The Man in Possession

Posh Robert Montgomery (Raymond) is rejected by his social climbing family when he returns home from jail. Both his father C Aubrey Smith and his brother Reginald Owen (Claude) have agreed to give him some money to go away to another country. This is so that he can not embarrass the family's social standing any further, especially as his brother is about to marry wealthy socialite Irene Purcell (Crystal). Montgomery rejects their offer, sticks around and gets a job as a bailiff. Uh-oh, his first job is to collect on Purcell. She isn't so wealthy...............

This film is better than I expected and it's funny. All the actors do well with the exception of the annoying Beryl Mercer who plays the mother. She reminded me of the annoying mother character in the 1970s UK comedy 'Citizen Smith' who keeps saying "Hello Foxy" to the character of "Wolfie". Another oddity is casting the maid Charlotte Greenwood (Clara) above Purcell. This is largely Purcell's story and she has a far more significant role in the film.

A penniless society girl living by her wits finds herself falling in love with the handsome sheriff's man sent to keep an eye on her belongings. What will happen if one of her suitors discovers that the fellow masquerading as her butler is both her lover and THE MAN IN POSSESSION?

This is a pleasant little drawing-room comedy which spotlights two stars of the past in serious peril of becoming forgotten. Robert Montgomery was both dashing & debonair. He handles the title role with much natural charm. Long-legged Charlotte Greenwood is a delight. Her delivery & timing are as fresh as today's coffee.

The rest of the cast is equally good: lovely Irene Purcell; sweet, elderly Beryl Mercer; plus Reginald Owen & Alan Mowbray as a couple of pompous twits. Sir C. Aubrey Smith is excellent as Montgomery's gruff, blustery father. As he normally played roles of great dignity, it is tremendous fun here to see his reaction when a platter of parsnips & gravy is smashed into his vest.

This is very defiantly a pre-Production Code comedy - Montgomery & Purcell go to bed together only hours after meeting. The sight of Purcell's torn chemise lying at the foot of her bed would never have been allowed a few years later.

With his own upper class upbringing and perfect diction that went with his stage training, Robert Montgomery was one American who felt at home and could be accepted when he played in films like The Man In Possession. Montgomery plays the charming, but slightly spoiled upper class Englishman whose family just wants him out of the way because he did a stretch in the joint. For some white collar crime I'm sure.

In any event when C. Aubrey Smith playing his Colonel Blimp like father offers to stake him to passage, somewhere, anywhere out of the country Montgomery leaves any way and gets a job as a bill collector.

Wouldn't you know it on the first day on the job as a trainee with Forrester Harvey, Montgomery is left with the client to guard what might be repossessed. The client is the lovely Irene Purcell and because she's expecting guests at a dinner party Montgomery agrees to be her butler so he doesn't seem out of place.

All I can say is that for a glorified repo-man Montgomery is one fast worker.

Back in the early days of sound the studios bought all kinds of material for dialog and this film is based on a play originally done in London that did not have a long run in Depression era Broadway. One thing that MGM did do here was hire P.G. Wodehouse to spice up the dialog which he did. I'm not sure how much of this Wodehouse, but I'll bet the good stuff is from him. Some of the best is from Purcell's maid Charlotte Greenwood.

Puncturing English pretensions was a Wodehouse specialty and he had a couple of fine examples of pretentious fatheads in the cast with Alan Mowbray and Montgomery's brother Reginald Owen. It's for Owen the dullard's prospects that C. Aubrey Smith wants to get his slightly soiled son out of sight and out of mind. These two definitely could have been Wodehouse originals.

MGM later remade this for Robert Taylor and Jean Harlow as Personal Property. Owen actually repeated his role there.

Even a smear of Wodehouse is always good and if that's your cup of tea than The Man In Possession is your kind of film.

You can't do much better than P.G. Wodehouse. Unless it's Robert Montgomery, who is both funny and sexy in this playful romp. Raymond is a Britisher just sprung from the stir for a "mixup about a car." His adoring mother is delighted to have him home, but his father and social-climbing brother want to pay him to leave the country so as to avoid the inevitable taint upon their names from association. Instead of taking their insulting offer, he gets a job as a sheriff's assistant, and his first job is to guard the belongings of a lady who owes many debts and is in danger of landing in the jug herself. Wouldn't you know it, it's the night her fiancé and his parents are coming to dinner. Dash the luck! Crystal's charm entices Raymond to pose as her butler instead of her jailer for the night. Of course, the fiancé is Raymond's boorish brother, who thinks he's landed the big bucks, and hilarity ensues.

The casting is perfect, from Charlotte Greenwood as the harried maid, Reginald Owen as the brother, C.Aubrey Smith as the blustering father to Irene Purcell as the sexy and enticing Crystal. It's a mystery to me why Montgomery isn't more of a household name. He was an MGM leading man with some of the most famous leading ladies - Garbo, Crawford, Shearer, Lombard, Loy - yet he's almost forgotten today. It's sometimes hard to see the sex appeal of stars from yesteryear, unless they have the kind of transcendent sexuality of a Gable or Harlow, but Montgomery had the boy-next-door quality of Jimmy Stewart AND the handsome suavity of Cary Grant all put together, and was a fine comedic actor.

Since this is a precode film, the sex is at least implied, as it absolutely would not be a few years later, or at least not without punishing the participants. Raymond and Crystal get intimate within hours of meeting, and apparently it was quite passionate, as the torn lingerie in several other posts suggests. As Crystal lies in sublime satisfaction the morning after, Raymond makes her breakfast, complete with rose and bacon spelling out "LOVE" on top of her eggs. Adorable with a capital A. Crystal's been living on her wits and the generosity of male benefactors for quite some time, so true love is a refreshing change. Both Raymond and Crystal are the kind of characters who would not go unpunished with the advent of the pointlessly moralistic production code in a few years, but here we get to enjoy two people who've made mistakes find each other and start anew.

Naughty double-entendres abound. Raymond's boss comes to the house to see how he's got on with the job, and says to the lady that he hopes she's had "satisfaction" while Montgomery's eyes roll suggestively.

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable movie. Funny and touching, a chance to see how Hollywood did it right! You won't be disappointed.

The Man In Possession (1931) : Brief Review -

Robert Montgomery as a cute butler in a sweet little pre-code rom-com. Since it's an early talkie, I noticed some issues with the sound and dialogue delivery. That was quite acceptable for the time, but it did affect my viewing experience. The film felt a bit slow given the pacing standards of motion pictures. Aside from that, I don't think there's anything that can stop me from calling it a sweet little rom-com from the pre-code era. The film has very little to do with the writing and screenplay, as the story feels smaller compared to what one can expect in an 80-90 minute movie. Raymond takes a job as a sheriff's officer and is asked to take possession of Crystal's house, which has not paid debts for a long time. She asks them to come back tomorrow, but the officer leaves Raymond at her house. Raymond does all the butler's tasks while Crystal tries to woo her boyfriends in hopes of arranging money. In the meantime, Raymond's brother, father, and mother arrive at the same house for dinner, as Crystal wants to marry Raymond's son for financial gain. After dinner, Raymond and Crystal make love and realize they are madly in love with each other. What will Crystal do now? Robert Montgomery portrays a sophisticated, humble, helpful, and considerate butler who also has some stylish flair-something similar to what we saw William Powell do in My Man Godfrey (1936) later. Irene Purcell was somewhat lackluster; I'm not sure why. She seemed tepid and quite typecast, which is why the chemistry between these two did not work. The laughs weren't plentiful, but the story was sweet, and the love story was even sweeter when viewed from an early 30s perspective. Overall, it's a good, one-time flick by Sam Wood, who has had much better silent comedies to his name. I enjoyed a few moments despite its flaws.

RATING - 6/10*

By - #samthebestest.