The Man in Possession

With his own upper class upbringing and perfect diction that went with his stage training, Robert Montgomery was one American who felt at home and could be accepted when he played in films like The Man In Possession. Montgomery plays the charming, but slightly spoiled upper class Englishman whose family just wants him out of the way because he did a stretch in the joint. For some white collar crime I'm sure.

In any event when C. Aubrey Smith playing his Colonel Blimp like father offers to stake him to passage, somewhere, anywhere out of the country Montgomery leaves any way and gets a job as a bill collector.

Wouldn't you know it on the first day on the job as a trainee with Forrester Harvey, Montgomery is left with the client to guard what might be repossessed. The client is the lovely Irene Purcell and because she's expecting guests at a dinner party Montgomery agrees to be her butler so he doesn't seem out of place.

All I can say is that for a glorified repo-man Montgomery is one fast worker.

Back in the early days of sound the studios bought all kinds of material for dialog and this film is based on a play originally done in London that did not have a long run in Depression era Broadway. One thing that MGM did do here was hire P.G. Wodehouse to spice up the dialog which he did. I'm not sure how much of this Wodehouse, but I'll bet the good stuff is from him. Some of the best is from Purcell's maid Charlotte Greenwood.

Puncturing English pretensions was a Wodehouse specialty and he had a couple of fine examples of pretentious fatheads in the cast with Alan Mowbray and Montgomery's brother Reginald Owen. It's for Owen the dullard's prospects that C. Aubrey Smith wants to get his slightly soiled son out of sight and out of mind. These two definitely could have been Wodehouse originals.

MGM later remade this for Robert Taylor and Jean Harlow as Personal Property. Owen actually repeated his role there.

Even a smear of Wodehouse is always good and if that's your cup of tea than The Man In Possession is your kind of film.

Being from 1931 you'd probably not expect something which will actually make you laugh. You might just expect a stagey historical artefact....but you'd be wrong. OK, its style is 1930s but you'll be surprised how witty, well- made and genuinely funny this is.

Watched today, many 1930s comedies seem childish and stupid as though their target audience had the i.q. Of SpongeBob SquarePants. Some performances make you feel embarrassed for the actors. Some make you embarrassed to admit to being a fan of 1930s pictures. Not this though! This is one you'll try to make your friends and family watch.

They got the blend of silliness, absurdity and being able to empathise with believable characters exactly right. If performed today, the writing, including contributions from P G Woodhouse could not be improved on. Whilst not being FAWLTY TOWERS standard, as farces go, this is perfect.

Being from 1931 it's also a charming piece of escapist romance as well. Again, you might expect something sickeningly sweet and sentimental but this is definitely not. Even for a pre-code movie this one is remarkably racy. Irene Purcell plays a wonderfully calculating and conniving gold-digger who gets away with it by being sexiness personified. It's a great loss to cinema that she favoured theatre rather than film. She was absolutely stunning - and her performance in this outshines most of her more famous contemporaries.

It's such a treat to find a clever, witty and well produced comedy with such outstanding acting from a year not especially associated with this type of quality.

A penniless society girl living by her wits finds herself falling in love with the handsome sheriff's man sent to keep an eye on her belongings. What will happen if one of her suitors discovers that the fellow masquerading as her butler is both her lover and THE MAN IN POSSESSION?

This is a pleasant little drawing-room comedy which spotlights two stars of the past in serious peril of becoming forgotten. Robert Montgomery was both dashing & debonair. He handles the title role with much natural charm. Long-legged Charlotte Greenwood is a delight. Her delivery & timing are as fresh as today's coffee.

The rest of the cast is equally good: lovely Irene Purcell; sweet, elderly Beryl Mercer; plus Reginald Owen & Alan Mowbray as a couple of pompous twits. Sir C. Aubrey Smith is excellent as Montgomery's gruff, blustery father. As he normally played roles of great dignity, it is tremendous fun here to see his reaction when a platter of parsnips & gravy is smashed into his vest.

This is very defiantly a pre-Production Code comedy - Montgomery & Purcell go to bed together only hours after meeting. The sight of Purcell's torn chemise lying at the foot of her bed would never have been allowed a few years later.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It consistently made me laugh, and the comedy could stand on it's own legs to this day. I'd love to see a remake of this movie....or, perhaps even more appropriate, I think it's tailor made to be a great Broadway comedy. The ensemble cast interact wonderfully with each other...the timing is unforced and perfect. The reactionary facial expressions are enough to carry this movie on it's own. I wonderful movie spiced by more than just a hint of naughty-ness, this must have caused quite a hub-bub in it's time.

Posh Robert Montgomery (Raymond) is rejected by his social climbing family when he returns home from jail. Both his father C Aubrey Smith and his brother Reginald Owen (Claude) have agreed to give him some money to go away to another country. This is so that he can not embarrass the family's social standing any further, especially as his brother is about to marry wealthy socialite Irene Purcell (Crystal). Montgomery rejects their offer, sticks around and gets a job as a bailiff. Uh-oh, his first job is to collect on Purcell. She isn't so wealthy...............

This film is better than I expected and it's funny. All the actors do well with the exception of the annoying Beryl Mercer who plays the mother. She reminded me of the annoying mother character in the 1970s UK comedy 'Citizen Smith' who keeps saying "Hello Foxy" to the character of "Wolfie". Another oddity is casting the maid Charlotte Greenwood (Clara) above Purcell. This is largely Purcell's story and she has a far more significant role in the film.