Looking Forward

As a lowly accountant in a big London department store, Mr. B. doesn't wheeze, waggle his eyebrows, or overact in any way. He's pleasingly restrained as a small, passive cog in a large machine, and so is Lewis Stone, not resorting to any Judge Hardy tricks as the sympathetic but staunch corporate patriarch who must reluctantly let him go. Adapted from a stage play by C.L. Anthony (a pseudonym for Dodie Smith, who wrote "101 Dalmations"), this Depression family drama does acknowledge the Depression more than most early-1930s studio product, and it provides a nice contrast in how these two gentlemen's families (Stone's with greed and self- centeredness, Barrymore's with sacrifice and resolve) react to adversity. It's not thunderingly dramatic and kind of peters out, but as MGM prestige product of the day, it's less showy and artificial than many of its contemporaries.

Taking advantage of Hollywood's ample supply of British actors in the 1930's, MGM set this depression-era film in an English department store. But the two stars are American actors Lewis Stone (best known for his appearances as Judge Hardy) and Lionel Barrymore. Barrymore received top billing on the titles although Stone's part is considerably larger. Both are a treat to watch, especially their scenes together, and the script (adapted from a play) is high brow enough that the mix of British and American accents is not that disruptive.

Stone is excellent as Gabriel Service, the owner of a financially troubled up-scale department store headed toward bankruptcy as a result of the depression. A competitor offers to buy the store but will not promise to retain the staff. Service is a very paternalistic owner and wants to do what is best for his employees, but he knows that declining the offer puts the long- term financial security of his family at considerable risk.

Barrymore plays Tim Benton, a 40 year employee of the store who is among the first group of laid off employees. At this stage of his career Barrymore's standard character was a version of his grumpy and overbearing Mr. Potter from "It's a Wonderful Life"; the main variation being whether he was a good guy or a bad guy. But in "Looking Forward" he gets to play a meek accountant with total loyalty to Mr. Service and his store. It's a refreshing change of pace and this unusual performance is a good reason to watch the film.

Both men have families who for the first time feel the impact of the depression on their life styles. Service has remarried and his new wife Isobel (Benita Hume) is much younger. She is carrying on not so discreetly with another man and obviously just married Service for his money. For some reason the gold-digging younger wife was a staple of the films during this era.

The title of the film, from a speech made by FDR during the depths of the depression, is explained by the opening credits. The theme is how economic pressures impact personal relationships and aspirations. The early narrative establishes the domino effect of the depression as Benton's layoff also causes the layoff of a struggling mother who helps his wife on a part-time basis. The upbeat ending illustrates the somewhat "Pollyanna" notion that adversity causes people to rise to the occasion and find new ways to be productive.

This pleasant little film is well crafted but nothing spectacular. It is a nice time capsule of the depression era, historically interesting not just because Hollywood felt the need to make an uplifting film, but because viewers flocked to the theatre seeking the comforting and motivational messages delivered by this type of entertainment.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Understandably, but regrettably, this understated drama of sympathetic characters facing a lifetime of honest effort gone to waste is transformed into propaganda for facing the Depression (1930s) with courage and determination. That the filmmakers make a 180-degree turn toward optimism and a (hopefully) better future is commendable in regard to boosting public morale during economically bleak times, but in doing so they sacrifice the touching story that had been developed up to that point.

As a businessman trying to stoically face the demise an operation that has supported his family for generations in comfort and style, Lewis Stone is superb; no less so Lionel Barrymore as a dull, unimaginative clerk whose long-standing devotion to the company gives him a reason to look forward to each day - until he is laid off when the staff must be reduced. Their scenes together are especially moving: low-key, but charged with emotion. All of this, however, goes for naught when the film's "message" is thrust at us during the final twenty minutes. Lewis Stone's despair, along with his conviction that the business cannot possibly survive another six months, is transformed into a resolve that somehow a way will be found to carry on and prosper. Equally unconvincing is Lionel Barrymore's becoming something of an entrepreneur in order to support his family - he who was deemed expendable by the company for lacking ambition and imagination. The upbeat ending may have been exactly what the times called for, but a well-wrought drama was lost in the process.

This is one of the better Depression era films I have seen, as it not only encapsulated what this period was like but had exceptional writing that avoided clichés. And, thanks to exceptional acting, it's well worth seeking out the next time it appears on Turner Classic Movies.

The film is the story of two men who work at the same old family department store--the boss (Lewis Stone) and a lowly career employee (Lionel Barrymore). Both men are in trouble at work. Barrymore is reluctantly let go after 40 years on the job. No matter how sentimental and loyal his boss (Stone) is, the company is in serious trouble and cutbacks must take place. And, when Stone realizes his company is about to go bankrupt, he, too, is seriously affected. However, what really makes the movie exciting is how their families react to the crisis. While it seemed less surprising how Barrymore's family responded, Stone's family was exciting to watch. I could say a lot more--but I just don't want to spoil it for you.

The bottom line is that the movie is exquisitely written and acted. It's also a nice film to offer some hope to Depression-weary audiences--and not in a phoney or formulaic manner. If you enjoy this film, also try "Sweepings--another Barrymore film that is about a company in crisis.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that more people go to the movies to escape their problems than to confront them. This was never more true than in the 1930s when most films sedulously avoided even mentioning the D word, let alone showing people in economic extremis. What audiences got instead, in great profusion, were Andy Hardy, show gals, gangsters and Meeting Cute, to mention just four well trod paths of avoidance.

So, it is always interesting to see a film made during the Depression that focuses on money worries and unemployment. It is especially so when the film is intelligent, realistic (at least until the end) and possessed of good performances by a varied assortment of fine British and American actors, such as this offering from director Clarence Brown. I was particularly struck by the lead performance of Lewis Stone, an early practitioner, along with Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne, of the always effective Less Is More school of acting. Indeed, Stone's restraint and low key-ness seems to filter down to the rest of the cast. Even veteran scenery chewer Lionel Barrymore gives the furniture a masticatory break, for a change.

Being a Clarence Brown film the pacing is going to be deliberate ( in other words, an hour and twenty minutes feels like two plus) and someone, be it the screenwriters or Brown or all of them, should be shot for that treacly rainbow denouement, but taken all in all this film, set in England (perhaps that enabled a Hollywood studio more easily to make it), will hold your attention. Give it a B.

PS...Of the rest of the cast I was particularly struck with Benita Hume. Sexy and sardonic to Brit perfection. Read where she was married to Ronald Colman and George Sanders. Must check out her other film work.