that he was tricked into the marriage.

Claude Rains is the young woman's father and plays the part cool and witty with his own brand of humor. Lee Patrick is sister Florrie, who is quite obnoxious from the get go.

A very touching movie. Being poor is no fun, but it isn't the end of the world. Someone always has it worse. More than likely another Saturday child.

The picture is consistently out-of-joint as a result of the filmmakers' decision to deal with some rather substantial issues (marriage, poverty, ambition) as themes appropriate for a lighthearted, quasi-comic treatment. Smiling and accepting throughout, the characters suffer no more than mildly bruised feelings before turning their thoughts toward supposedly better days ahead. Seemingly, just about any setback can be overcome by optimism, however groundless, and an acceptance of whatever it is that life holds. That such naive characters would presume to counsel one another verges on the ludicrous. None is a success, all have been manipulated by others and by the vicissitudes of life itself - apparently without having learned a thing from their experiences. The wisest, most thoughtful of them all, played by Claude Rains, has good advice for his family, but has achieved no measure of success. Anne Shirley, sweet and innocent, lacks the wherewithal to come to grips with life. The foremost liability here is the egregious miscasting of John Garfield as a wide-eyed, vacuous sap who, for all intents and purposes, might have been born yesterday. What may have been meant to be a refreshing change from his familiar type of character results in a role which is not beyond him, but beneath him.

Knowing what we know about the period 1940 and the years that preceded and succeeded this film, a world war was underway and rationing and sacrifices were having to be made by all businesses and families. These two young lovers Bobby Halevy (Anne Shirley) and Rims Rosson (John Garfield) met on Bobby's first day of work at her new job. It becomes quite evident that Bobby plays coy but she knows what she wants and how to get it. As the 2010 Beyonce Knowles song Single Ladies (Pit A Ring On It) goes, the young and very attractive Bobby wants to get married to the gullible and loved starved Rims and she quickly develops a plan to catch her fish.

The film moves along at a quick pace with each conversation talking rapidly just like it most likely did when it was first delivered as a stage play. This is a simple picture about a young couple just starting their lives together when the war efforts directly impacts their ability to maintain a living and possibly to starting a family of their own.

It is a simple story filled with both family hardships and romance and keeping in mind that WWII was underway filmgoers were looking for some glimmer of hope which Anne Shirley and John Garfield deliver. Claude Rains plays Anne Shirley's father with the charm of a lucky leprechaun which is an added bonus.

I give this eighty (80) year old classic film a decent 8 out of 10 IMDB rating