Treinando Homens

"Aggie Appleby Maker of Men" is a rare treat. It's a film I'd never heard of and I had very low expectations--yet the film turned out to be great fun. It also clearly is an example of a Pre-Code film, as much of the plot involves two people who are not married cohabiting. Platonic or not, this would be a definite no-no in the era of the strengthened Production Code beginning in mid-1934.

When the film begins, Aggie (Wynne Gibson) is in love with the brutish Red Branahan (William Gargan). Branahan is a tough-guy--much like Bluto from the Popeye cartoons! However, he won't work and is a schemer and gambler--not the best husband material, but Aggie loves him.

Because of Red's strength, temper and stupidity, he gets himself jailed after a fight with several cops. The fight must have been pretty bad, as it seems like he was sent away for some time. In the meantime, Aggie is broke and has no place to live. So, her goofy sister (Zasu Pitts) has an idea--Aggie can sleep in one of the empty apartments in the building where she cleans. And, as long as Aggie leaves before the man who lives there arrives, no one will know. However, he returns home early and instead of being angry, Adoniram 'Schlumpy' Schlump (Charles Farrell) is very understanding of her plight and even lets her stay with him....no hanky-panky.

Schlumpy is practically the opposite of Red. Schlumpy is a mama's boy--weak and effete. However, he's also very decent and so Aggie takes it upon herself to toughen him up. Part of this toughening process is to have him pretend to be Red. After all, Red has a reputation as a tough-guy and if Schlumpy just ACTS tough, perhaps he can learn to be tough. Well, this toughening process seems to be very effective. But when happens when the real Red is unexpectedly released from jail? Tune in and see.

This film is a delightful little comedy. While it has few huge belly laughs, it's very cute and the actors did a lovely job. Farrell was great and Wynne was so good that I agree with the other reviewer who wonders why she didn't become more of a star. Perhaps she didn't have the looks Hollywood was looking for, but she did a great job. Well worth seeing.

Why didn't she become a star? She's completely wonderful in this swell little comedy, a cross between Sylvia Sidney and Mae West with a dab of Ruth Donnelly. Gibson stars as Aggie, who's husband Red (William Gargan) gets sent up for punching out 3 cops. Broke and starving, she meets up with prissy Charles Farrell. She makes a man of him (ahem) and falls for him despite her best intentions. Nice little comedy all round with everyone turning in good performances. Zasu Pitts is fun as Aggie's sister, and Betty Furness and Blanche Fredericci are good too. Maybe Farrell's best talkie, but Gibson is certainly the STAR here, dominating every scene she's in.

Wynne Gibson just shines in this film. She was 35 when she starred in it, and it was one of her few starring roles. 35 isn't old now, but it was considered rounding the top of the hill in 1933. 35 year old grandmothers were common at the time. Her character is brassy and blonde and she's seen the tough side of life and doesn't let it get her down, yet she's vulnerable.

Wynne is in the title role of Aggie, and she falls for the all muscles - as in even in his head - Red Branahan (William Gargan) when he apparently stands up for her in a fight. Heck, I don't even think he knew what the fight was about, he just liked to brawl and in this case it happened to be for a worthy cause.

Next scene and the two are living together and posing as married. You couldn't get away with coming out and saying that even in the precode era, but it is implied in all kinds of ways. And then Red gets in a fist fight with the police and they take him away. Plus he forgot to grab his rent money during the fight. So Aggie is out on the street. Her friend Sybby (Zasu Pitts) is a maid in a boarding house, so she lets Aggie catch a nap in a room where the boarder is supposed to be out for a long while, but then he comes back.

They say the best sales people are those whose pitch you never see coming, and somehow Aggie angles it so that she has a permanent home in the boarder's flat plus she becomes his mentor and what you'd call a "life coach" today. . By the way, the boarder is a young man who is the opposite of what she had in Red. Weak willed, naive, gentle, well schooled but totally not street wise. He is a rich guy raised by a maiden aunt trying to make it on his own in the big city. This is a great role for Charles Farrell as "Schlumpy". His high pitched voice is not what audiences expected in the switch from silents to sound film, and it hurt his career, but that voice works for him here.

Aggie's weakness? She can't seem to figure what she wants in a man. She tries to make Schlumpy over in the image of Red, but she likes his gentleness. But then it's hard to only bake half a cake. Meanwhile, Red is not going to be in jail forever for some fist to cuffs with the police. Not in a rough part of New York City.

How does this all work out? Watch and find out. The script is interesting in concept and the best part of it are the non stop bawdy one liners that Wynne Gibson dishes out in rapid succession from beginning to end. A year later, with the production code in force she would have been left speechless by the censors. It's a shame the Warner Archive hasn't gotten around to releasing this one yet. Highly recommended.

A brawling roughneck and a timid wimp are both whipped into shape by AGGIE APPLEBY MAKER OF MEN.

This refreshingly forthright & honest look at a Depression-era New York City female and her two problem men is a delight from start to finish. Elements both comic and tender are blended together into a very satisfying package which, whatever the situation, rings true every time. Wynne Gibson gives a remarkably unaffected performance--bold, brassy, bossy, but also unfailingly decent & loving. She doesn't waste time with either regrets or excuses, but gets on with her tough life, helping others whenever she can.

Charles Farrell, a major box office star in the early 1930's, is excellent as the diffident young fellow who changes his entire persona, thanks to Miss Gibson's efforts. Farrell lets us see how vulnerable his character still is, even after assuming his new attitude. The short scene in which he is attacked by a bully is actually painful to watch. William Gargan epitomizes the kind of loudmouthed bruiser who's actually a softy when it comes to his girl.

Wispy & almost ethereal, the enormously talented ZaSu Pitts plays the cleaning lady friend of Miss Gibson. Future consumer advocate Betty Furness portrays Farrell's surprisingly liberated hometown girlfriend, while Blanche Frederici appears as his rather frightful aunt.

Movie mavens will recognize an unbilled Jane Darwell as Miss Gibson's practical landlady.

'Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men' is surprisingly good - surprisingly because it is so little known. Until I came across it I had never heard of it. Neither had I heard of Wynne Gibson, and I had encountered Charles Farrell only in a couple of silent films he did together with Janet Gaynor. Judging by the small number of reviews here on IMDB and by the fact that the film has under 300 ratings (as of March 2022), it really is almost unknown. That's a pity because it is as neat a pre-code comedy as you could wish for. Aggie, played by Gibson, gets evicted from her flat when her boy friend has to spend some time in the 'can' and she cannot pay the rent. Her friend Sibby (Zasu Pitts) helps her and lets her sleep in a room whose tenant (Farrell) is out. When he returns earlier than expected, complications ensue... The film has good acting and snappy dialogue full of innuendos. It moves fast and is all in all a pleasure to watch. Don't miss it!