The Man Who Dared

There is a kernal of a good movie in "The Man Who Dared". But some broadly written characters and inconsistent writing made this film enjoyable BUT frustrating at the same time.

The story is about some city (the exact one is never named) where there is graft and corruption throughout the government. When a brave man agrees to testify against these crooks, he's soon murdered...and the Carter family witnesses it. Now they are in harm's way, as the same thugs are pressuring them to be quiet...or else. And, when the crooks make their move, it's up to Grandpa to spring into action.

Grandpa is a character who annoyed me most. Charley Grapewin was often fun as the feisty old man. But he also must have mentioned Teddy Roosevelt and San Juan Hill about 348,058 times throughout the film....and he also wore a vet's uniform with medals throughout the story. Who does this?! I dunno but the writer really laid it on too thick...which is sad, as he was also very likable and funny. As for the rest, they all seemed rather dim and underwritten. Overall, a good idea but indifferent writing make this just a time-passer and nothing more.

By the way, at one point Grandpa is on a rant about freedom and he says that he's thankful the USA "didn't have any dictators...like Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin". While very true, Hollywood films STILL tried to remain apolitical in regard to Europe...as they hoped to keep renting films to countries dominated by the Axis and Communist powers.