Une galante aventure

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.

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.

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.

Kudos for this under-rated costume farce. It was included in Olivia de Havilland's TCM special, but she has a relatively small though choice role in it. Brian Aherne is surprisingly good as Garrick, the leading English actor of his day, cutting a tall, strikingly handsome figure in rococco-wear and powdered wig, delivering the staged lines with considerable panache. He is certainly every bit a match for Errol Flynn and the movies he shared with de Havilland, but it's a mystery why Aherne was only cast in this one. Olivia was quite young and very radiant, playing a mistaken-identity sweetheart-contessa type that she will repeat many times, possibly too often, in her career(eg, The Ambassador's Daughter, Princess O-Rourke). The take-off on the Comedie Francaise as bungling ham actors is priceless in itself. Certainly the director, screen writer and anyone else who took part in the production should be noted, for the fast, slightly frenetic pacing of the lines and timing of the repartee are key aspects of the success and they weren't necessarily transferrable to other movies by the same director and writer.

Special notice should be given to Etienne Giradot, who plays the prompter with a conscience who gets batted about for speaking the truth and showing up his jingoist "betters" with his honesty. His intermittent appearances, starting at the beginning and then at the end, in his prompter's box, are almost worth the price of admission. Those who have seen "The Kennel Murder Case" with William Powell, will remember Giradot as the doctor/undertaker who never gets to finish a meal. With an actor of such a unique personality, yet so perfectly cast in both supporting roles, one wonders whether if he was simply playing himself, or whether the parts were tailored for him. Four stars **** out of four.

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.