Un pobre diablo

The story of a mild mannered milquetoast (today he'd be called a loser) played by Charles Butterworth, who gets mixed up with criminals, cops and a bank robbery. He predictably winds up a hero. But I believe the story here is secondary to the cast, which features Una Merkel (brightens up any film in which she appears), Nat Pendleton, who made a career of playing gangsters and dumb cops, Eugene Palette as a detective and Donald Meek, who for once played a role that wasn't particularly in keeping with his name. Butterworth underplayed a role that was meant to be underplayed, and did it beautifully. Call it a B picture, a bill filler or whatever, it was a pure pleasure watching some of the great character actors of the '30's carry a film in which the focus was not on a major star.

Baby Face Harrington (1935)

** (out of 4)

Raoul Walsh directed this comedy about a dorky bookkeeper (Charles Butterworth) who gets mistaken for a dangerous gangster. Una Merkel, Eugene Palette and Donald Meek co-star in this comedy, which only runs 65-minutes yet it takes at least a half an hour to get warned up but by then it's a little too late. The first half has all sorts of stupid jokes, which aren't funny but there are also long scenes where no laughs are even gone after. Once the mistaken identity happens then things pick up with Butterworth being charming in his role. It's rather strange that Walsh would take over the gangster genre from D.W. Griffith with the landmark Regeneration and then make one of the all time great gangster films in White Heat but have this stuck in the middle.

With all the right cast members for a comedy, MGM comes through in this shortie! Gene Palette, Don Meeks, Una Merkel, Charles Butterworth, and wrestler turned movie star Nat Pendleton. We follow husband and wife team Millie and Willie (Merkel and Butterworth) as they are caught up in an adventure when Willie thinks Skinner (Meeks) has taken his money. They get in deeper and deeper when fate, the police, the mob, and the big city reporters step in and make things worse. Directed by Raoul Walsh, although this one must have seemed pretty light fare, after the heavy work he had done earlier in his career. It's a "Much ado about nothing" sort of story, with a fluffy light script, but a fun way to kill an hour. Finally, a film where they give Palette and Meeks plenty of screen time. They were frequently relegated to tiny roles.

30s B picture with Charles Butterworth playing a meek and mild man who through ridiculous circumstances gets involved with a vicious gangster. Una Merkel plays his wife who loves him no matter what. Pleasant enough movie. It's not particularly good or that funny but I enjoyed watching it.

Good acting helps. Butterworth is great in the lead role. His dead pan line readings match the material beautifully. Also Merkel was excellent as his long-suffering wife. She's beautiful and plays her role perfectly. Every time she's on screen the film lights up. The supporting cast is full of great character actors that 1930s film fans will recognize instantly. The only real debits are a so-so script and some tired slapstick gags.

The story line of this forgotten little comedy is quite good - but somehow the team managed to fabricate a disappointingly mediocre film out of it. The silliness is staged too clumsy to be really funny and the dialogues are way too uninspired and too long. There are many great supporting actors like Una Merkel, Eugene Palette or Donald Meek in this, but they all have to play rather dull characters and not one of them gets the opportunity to show his or her talent. Only Charles Butterworth stands out. His outlandishness is quiet unique - he plays it so convincingly it kept fascinating me from start to finish. No laughs here, but Butterworth is worth the ticket. PS: I always thought of Raoul Walsh as a really good director, but the failure of this film goes partly on his account; he seems to be overchallenged with comedy...

Screenplay: 2 out of 5 Directing: 2 out of 5 Acting: 3 out of 5