Lord Jeff

Kind of a combination of two mediocre, sentimental films..."Captains Courageous" and "Boys Town"...which, not surprisingly, results in a third mediocre, sentimental film. Give it a C.

A young & talented thief, masquerading as the obnoxious LORD JEFF, is captured and sent to a naval school to rehabilitate. There he meets an Irish lad, whose decent behavior has a profound effect upon him.

Think CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS meets BOYS TOWN, and you have an idea of this good, but unremarkable, little picture. Freddie Bartholomew, coming to the end of his glory days as MGM's reigning child star, is hampered mightily by the fact that his character is so rotten, the audience has an overwhelming desire to loathe him for most of the film. Mickey Rooney, on the other hand, right on the cusp of his tremendous stardom, steals his every scene with his unique & infectious bravado. Notice that the boys get equal billing. That would not happen again. Rooney was the major star from here on out.

The rest of the cast all do a fine job, especially Charles Colburn, Herbert Mundin & Emma Dunn, all memorable as supervisors at the naval school. That's Monty Woolley, soon to be an important character actor, as a London jeweler. Gale Sondergaard (in good disguise) & George Zucco have small roles as the adult thieves, while Terry Kilburn (nicely effective) & Peter Lawford play two of the young fellows.

Movie mavens will recognize Rex Evans as the hotel doorman & Doris Lloyd as the hostess of a party the boys attend.

Freddie Bartholomew stars as a seemingly upper crust "Lord" (Jeff Braemer) who is really an orphaned thief; suspected in an emerald necklace heist, he is sent to a navel academy and meets idealized Irish orphan Mickey Rooney (as Terry O'Mulvaney). Boy-among-the-young-men Terry Kilburn (as Albert Baker) keeps the "cute quotient" high.

Their roles are tailor-made for Mr. Bartholomew's "British upper crust" and Mr. Rooney's "Irish working lad" personas. Bartholomew is perfect as the aristocratically-guised London thief, complaining about the "wretched" hotel service and fainting during opportune moments. Bussed to a a purgatory-type sailor school (not quite a hellish reform school), he immediately clashes with Rooney. The two "child stars" contrast well, and their difficult bonding becomes the film's main source of entertainment. Rooney is much more relaxed in "Lord Jeff" than other "orphaned lad" roles; here, he exudes natural likability. Kilburn's little Albert seems out of place among the older boys, but he performs as well, and gives Bartholomew's character some much-needed appeal. Other story structure, and editing, problems weaken the running time.

Irrelevant, probably, to the film "Lord Jeff" is the status of its two stars. Bartholomew was a very popular "boy star" and Rooney was much more popular as a "teen star"; and, they made several films together. This film catches the Bartholomew near the end of his career, and Rooney beginning his most successful years. With this in mind, don't miss their mid-film fistfight!

****** Lord Jeff (6/17/38) Sam Wood ~ Freddie Bartholomew, Mickey Rooney, Terry Kilburn, Charles Coburn

If you don't want to see Freddie Bartholomew as a bad guy, stay away from Lord Jeff. He plays a small-time grifter who gets sent to the merchant marines to reform his character. He's snobby and insulting, and has a bad attitude. I prefer him when he's sweeter, but I stuck with this movie for the supporting cast.

In the batch of boys arriving with Freddie to the merchant marine training school are Terry Kilburn and a very young Peter Lawford in his second movie! Terry has the cutest character in the movie, with a missing tooth (before it gets fixed, a Cockney accent, and a hopelessly optimistic and loyal personality. Mickey Rooney also takes on an accent-Irish-as he's the experienced student who helps show everyone the ropes. Charles Coburn is the no-nonsense head of the school, and Herbert Mundin is his second-in-command. Keep an eye out for Monty Woolley and Gale Sondergaard, but don't expect too much from anyone. No one's really given very much to do, and besides Terry, no one really succeeds in making the audience like him. You're better off with Boys Town or A Yank at Eton.

In "Lord Jeff" we have it all. A very talented Freddie Bartholomew and the quick learning Mickey Rooney. The script was gold, the boys endearing, and the men in charge were human. You never lose interest in a film so masterfully done as this. This is one of those movies everyone should see. It is a good representation of 30s movie making, and its endearing story ensures that it will resonate with generations to come. That being said, the film needs to be colorized so that modern generations will watch it. Young people won't watch black and white.