Septième district

Pat O'Brien plays an obnoxiously by-the-book policeman who's hated by the people on his beat and not exactly loved by his fellow officers. He's forced to rethink his outlook when a man (Humphrey Bogart) turns to crime to support his family after O'Brien's rigidity inadvertently costs him his job.

Interesting if not wholly successful drama from Warner Bros. O'Brien's character actually reads up on archaic laws just so he can write people tickets for breaking them! That would be bad enough today but imagine doing that at a time when most people didn't have two nickels to rub together. It's got a nice cast and that helps a lot. Any movie with Bogie is worth seeing.

A first-rate movie in every sense. I recently watched it for the first time in decades and was I was every bit as impressed with it as I was the first time I saw it. Pat O'Brien was great, and you very seldom see a young child turn in a performance that's nearly as good as the one by Sybil Jason in this film. It's a shame that more people aren't aware of this movie, but, of course, a lot of great films, such as this 1937 gem, become forgotten about over time. Let's just hope that more people get to see it. It's on You Tube. And I don't mind saying that I got pretty emotional at times. I highly recommend it!

I didn't mind at all that this was predictable and formulaic-- I like the sappy stuff. Who's a better Irish cop than Pat O'Brien? And it's a treat to see early Ann Sheridan and Bogart. The Production Code guaranteed that justice, and not just the letter of the law, would be done.

I noticed that Father Patrick was played by Father Sheridan, but it appears that he was no relation to the lovely Ann. He had quite a long career in films, beginning with silents in 1915.

It was really a cheap shot for Warners to release a publicity tagline such as "a Hot-Headed Irish Cop Comes to Grips with a Cold-Blooded Killer..." to rope in audiences who'd be expecting a crime thriller instead of a heart-warming tale of a mean cop's redemption.

Heart-warming is fine with me.

"The Great O'Malley," directed by William Dieterle, was Bogart's second film with Pat O'Brien, a man he deeply respected as a person and as an actor… In this very predictable movie, O'Brien was a too zealously cop whose attachment to the letter of the law alienates friends as well as enemies…

Bogart was an honest family man who was forced to turn to crime in order to provide for his family after O'Brien arrested him for a minor offense and caused him to lose a job opportunity…

Bogart had an excellent chance to show some versatility by turning from his earlier carefree attitude into one of frustration and bitter hatred, and he carried it off rather effectively

THE GREAT O'MALLEY (Warner Brothers, 1937), directed by William Dieterle, stars Irish actor, Pat O'Brien, properly cast as an Irish policeman by the name of O'Malley. Having previously played an officer of the law by the name of O'Hara in THE IRISH IN US (1935) where James Cagney starred and gathered most of the attention, his role of O'Malley solely belongs to O'Brien, with some notable attention to some of his supporting players, such as Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan, who would become major star performers by the 1940s, and the little child actress by the name of Sybil Jason, the studio's answer to 20th Century-Fox's Shirley Temple. Though cute and agreeable in her role, Jason never became a major child actress of her time. After co-starring in two movies starring Temple at her home studio, Jason would become lifelong friends with the legendary child actress.

Set in New York City, the story introduces James Aloysius O'Malley (Pat O'Brien), whose late father was also a policeman, as a "by the book" officer who passes out citations for petty crimes and ordinances. He takes his job very seriously, even to a point of criticizing his own mother (Mary Gordon) for breaking the law for littering. One day he stops John Phillips (Humphrey Bogart), a family man with a wife (Frieda Inescort) and a child, Barbara (Sybil Jason), while on his way to his first job he's has in years, for a violation driving his Model T car with a bad muffler. Only a few minutes late, John loses his job to another man. In desperate need of extra money to buy food for his family, he tries to pawn off some personal items. Unable to get the $10 needed, John steals $400 from the pawnbroker. Later he is stopped by O'Malley for a traffic violation, unaware that he is now a wanted man. Later arrested, John is put to trial and sentenced to serve two to ten years in the state penitentiary. His wife informs Barbara that her father has gone away on his new job in Canada. Because of the incident that could have been prevented, but has only ruined a man's life instead, Captain Cromwell (Donald Crisp) asks O'Malley for his resignation, but is refused. Cromwell decides to make or break O'Malley by reducing him to school crossing guard at Public School 141. Although O'Malley finds his new job humiliating, he soon takes an interest in a girl with a lame leg, who happens to be the daughter John Phillips, and the child's teacher, Judy Nolan (Ann Sheridan). Other members of the cast include: Henry O'Neill (Defense Attorney); Hobart Cavanaugh ("Pinky" Holden); Frank Sheridan (Father Patrick); Lillian Harmer (Miss Taylor); Frank Reicher (Doctor Edwin Larson), with Granville Bates, Henry Armetta and Stanley Fields in smaller roles.

Based on the story with material that was previously done in the silent era as THE MAKING OF O'MALLEY (1925) with Milton Sills and Dorothy MacKaill, this latest update gathers enough attention through its Warner Brothers stock company in their properly placed roles. As mentioned earlier, O'Brien handles his role perfectly as a no nonsense policeman. While Humphrey Bogart has become relatively known for playing gangsters, villains and later detectives, this along with his earlier BLACK LEGION (1936) does he get the rare opportunity playing a father of a small child. Of all the cast members, O'Brien is the sole focus who nearly takes second place to Sybil Jason. No matter, since he won't ever give her a citation for scene stealing. Regardless of some syrupy scenes, and how the Great O'Malley gets through his humiliation with job demotion, the movie is satisfactory 70 minute production.

Viewed mostly on Turner Classic Movies cable channel, THE GREAT O'MALLEY, which was at one point in history was rarely shown on television since the 1960s, has become available on DVD. It would be nice to have the silent 1925 movie available one of these days for O'Malley comparison. (***)