Barnacle Bill

In the mid "50's" I saw part of Barnacle Bill on CBS-TV in Chicago. I don't hesitate to say that Wallace Berry is my favorite actor of all times, bar none. The fact that he was as course in real life as he was on the screen is what endears him to me the more. He is someone like the lower middle class, blue collar, working man in real life; someone who was not a snob and with whom I can identify. So he really was not an "actor" per se, he just played a script as a natural.

He could play any role he chose but my favorite genre was his comedy and when Marjorie Main was the leading lady. They were as well paired as Kathryn Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart or in later days like Jackie Gleason and Art Carney. They worked their craft with talent and self assurance; they were not the products of modern technology as are modern actors. They were the real thing, the likes of which, sadly, are known no more.

A fondness for blondes and alcohol soaks money out of salty old San Pedro fisherman Wallace Beery (as Bill Johansen). Stocky dockside shopkeeper Marjorie Main (as Marge Cavendish) is sweet on Mr. Beery, but is put off by his irresponsible lifestyle. The arrival of Beery's long-lost teenage daughter Virginia Weidler (as Virginia Johansen) could put Berry in a family mood, but local crooks and his wayward nature threaten to sink Berry's ship...

MGM teamed Wallace Berry and Marie Dressler very successfully, with "Min and Bill" being their most representative hit. Here, they are obviously going for the same formula, with Ms. Main replacing Ms. Dressler. Berry was happiest on the docks, and most lovable with an appealing child; double check. This probably should have been titled "Marge and Bill", but you couldn't fault the studio for knowing who was reeling in the box office cash.

****** Barnacle Bill (4/7/41) Richard Thorpe ~ Wallace Beery, Marjorie Main, Virginia Weidler, Leo Carrillo

The year after "Wyoming" (1940), Wallace Beery and Marjorie Main were brought back for another Hugo Butler scripted/Richard Thorpe directed picture with a strong supporting cast, this time with irrepressibly cute Virginia Weidler. Beery not only sings another duet with Main, but sings with Connie Gilchrist as well, before the two ladies duke it out over the big galoot. There will never be another Wallace Beery, now that we are in such a self-important, serious age. He is purely entertaining, without any edifying purpose at all, despite a few sanctimonious comments now and then to stay on the right side of the censorious.

Bill Johansen (Wallace Beery) is a salty fisherman and Pico Rodriguez is his first mate. Various people want the deadbeat to pay his bills. No matter what they do. They can't get his boat which is registered in his daughter Virginia Johansen's name. He hasn't seen her in years and then she suddenly shows up looking to stay with him.

The real tuna fishing footage is great. I almost wish that they didn't have to put Beery into the scenes. He really pushes his way into the swordfish scenes. As for the rest of the movie, this is a simple grumpy old man and a cute little girl story. The old man needs to be more loveable and the girl needs to have more screen time. If they have more time together, their chemistry would be that much better. All in all, it has some comedic moments and it has its fun.

This film is long overdue to be rediscovered. Marjorie Main and Wallace Beery are indeed very funny, but they also bring true pathos and more than one lump to the throat during the course of this dear, sweet film.

Marjorie Main is one of my childhood idols, along with the immortal Marie Dressler, and indeed she does seem the spiritual successor to that fabled actress.

She and Wallace Beery would never be stars today, in our plastic world, and we are so much the poorer for it. Wallace Beery plays a character that on the surface has few redeeming qualities and yet its impossible not to love him. Marjorie Main was never better.

If you get the chance, watch this movie.