With every new Whale film I watch, it's becoming increasingly evident that it's not just his horror output that was unique; this one, in fact the director's sole effort for Warner Bros. feels nothing like any of their productions!
The title would seem to suggest a biopic of the celebrated English actor many similar prestige films emerged from Hollywood during this time, such as THE GREAT ZIEGFELD (1936) and THE GREAT WALTZ (1938) but Whale and screenwriter Ernest Vajda concentrate instead on one curious incident (the fact that it never actually occurred is immaterial). Most of the director's typical qualities and faults are to be found in the film: his eye for pictorial detail (accentuated by Anton Grot's distinctive set design), the fluid camera-work (courtesy of Ernest Haller), the dry English humor, etc. However, he also tends to over-indulge his character actors (which, this being essentially a celebration of the art of performing, is hardly surprising in this case) and, consequently, the film's initial momentum isn't sustained throughout the second half is somewhat chaotic and ham-fisted but picks up again for the splendid finale. Nevertheless, Whale biographer James Curtis considers THE GREAT GARRICK his last wholly satisfying film which, actually, makes me look forward all the more to watching THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK (1939) someday given its own solid reputation!
Inevitably, the cast has been carefully and most ably chosen: the underrated Brian Aherne is superb in the title role, while it's always a pleasure to see Edward Everett Horton (playing nervous and cowardly as always); among the endless list of supporting actors, perhaps the most impressive are Etienne Girardot (funny and poignant as an elderly stage prompter and Garrick's most devoted fan) and Luis Alberni (a specialist in servant roles relishing his one-shot opportunity at essaying the showier part of a lunatic); in contrast, demure Olivia De Havilland a Warners contract player feels somewhat lost in such company, to the point where additional close-ups were imposed by the studio (notably the unwarranted and corny final shot).
This stylish and delightful gem is truly one of the unsung films about the acting profession, in every way a worthy companion piece to such major works as Marcel Carne''s CHILDREN OF PARADISE (1945) and Jean Renoir's THE GOLDEN COACH (1952). Unfortunately, the audio on the DVD-R I watched (made from a TCM broadcast) was occasionally accompanied by a distracting echo; given Warners' recent DVD release of Whale's WATERLOO BRIDGE (1931) as part of the "Forbidden Hollywood" set and the rumored one for SHOWBOAT (1936) along with two other cinematic adaptations of the popular musical I hope that THE GREAT GARRICK won't be left behind (after all, those two films were actually Universal productions which became the property of Warners solely by virtue of the MGM remakes!).
