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James Whale's "The Great Garrick" is perhaps the most overlooked classic of 1937, a year that also saw such classics as "Stage Door", "The Awful Truth", "Make Way for Tomorrow", "History is Made at Night", "Angel" and some others.

"Great Garrick" is a brazen but abundantly enthralling costume comedy on David Garrick, a Shakespearen ham actor and the most famous English actor of the 18th century. Garrick played a significant role in the development of English stage in this period which saw the rise of Shakespeare and other playwrights. Garrick had a reputation of enthralling his audiences on and off stage. Here in "Great Garrick", he is ingeniously played by Brian Aherne, a sadly underrated actor giving one of his most memorable performances. Aherne's co-stars include Olivia de Havilland as Garrick's love interest Germaine, Edward Everett Horton as Garrick's sidekick Tubby, Melville Cooper, Lionel Atwill, Lana Turner, and Luis Alberni.

Beautifully shot in stark black-and-white photography by Ernest Haller, "Great Garrick" is a nonstop laugh riot. The opening titles tell us, "David Garrick the actor was at the height of his fame. He was the idol of London and the tale we are now unfold is a romantic adventure that might have happened during the vividly gay career of the colourful Garrick". Garrick is just finishing playing "Hamlet" and makes a farewell curtain speech to the audience at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane. He has been invited to Paris by the Comédie Francaise, a famous French theatre which rivalled in fame London's Theatre Royal. To convince the audience he is not actually ditching them, he reads a blank letter telling them that he is going there to teach the French. In Paris, the actors of the Comédie Francaise hold an emergency meeting to discuss what they consider to be an insult. "Ridicule kills" says one of the actors. Thus, they perpetrate a series of hoaxes at an Adam and Eve inn near Paris where Garrick and his Tubby will be staying there before they arrive in Paris.

Some of the hoaxes are outrageously hammy and over-the-top, especially Luis Alberni's annoying Basset, but that doesn't really hurt the picture at all. There are genuine glories in "Great Garrick" and most important of all are Whale's inventive, stylized direction, Ernest Vajda's endlessly witty screenplay, and Aherne's quietly graceful incarnation of Garrick.

The film works as a companion piece to Whale's underrated 1936 musical "Show Boat" in that both films are entrancing and exuberant celebrations of the theatre. "Show Boat" concerns a group of traveling actors who are putting on a show; "Garrick" is bio-pic of a famous actor. Both films display the talent and versatility of a great director.

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.

The Great Garrick (TGG) is the rare example of a witty literate satire that used the world of theater as the tale's important backdrop. Notwithstanding its considerable charm and appeal as an adult example of movie entertainment, TGG was commercially unsuccessful. TGG is the only film that director James Whale made at Warner Brothers, and it had the misfortune to be produced ahead of its time. For some more contemporary examples of this kind of movie that enjoyed substantial critical and popular success, cf. Singin' in the Rain, Scaramouche and Shakespeare in Love.

Whale employed several dark comedic and romantic touches in TGG that added to its overall enjoyment value. But what else would you expect from the genius who previously helmed The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man and The Bride of Frankenstein? Perhaps Whale was somewhat over the top at times in telling the Garrick story, but nobody could seriously argue that his humor didn't appropriately support the plot.

TGG captures the lovely girlish-voiced Olivia De Havilland (then 21) somewhere near the peak of her youthful charm and beauty. She was only a year away from her breakout role as Maid Marian in The Adventures of Robin Hood. Her distinguished co-star, Brian Aherne, (then 35), was one of Hollywood's most underrated actors. He had the looks and appeal to be another Errol Flynn or Tyrone Power---but it was not meant to happen. Aherne's ripe spoof of the legendary (and reputedly hammy) stage actor David Garrick is quite nuanced and subtle---certainly it is fun to watch. And seventeen year old Lana Turner--still then a brunette and virtually lost in her period costume---appears here in just her third film and immediately following her breakthrough bit part in They Won't Forget. In TGG, Lana is pretty rather than sexy and delivers her three lines of dialogue in a totally satisfying manner.

TGG boasted an outstanding cast of supporting players including Melville Cooper (in probably his best screen role), Albert von Dekker (before he dropped the "von"), Marie Wilson (before her later My Friend Irma fame), Etienne Girardot (fresh from his earlier success as the madcap sticker planter in Twentieth Century), etc.

TGG is an intelligent, charming farcical film that represents James Whale in his prime as a witty and humorously sly storyteller. It is a shame that TGG is not better known. It awaits a fresh (and likely positive) reappraisal by a contemporary audience.

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.

If anyone is expecting the story of the real David Garrick than this is not the film for you. According to Wikipedia, the real Garrick was rather short, but his talent added several inches in stage height and happily married to a German dancer for many years. Though I'm sure then as now the celebrated actor attracted his share of groupies.

I also doubt that Garrick ever made an appearance at the Comedy Francaise as a guest artist. Mainly because Great Britain and France were at war a whole lot during the 18th century. Just as I doubt Moliere saw much of his work playing at London's Drury Lane Theater where Garrick was the managing director as well as star attraction.

However The Great Garrick is a charming comedy of manners about a quick witted actor who is given an unforgettable night at a roadside inn by the Comedy Francaise. Garrick played with effortless ease by Brian Aherne and when he announces that he will be off the London stage for a while because he's going to be a guest artist at the Comedy Francaise, the crowd reacts bad. With a quick wit Garrick gets the audience on his side when he appeals to their nationalism by implying he will be giving them acting lessons. He leaves with the ringing cry of "teach the French".

Of course the company of The Comedy Francaise reacts real bad when they hear that news. They resolve under managing director Melville Cooper to teach Garrick a lesson. They rent out an inn where Garrick is supposed to stop overnight and prepare a bit of theatrics for him.

Aherne is tipped to it and he and valet Edward Everett Horton just act oblivious to some madcap behavior. A young woman played by Olivia DeHavilland arrives at the inn and she's running away from a proposed marriage. Aherne just thinks she's one of the players though he offers her accommodations in his suite.

I think you get the idea how this is going. Though The Great Garrick has no relation at all with the real David Garrick it's not a bad film with several good comic spots. This was another costume film where Olivia got cast in and got rooted in at Warner Brothers. She's pretty and classy, but the laughs all belong to the guys. And Aherne became family for a while, soon marrying Olivia's sister Joan Fontaine shortly after The Great Garrick came out.