O Grande Garrick

Brian Aherne is the great actor David Garrick in "The Great Garrick," directed by James Whale and costarring Olivia DeHavilland. The actress was 21 years old when this film was released. The Comedy Francaise, insulted by comments made by Garrick about working with them, decides to give him a night in a French inn he won't ever forget. Knowing he will stop there en route to Paris, the head of the company rents the place for the day, dismissing the staff. The company take roles as maids, waiters, servants, etc. in a play written for the occasion by Beaumarchis, full of love triangles, duels, a crazy man, and lots of noise. What they don't know is that the old prompter, who once worked with Garrick, has gone ahead and warned him of what is to happen. One other thing they're not counting on is the appearance of another guest (DeHavilland) besides Garrick. Garrick, however, thinks she's part of the troupe.

This is a witty, well done comedy. Aherne, an accomplished Shakespearean actor, is great as the egomaniacal Garrick. He was equally good in "Merrily We Live," but for some reason, stopped getting the showy roles, possibly because of Errol Flynn. Edward Everett Horton is excellent as his manservant. The supporting cast, including Lionel Atwill, Melville Cooper, Fritz Leiber, and Marie Wilson are all wonderful. Lana Turner has a tiny role as one of the maids. Olivia DeHavilland is luminously beautiful in a true ingénue role, done before Warners realized what a wonderful actress they had in her.

Very entertaining, and a good chance to see a very young DeHavilland and Aherne shine.

This was never intended as a high-status, big-budget film. Instead, it's a little film about an actor whose ego is even larger than the stage on which her performs! The Great Garrick is the sort of person who would have given himself the title "The Great" and this fictionalized movie portrays this real-life actor as a great big old fathead! He IS an excellent actor, but his arrogance puts off those around him. This movie concerns their trying to bring him down a peg or two and thereby teaching him a little humility. The acting, writing and pacing are excellent and for a little film it delivers quite a punch--with a really terrific conclusion.

With every new Whale film I watch, it's becoming increasingly evident that it's not just his horror output that was unique; this one, in fact – the director's sole effort for Warner Bros. – feels nothing like any of their productions!

The title would seem to suggest a biopic of the celebrated English actor – many similar prestige films emerged from Hollywood during this time, such as THE GREAT ZIEGFELD (1936) and THE GREAT WALTZ (1938) – but Whale and screenwriter Ernest Vajda concentrate instead on one curious incident (the fact that it never actually occurred is immaterial). Most of the director's typical qualities – and faults – are to be found in the film: his eye for pictorial detail (accentuated by Anton Grot's distinctive set design), the fluid camera-work (courtesy of Ernest Haller), the dry English humor, etc. However, he also tends to over-indulge his character actors (which, this being essentially a celebration of the art of performing, is hardly surprising in this case) and, consequently, the film's initial momentum isn't sustained throughout – the second half is somewhat chaotic and ham-fisted – but picks up again for the splendid finale. Nevertheless, Whale biographer James Curtis considers THE GREAT GARRICK his last wholly satisfying film – which, actually, makes me look forward all the more to watching THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK (1939) someday given its own solid reputation!

Inevitably, the cast has been carefully and most ably chosen: the underrated Brian Aherne is superb in the title role, while it's always a pleasure to see Edward Everett Horton (playing nervous and cowardly as always); among the endless list of supporting actors, perhaps the most impressive are Etienne Girardot (funny and poignant as an elderly stage prompter and Garrick's most devoted fan) and Luis Alberni (a specialist in servant roles relishing his one-shot opportunity at essaying the showier part of a lunatic); in contrast, demure Olivia De Havilland – a Warners contract player – feels somewhat lost in such company, to the point where additional close-ups were imposed by the studio (notably the unwarranted and corny final shot).

This stylish and delightful gem is truly one of the unsung films about the acting profession, in every way a worthy companion piece to such major works as Marcel Carne''s CHILDREN OF PARADISE (1945) and Jean Renoir's THE GOLDEN COACH (1952). Unfortunately, the audio on the DVD-R I watched (made from a TCM broadcast) was occasionally accompanied by a distracting echo; given Warners' recent DVD release of Whale's WATERLOO BRIDGE (1931) – as part of the "Forbidden Hollywood" set – and the rumored one for SHOWBOAT (1936) – along with two other cinematic adaptations of the popular musical – I hope that THE GREAT GARRICK won't be left behind (after all, those two films were actually Universal productions which became the property of Warners solely by virtue of the MGM remakes!).

Brian Aherne stars as David Garrick, renowned 18th century actor, in this wild little tale that is certainly no stodgy biopic but rather "a romantic adventure that might have happened," as the picture's introduction tells us.

Invited to Paris to perform with France's famous Comédie-Française, Garrick stops over a day out from Paris at a quaint country inn. The players of the French troupe, meanwhile, have already occupied said inn, posing as staff and guests, and have plotted out an elaborate ruse designed to embarrass Garrick—who, they have been informed, has made disparaging remarks about French acting.

Ensuing events include plenty of table-turning...and the plot is stirred delightfully when plucky runaway Olivia de Havilland, her carriage broken down on the side of the road, arrives at the inn and asks for a room.

Aherne is funny and dashing, pompous when necessary but also quite capable of being bewildered; de Havilland is funny and radiant and sometimes bewildered herself.

The character actors filling out the cast are also outstanding— Edward Everett Horton as Aherne's valet whose duties sometimes include giving pep talks; Luis Alberni as an actor eager for his chance to play a mad scene; and especially Etienne Girardot, in a small but essential role as a stage hand who takes the Great Garrick's side.

Best of all, though, is Melville Cooper, who probably never had a better role than this one: as the manager of the Comédie-Française, he is dramatic, commanding, a bit ridiculous—the perfect leader for a crew of enthusiastic but misguided actors.

Oh, the costumes look great too. Good fun all the way around.

XVIII century. British actor David Garrick is giving his last performance in London before leaving to Paris invited by the Comédie Française staff. But when saying goodbye to his public they get angry with him for leaving and throw him vegetables so to calm they down he lies by saying he is going to Paris to teach French actors how to act. Only a theatre writer member of the Comédie Française is there and tells it to his fellows, who decide to give a lesson in acting to Garrick that he shall never forget. In order to do so they hire an inn where Garrick is going to stay for one night before arriving to Paris to pretend they are who they are not. But he has been previously advised by the theatre propmter, who happens to be his fan and a mysterious young beautiful stranger appears changing the whole plot a bit and providing an interesting final twist to the story... David Garrick was maybe the most renowed British actor. He had an incredible success better for introducing the "modern" way of acting, that was extremely Pompous and bombastic until then.

The film clearly benefits from an intelligent sophisticated well written script by Ernest Vajda full of witty dialogues, a non-stop timing and excellent performances from the whole cast. Add a perfect scenario with superbly done set designs fitting like a glove like the ones in Marie Antoinette's movie (Vadja's script too) and will obtain a great entertainment movie.

Brian Aherne -an underrated actor that could have been easily the British Errol Flynn- delivers an excellent comedienne performance as witty smug Garrick. Olivia de Havilland is perfect as the lady in distress (and she looks impressive in her first appearance wrapped in spectacular Milo Anderson coat) and the movie runs easily to spend a nice time watching. Highly recommended.