Une dépêche Reuter

Of all the studios of the 1930s-40s, I think Warner Brothers did a particularly good job with biopics during this era. The films tended to get the facts pretty much correct and the stories also are exciting to watch. A few of these wonderful biopics are "The Story of Louis Pasteur", "Dr. Clitterhouse's Magic Bullet" and this film, "Dispatch from Reuters"...and they are well worth your time.

Julius Reuter (Edward G. Robinson) was the man for the creation of the international news service, Reuters. The story shows his company's evolution during the 19th century from a carrier pigeon service to a news agency supplying the world's newspapers with the facts.

Aside from Robinson NOT sporting the huge muttonchops that the real Reuter had, he did a marvelous job making the title character human AND extraordinary. Excellent direction, supporting actors and the overall polished look of the movie make it well worth your time.

Another gem from Hollywood's golden age, "A Dispatch From Reuters", tells the fascinating true story of Julius Reuter (played by the marvelous Edward G. Robinson), founder of the famous news agency, and who started to transmit information using pigeons. Impeccable production, was a distinguished addition to Warner's series of biopics, with fine cast and a typically wonderful music score by the brilliant Max Steiner.

Edward G. Robinson is a small, quiet man with a big dream: to make a huge world a little smaller by making the dissemination of news faster, first with pigeons, then with telegraphy, and always with honesty.

Once again, Robinson stars for director William Dieterle in one of Warner Brothers' movies about truth and freedom. While Jack Warner may have groaned that every time Paul Muni parted his beard it cost him a million dollars, these movies were popular and well regarded. Even today, we hear words uttered by mendacious and angry people arguing about "fake news" and "alternate facts", underling the last words in this movie, spoken by Robinson: "A censored press is the tool of a corrupt minority. A free press is the symbol of a free people. For truth is freedom. Without truth, there can only be slavery and degradation." As distressing as the truth may be, this is something I believe. With Edna Best, Eddie Alert, Albert Basserman, Gene Lockhart, and Nigel Bruce.

Dispatch from Reuter's, A (1940)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Minor bio-pic from Warner features Edward G. Robinson as Paul Julius Reuter, the man who started off with pigeons and then building Europe's fastest news wire service. The late 30's and early 40's were full of biography movies and this one here is somewhat entertaining but there's just not enough here to make it really worth seeing. I know a few things about Reuter's life that wasn't included in this film and I can only guess that the subject wouldn't have interested folks in 1940. With that said, I'm really not sure what Jack Warner himself would have found so interesting about the story actually filmed. The main story has Reuter trying to stay ahead of other people and a big finale about his report on the Lincoln assassination and whether or not it's true. There really never is any drama that builds from any of the situations, although I will admit the stuff with the pigeons was pretty good. The film covers a wide range of years but the time itself never seems to move in the film. Not for a second did I believe I was watching something taking place in the 1820's and this really takes away from the atmosphere that should have been created. Robinson turns in a fairly good performance but I did expect more from him. He fits the role quite well but not once did I feel too much passion coming from him. Edna Best serves as the wife but doesn't really add too much. Eddie Albert does the best work of the cast with Gene Lockhart, Otto Kruger, James Stephenson and Nigel Bruce rounding out the supporting players. Child star Dickie Moore has a brief part in the film. I'm sure a good movie might be made with this story but sadly it's not this one.

Edward G. Robinson was a most interesting movie star in classic film history. Like Bogart, James Cagney, and Spencer Tracy, he was a character actor who became a leading man. That didn't and doesn't happen to many actors or actresses. Robinson could do anything - he could be mean, pathetic, a blowhard, a loser, hilarious, whatever the role called for. Along with his Warners colleague, Paul Muni, he did his share of biopics. "A Dispatch from Reuters" from 1940 is one.

Robinson plays Julius Reuter. Since this film is really about the news agency he founded, much of Reuter's life is left out. Of interest, he was a German Jew who moved to London and ultimately converted to Christianity (before marrying Ida, who was a Christian), taking the first name of Paul. He also became a naturalized British citizen and was named a Baron by Queen Victoria. He had three sons, and the last member of the Reuter family, the widow of one of his grandsons, died in 2009.

Anyway, to get back to the film - there was some dramatic license taken, but the basic story is accurate. Reuter did start out with carrier pigeons, and the film does follow the evolution of the agency accurately as far as his news beating the ships, etc.

Edward G. Robinson is excellent as Julius, and though it's unclear how much of a struggle the real Reuter had in getting clients, Robinson shows determination and ambition throughout the film. I have to agree with one of the reviewers on this site who thought the Eddie Albert character was too lazy to have continued to be employed. Albert is good, though, as is the rest of the cast -- Albert Basserman, Edna Best, Gene Lockhart, Nigel Bruce, Otto Kruger, and Montagu Love.

Entertaining film.