Castigo

Min and Bill (1930)

*** (out of 4)

Marie Dressler picked up the Best Actress Oscar for her performance here as Min, a waterfront rat who was given a small baby after its mother decided to run off. Min raised the kid to a young woman (Dorothy Jordan) along with the help of her friend Bill (Wallace Beery) but she is pretty much forced to throw her out to get her away from the trashy life on the waterfront. Then, Min must do even more when the girl's drunken mother shows back up. The actual screenplay here, by Frances Marion, is pretty standard for the era as it really doesn't try to do too much but there are some excellent performances that make the film worth viewing. I've been rather hit and miss on my opinions of Dressler but there's no question that this film belongs to her and it's without question the best work I've seen from here. I guess this was a real coming out after apparently considering suicide only a few years earlier when she made her comeback in THE PATSY, which eventually led to more roles and then this one, which got her the Oscar. Again, her look is just right for the film but I was amazed at how much heart and soul she pumped into her character and the film. This is a pretty dark little movie that doesn't take any comic turns or center on fake moments. The characters are shown as being ugly and trashy and it doesn't try to make them look good at any point. The film and Dressler's performance also makes it clear that ugly people can have good hearts, which I believe is the real point of the film. I was surprised that the film took a few of the twists that it did but then again, we're dealing with a pre-code era where happy situations weren't always forced on movies. Beery is also very good in his supporting role as his always plays the idiot well. I was also impressed with Jordan in her role and Marjorie Rambeau is fine as the drunken mother. Again, the screenplay is pretty straight forward and simple and it was clearly written to fit Dressler and Beery but the two take it, run with it and in the end deliver a nice little gem.

Marie Dressler was always never less than watchable and when she was at her best ('Dinner at Eight' being one of the best examples) she was more than great. Wallace Beery was more mixed for me, he had fine performances in the likes of 'The Big House' but at other times he could be hammy and unbalance things. Seeing a film with them together did sound interesting, the story sounded charming and the positive critiques promising.

While not a perfect film, with a few things that don't work as well as others, 'Min and Bill' was a lovely way to spend just over an hour or so. The good things far outweighing the cons. Whatever reservations one has with the story, the performances of Dressler and Beery make 'Min and Bill' well worth watching. As well as the balance of humour and emotion, which is balanced just about right and both elements handled well individually too.

The story is very slight and very creaky, with some of the pace not always coming to life.

Also thought that the title does mislead, for a titular character Bill is too much of an underused plot device.

Dressler on the other hand is a marvel, never going over the top and the performance is amiable and at times very moving. She also has a very expressive face and telling expressions. Beery's good natured performance is one of his more subtle and better ones and his chemistry with Dressler is truly charming and gives 'Min and Bill' a lot of much needed heart. The production values are not exceptional but it's still nicely photographed. The direction is sensitive on the most part, if at times a bit on the staid side.

Like what was said above, there is humour and emotion here. Neither over-balances the other, though the latter resonates a little more, and the humour is gently amusing and the emotion genuinely touching.

Concluding, quite lovely if a bit creaky narratively. See for the chemistry of Dressler and Beery and for Beery and especially Dressler (who essentially is the film). 7/10

An old harridan, owner of a dockside dive, while fighting fiercely for the happiness of a young girl she's raised since an infant, still is caused constant problems by her boyfriend, the boozing captain of a fishing boat. But through violence & heartbreak, nothing can shake the true affection MIN AND BILL have for each other.

Marie Dressler was a phenomenon, almost a force of nature. Described once as having a face like the back of a bus, she nonetheless was Hollywood's greatest star the last three years of her life. She earned that position by her innate goodness, a quality that moviegoers could sense in all her roles. Here she gives her Best Actress Oscar winning performance and she is wonderful.

Equally memorable is Wallace Beery. Once characterized as having a body like an overstuffed laundry bag, he had the part of the lovable rogue perfected & patented. Very popular with the fans, with Dressler he created one of the legendary screen couplings.

The rest of the cast is really there to support the two stars, but Marjorie Rambeau does stand-out as a slattern who knows too many of Min's secrets.

A good representative of its era, this early talkie is sparked by the chemistry between Dressler & Beery. Some of the staging may be a bit stiff, but Miss D. & Mr. B. always fascinate. Location filming in an actual harbor also helps the movie considerably.

The dialogue is not as modern as my summary, as "Min And Bill" is shot through with the vernacular of the 20's. Love it when people say, for instance, "So's your old man", or "Aw,jeepers ....". It's almost like a lost language, one that you only hear in old movies. Problem is that often accompanying old expressions is that the plots of the movies are often threadbare with age, and that's what happens here. This one is the one about the guardian who raises a baby from infancy, and doesn't want to part with it when hemmed in by circumstances. It's been done many times since.

But this one stars Marie Dressler, which sets it apart. Here she is a rumpled old 'wharf rat' who runs a waterfront hotel/flophouse saddled with a barnacle/fisherman (Wallace Beery) who has attached himself to her. She is raising a teen-age girl who was dropped at her doorstep as a baby, and here is where the story becomes familiar.

Marie Dressler died too soon. She was, for a short time, a national treasure - even though she was Canadian. She starred in too few pictures but won an Oscar for this one. In all her movies, she was pitch perfect, with a little staginess - but she was a stage actress before Hollywood called.

Sad to say, there will never be another like her, but "Min And Bill" is a good example of her thoroughly entertaining on-screen persona. She was good in "Anna Christie" and, especially, in "Dinner At Eight", in which she achieves immortality with the knock-out punch last line in the picture.

"Min and Bill" stars Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery as the eponymous Min and Bill. The first time I saw Marie Dressler in anything was the silent film "Tillie's Punctured Romance" (1914) with her and the incomparable Charlie Chaplin. That movie was wonderful. She was a lot younger in that movie, but she was the same type of character: a rough woman who could dish out punishment and take it as well.

In "Min and Bill" she plays the proprietor of a little inn on the wharf. They are somewhere on the west coast, perhaps in southern California, just a ship ride from San Francisco. Bill is her boyfriend(??). I have to add question marks because they seemed to be simply friends, but she got mighty upset when Bill was fooling around with a woman named Bella (Marjorie Rambeau).

Min was taking care of a school age girl named Nancy (Dorothy Jordan). We learn that Nancy is not Min's daughter, but she loves her and takes care of her as if she were her own. Min has such a gruff exterior and personality that even the love she shows looks like anger. The more love and appreciation Nancy showed Min the meaner Min would be, but we know she loves her even if she doesn't say it.

I would say that that was the main message of the movie: love can be shown in different ways. Min had to make some serious sacrifices for Nancy's sake. So even though she didn't verbalize her love or show it with body language, she did plenty to show her love. At times you want to slap Min and yell, "Can't you act like you love her!?" but that's not the type of person she was and by the end of the movie you will accept Min as the hero she was.

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