Three Godfathers

In 1929 actor Chester Morris was nominated for an Oscar for his strong performance as an ex-con in Alibi; he spent a good deal of his life playing tough-guy roles, too often typecast in second-tier "B" roles; here, some six years later, he gives a dynamic, believable turn as the bad boy of the town, the man in black who revels in his nastiness, unredeemed by the love of a good woman or anyone else. He and two others pal up together to rob a bank during a church social, and run for the hills, there discovering a dying woman with a child; this could be a really silly melodramatic set-up, but director Richard Boleslawski knows what he is doing, knows how much melodrama to inject into a situation, is able to focus two of the best scene stealers in the business, Walter Brennan and Lewis Stone into producing distinctively compelling characters. This film is a remake of several silent versions, the most notable starring Charles Bickford in the Chester Morris role (and later, more sentimentally, by John Wayne in a color version from John Ford), but the sense of authenticity in the town scenes and the visually arresting desert scenery give the actors a canvas which they do not fail to brilliantly fill in. How often does a character in a Western film recite Macbeth's "Tomorrow" soliloquy from memory, or discuss the intricacies of Schopenhauer with a friendly but uncomprehending cowpoke? Lewis Stone manages a nice turn in his interchanges with Walter Brennan, himself putting the brakes on his usual cornball rustic. The transformation for Chester Morris from unregenerate bum to something admirable is powerfully done, and the intrusion of some 1930's sentiment not entirely unwelcome. In 1936, the Best Oscar nominees were Paul Muni, Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper, William Powell and Walter Huston; with a better agent, Chester Morris might have been among them.

A trio of desperadoes, fleeing from a violent Christmastime bank robbery, become THREE GODFATHERS after rescuing a dead mother's baby in the desert.

Here is a very fine little film, (largely forgotten due to its color remake years later starring John Wayne) which rewards the fortunate viewer with very good acting, excellent production values, some taut drama and a fair amount of humor.

Lewis Stone dominates the film as the thief with a conscience. Quietly intellectual & patrician, his tenderness for the infant is immediate and absolute. Stone's acting cannot be faulted; watching him painfully choose which of his beloved books to leave behind in the burning desert is to see a true artist at work.

Chester Morris does a dandy job of making the viewer both like and despise his character. Quick-tempered & revengeful, his attack upon the New Jerusalem bank is his opportunity to wreck havoc on both the town which rejected him and the decent young banker in love with his former sweetheart. Morris wants nothing to slow down his escape--not poisoned water holes or dead horses, and especially not a helpless baby.

Walter Brennan practically steals the entire movie with his portrayal of an old, illiterate outlaw whose childlike innocence and decency compels him to protect the infant. He also has some droll comedy sequences, especially at the Church Social, where he has a memorable encounter with a plate of asparagus. His scenes in the desert, with desperate thirst stalking his footsteps, show the consummate skill he would exhibit the rest of his life as one of America's favorite character actors.

In smaller roles, Sidney Toler is wonderfully droll as an itinerate dentist with a deadly aim; bucktoothed Victor Potel is his unfortunate customer. Rotund Roger Imhof plays the friendly sheriff of New Jerusalem; Dorothy Tree is the saloon hostess with a hankering for Morris. Pretty Irene Hervey does well as Morris' former love; her fiancé is nicely played by Robert Livingston, who finds the padding in his Santa suit to be most fortuitous.

This touching moral lesson had been done as a silent version and in another version which is more known because of the renown of its director John Ford, but this version is equally as good as the latter version. Being an MGM version, it's a bit smaltzy as MGM movies of the thirties tended to emphasize that aspect of a story but director, Richard Boleslawski is able to keep the proceedings honest and true. Chester Morris, Lewis Stone and Walter Brennan are very good as the outlaws who ride into and rob a bank in a pious town - Chester Morris plays the "I don't give a damn" cowboy perfectly and with resonance. They make their getaway and in the desert find a baby, and the psychological issues of right and wrong as their paternal, maternal and surrogate parental instincts that exist in all of us take over. As they try to save the child, the trials and tribulations they go through bring out the best qualities of human nature in all of them in us, the audience, as well.

Not as well known as the 1948 John Ford version, this one does not spoon feed the issues to the viewer. Harsh, uncompromising and utterly devoid of false bonhomie, Boleslawski made this at almost the same time as the screwball classic, THEODORA GOES WILD.

This is apparently the second remake of this film. While I have not seen the two prior versions, I did see the 1948 John Wayne remake and the two films are different enough (especially the endings--I preferred the more realistic way it was handled in this version) and I recommend you see both. And, overall I strongly prefer this film to the 1948 one.

Chester Morris was the main star in this film, though today he's mostly been forgotten despite the many films he starred in during the era. The other two co-star bandits are Lewis Stone (yes, the kindly "Judge Hardy" from the Hardy Family series) and Walter Brennan. All did a competent job and the entire movie is well written and directed and is far more watchable than the average Western. About the only problem, and it's a minor one, is that occasionally the film becomes a little bit too melodramatic and heavy-handed. But it also gets high marks for being less predictable and more entertaining that what you usually find in the genre.