User reviews

This is a very odd film. First, although it's billed as a "Joe E. Brown" film, he is definitely the second banana in this film. Instead, William Collier Jr. and his love life are front and center and Brown just tags along for comic relief. So, if you like Brown, then you might be disappointed he isn't the main focus of the film. My own personal taste is decidedly anti-Brown, so I didn't mind this very much. Also, another odd bit of casting involves having Bela Lugosi play a supporting role as well--as a South American named "Pedro". I don't know about you, but when I see and hear Lugosi, I DON'T think "maybe he's Hispanic"! But regardless of this odd casting, Bela is surprisingly funny in his role as a hot-headed foil for Brown's antics.

So apart from odd casting, what are we left with in the film? Well, as a comedy, it isn't particularly funny most of the time. As a romance, it only works slightly better. No, in the end we are left with a movie that is a definite time-passer--not particularly offensive but not at all memorable except for the scenes with Lugosi.

By the way, it is worth watching just the first few minutes just to say you've seen something DIFFERENT. It's a really creepy and somewhat disturbing sequence where a bunch of rich knuckleheads have a "baby party" where they all come dressed like little kids. Seeing Joe E. Brown in a stroller and drinking booze from a baby bottle just seemed really, really creepy--like they're all at a very sick and creepy "adult" party. YECCH!! I wonder if Sigmund Freud ever saw this film? It was made in 1931 and he didn't die until 1939, so it is possible!!

Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar, who would work on three Marx Bros. films, including "Animal Crackers" the play of which was out the year before this film, are the authors of 'Broadminded'.

It's clear to me that this film is the Warner Bros. idea of how to cash in with a cheapie madcap story.

Thelma Todd is as wonderful as ever. She was a fine actress who always managed to do a fine job even with the sorriest material.

Grayce Hampton who played what should have been Margaret Dumont's role is flat and unfunny. The male lead, played by William Collier Jr., looks like a peeled potato, and yet he's a lady killer. He picks up every good looking woman he sees. But he's lumpy and wimpish. He's a very poor choice for the role. I think he's supposed to be Zeppo Marx playing the love interest, but he's not even that good.

Ona Munson is pretty good as the female lead, but she's not given anything to do.

Joe E. Brown who is the putative star does what he does. He mugs unmercifully throughout, and he makes the most out of his circus clown mouth, and he makes a tremendous number of unwarranted sounds. I grew up in the last years of his really active career, and I thought he was great until I was about seven, when that wore off, and from then on I found him to be darn near intolerable.

But even if were someone else playing the part, it would still be a (in my opinion of course) dull and completely predictable film.

There is absolutely zero witty repartee in this film. There's no singing, no dancing, no harp or piano or guitar playing.

Bela Lugosi does steal the greasepaint mustache that Groucho put on, but now it's in the form of extenders for Lugosi's sideburns.

Lugosi pretty much mugs his way through this film along with the rest, but he looks as though he's playing along because he's being paid. And he's never convincing. He's always Bela Lugosi gone slumming. Not that he was bad, but I'd say that he was skirting it.

I'm glad I had a chance to see this film, I've been hungering for it for several decades now, and it's often presented in movie books as practically a tour de force performance for him.

It isn't.

I did not keep a copy of the film, although I've got many Lugosi films in my library. I just don't think I'll ever want to sit through it again. As it was, it took me two days to get through it.

I gave it a five rating because my tastes aren't universal, and Lugosi and Todd fans should certainly see it.

Even staunch fans of Joe E. Brown may be disappointed by this one, which fails to utilize his comic skills, such as they are, with maximum effectiveness. The foremost liability is the scenario, bulging with some of the feeblest jokes and flat sight gags that one is likely to find outside of a high school drama club original. But wait.....

Playing against type (to say the least) are Bela Lugosi doing an effective comic turn as a temperamental Latin/Hungarian (his accent is variable), and Ona Munson (she of the gritty roles in "Gone With the Wind" and "Shanghai Gesture" that came later) as an ingenue. These are curiosities worth seeing. But wait.....

Thelma Todd is here, too, playing the kind of role she did best, even if she hadn't Groucho's priceless reactions to her vamping. And what of Marjorie White, someone altogether new for me (and like Thelma Todd, destined to die young): a perky pepperpot with exceptional comedic attributes, mugging and bouncing throughout, creating a very appealing character without any of the comic (sic) lines having been written for her.

All in all, a third-rate picture well worth seeing.

... which is about 20 or 30 minutes, but at 65 minutes it just outstays its welcome and the jokes drag on for too long.

Wealthy Mabel Robinson has a "Baby Party" where everyone invited must show up dressed as a baby. Naturally the baby bottles all have liquor in them, and prohibition is still in force. When things get rowdy the cops show up and arrest everybody, but Jack Hackett and Ossie Simpson (Joe E. Brown) manage to evade arrest. Still, Jack's father isn't amused as the next morning the scandal makes headlines in the New York papers and names Jack as Mabel's fiance. Jack's father orders Jack to never see Mabel again and to take an extended trip somewhere until the scandal is forgotten. Dad tells Jack's cousin Ossie to go with Jack to make sure he stays out of trouble, not realizing that Ossie is a bigger partier than Jack could ever be and falsely believing that Ossie is a sober young man.

The pair go to Pasadena, and Ossie falls for Penny (Marjorie White) and Jack falls for Connie (Ona Munson), who is a girl of whom Jack's dad heartily approves. But Mabel finds Jack in Pasadena, is angry about being thrown over, and is threatening to show her love letters to Connie and break up Jack's (new) marriage plans. Also, on the road, Ossie has managed to anger a hot blooded South American (Bela Lugosi???) who is also very jealous of his girlfriend (Thelma Todd), an actress.

Originally a play by songwriting team Kalmar and Ruby, this might have also been a musical that had its songs removed because of musical films going out of fashion for the moviegoing public after they had been ubiquitous - and not very good - during 1929 and 1930. That may be why the material seems so stretched out. It's interesting seeing Bela Lugosi playing a hot blooded Latin lover, and coupled with Thelma Todd of all people. Ona Munson, who played Belle Watling in Gone With the Wind, is unrecognizable here. Marjorie White was a unique spritely comedienne, but her life was cut short due to an auto accident in 1935. She was featured in the first Three Stooges short in 1934 which actually was a musical short.

This one was painful to get through, and I say that as somebody who very much appreciates the humor of Joe E. Brown.

1931's "Broadminded" was an early vehicle for the hugely popular Warners star Joe E. Brown, known for his unusually large mouth and inevitable yelp when in trouble (in later years he would become immortalized by three words to climax 1959's "Some Like It Hot" - "well, nobody's perfect!"). As an athlete and former circus clown his rubbery features already looked like a clown without makeup, and this screenplay by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby takes every advantage for facial expressions and bits where he impersonates a gorilla, then Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One need only endure a fairly embarrassing opening reel, where police raid a 'baby party,' all the guests dressed as toddlers with bottles not filled with milk, and an enraged Senior Hackett (Holmes Herbert) hoping to straighten out his ladies man son Jack (William Collier Sr.) by sending him away from New York with cousin Ossie (Brown), who's an even bigger carouser than put upon Jack. A long trip to California is made far longer by Jack's insistence on stopping to flirt with every girl en route (even one milking a cow!), but once they pull over at the Cactus Cafe the fun really starts at the 15 minute mark. Here we get to see Bela Lugosi, still basking in his newfound stardom after "Dracula," making for an excellent comic foil as South American Pancho Arango, unable to get through a promising meal with Ossie throwing salt over his shoulder ("dandruff!"), then using Pancho's own fountain pen to turn his cherished dessert from strawberry to blackberry. A busload of female students distracts Ossie long enough to ram into the car in front of him, which turns out to be driven by a still fuming Pancho: "first you spoil my shortcake and now you ruin my rear end!" Jack and Ossie end up at a hotel where they've made the acquaintance of brunette Constance (Ona Munson) and blonde Penelope (Marjorie White), but Ossie's attempts to humor Connie's disapproving aunt (Grayce Hampton) get him into more trouble (it's a jaw dropping sight watching him eat celery as noisily as possible). When he begins to talk about punching out some South American 'bozo,' who should be in the booth right next to him but Pancho and his gorgeous girlfriend Gertie (Thelma Todd), giving Ossie the full Lugosi stare as he stammers and stutters, admitting defeat by feigning laryngitis. When a blackmailing former flame tries to halt Jack's engagement to Constance, Gertie is hired to play the fiancee to accept Jack's damning love letters but again Pancho spies his girl in a negligee and gets the wrong idea. Kalmar and Ruby were best known for their work for The Marx Brothers but went on to script two more vehicles for Brown, as well as Eddie Cantor and Wheeler and Woolsey. Those unfamiliar with Brown's appeal as a star comedian probably won't be swayed by his material here, but his ability to use his entire body makes him akin to Buster Keaton, and Thelma Todd was always a welcome presence opposite the cinema's top comedians. The underrated Marjorie White unfortunately has no opportunity to display her skillful singing and dancing, a diminutive dynamo who excelled in Wheeler and Woolsey's "Diplomaniacs" before her final screen performance in The Three Stooges' "Woman Haters" (she also appears with Bela Lugosi in "Oh, for a Man!" "Women of All Nations," and "The Black Camel"). With nearly 9 minutes screen time, Lugosi not only holds his own in another surefire box office success, he also gets the girl for the fadeout.

I recorded this movie to see Buster Collier, who appears in a photo in one of my silent movie star books. I learned that he had dated Constance Talmadge for awhile, and was interested in hearing his voice, to see how close the one I had silently supplied for him was. It wasn't. I was very pleasantly surprised to see Thelma Todd's name in the cast, and she was very good, as she has been in everything in which I've seen her. It's easy to see why she was in such demand.

All through the picture, I kept picturing Jim Carrey in Joe. E. Brown's role. They are both terribly cloying.

I couldn't get over Lugosi's Romanian accent being put across as "South American." All in all,though, it was worth seeing, and only an hour long, but I deleted it from my DVR once I had seen it. I wouldn't sit through it twice. It was a passable time killer.

Mabel Robinson hosts a party where everybody dresses like a baby. Hard-partying playboy Jack Hackett brings his cousin Ossie Simpson (Joe E. Brown) in a baby stroller. Mabel announces her engagement to Jack. The cops break up the party. Jack's father is tired of his partying ways. Ossie is supposed to straighten him out on their trip to California. Jack falls for Constance Palmer raising Mabel's anger. Ossie gets the best friend Penny Packer.

This is a Pre-Code comedy. I don't think that I've ever seen a baby party, either in real life or on the screen. It's a fun decadence and a great way to introduce the relationship between the lead guys. This is possibly the best way to use Joe E. Brown. He's the wacky slightly-sleazy sidekick. The meet-cute is pretty cute although it would be cuter if the car didn't work. The drama shouldn't be that dire. Jack should be able to dismiss Mabel as an angry ex... which she is. I guess that times were different back then.

A couple of BROADMINDED fellows find romance on a road trip to Pasadena, California.

Comic Joe E. Brown scores another hit in this very humorous little Pre-Code film which gives him free rein to engage in his madcap capers. Here he plays the supposedly responsible young man chosen to chaperone his highly libidinous cousin after the latter is forced to beat a hasty retreat from a Big City scandal. Brown, of course, proves remarkably capable of causing trouble wherever they travel, thus providing the film with much of its plot. With his large rubbery face & huge mouth a constant source of amusement, Brown enters the movie with much hilarity -- costumed as a bawling infant at the baby party which opens the film. Further on, the scene where he finds himself locked out of his hotel room in his underwear is particularly jovial.

Most of the cast is on hand to provide support during Brown's antics: William Collier Jr. as his frisky cousin; Holmes Herbert as Collier's stern New York City father; Margaret Livingston as Collier's vindictive former flame; Ona Munson as Collier's new heart throb; Grayce Hampton as her frightful aunt.

Even perky little Marjorie White, as Brown's new gal pal, is not given much to do. The two major exceptions are statuesque Thelma Todd, delightful as a compliant actress eager to help the boys out of a nasty jam, and marvelous Bela Lugosi -- the same year he would become an international star as Count Dracula -- lending his malevolent presence as the fierce Gentleman From South America who menaces Brown throughout the film.

Movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Margaret Mann as an elderly hotel guest eager to see some Indians.

Early talkie does not utilize the talents of Joe E Brown to the fullest. I'm no Bela Lugosi fan, I didn't even notice he was in the movie, so that is irrelevant. Joe E Brown plays another one of his shy templetons who is sent away from the city because his dad thinks he is getting into too much trouble, which of course is all a misunderstanding. There, he meets a girl and falls for her and a guy, probably Lugosi who is hounding her. Complications arise as Brown is always in the wrong place or in uncompromising situations. Scenes of note are Brown imitating a baby, a funny slapstick finale with Brown running around in his PJs in a hotel and trying not to be seen. Mistaken identity and sexual innuendo is also rife. That's about it.

The star of this movie is listed as Joe E. Brown, the big-mouthed (literally) comedian who looks as if he could eat a hamburger in one bite. However, stealing the scene whenever he is present, is Bela Lugosi, in a change-of-pace role considering he starred in "Dracula" earlier that year (1931). Here, Bela (a native Hungarian) is a hot-tempered South American (Pancho). When Joe E. Brown (Simpson) accidentally spurts some ink on Bela's dessert at a diner, Bela goes into a maniacal rage. So naturally, their two paths keep crossing. Later Joe E. Brown has a fender-bender with Bela's car... Bela winds up driving off with Brown's car in tow! Bela has some wonderful opportunities to show his comedic abilities. When his girlfriend asks Bela to explain a mix-up to Joe E. Brown (Simpson), Bela goes: "To Simpson-- never!" and opens his mouth wide in a mugging imitation of Joe E. Brown. A must-see movie for Bela Lugosi fans who only consider him a horror actor.

Broad Minded stars the one and only Joe E. Brown as Ossie Simpson providing laugh after laugh in this funny movie. William Collier, Marjorie White, Grayce Hampton, Thelma Todd, Ona Munson, and Bela Lugosi make a strong supporting cast. William Collier does a great job as the straight man to Joe E. Brown's funny man. Marjorie White a real scene stealer, is the perfect girlfriend for Joe E. Brown's character. Bela Lugosi surprisingly is actually funny in places. The different sets provide the viewer with a glimpse of 1931's America. The story has Jack Hackett's cousin Ossie Simpson escort him from New York to California with instructions from the father to avoid women. And so the scene is set for 65 minutes filled with laughs.

When Buster Collier Jr.'s participation in a party that gets raided hits the paper, his father, disgusted with his son's girl-chasing, sends him to California, where he seems to imagine there are no pretty girls. To make sure he behaves, he sends fellow chaser Joe E. Brown with him.

It's a funny comedy that relies more on dialogue and situations than Brown's easy ability with slapstick -- he had begun as a circus tumbler. Still, there are some amusing circumstances, and Thelma Todd is in the movie, which makes it a must-see in my book. There's also Ona Munson, Marjorie White, and Bela Lugosi as a short-tempered South American.

Released in 1931 by First National Pictures the Joe E. Brown comedy vehicle Broadminded is a brisk 65 minute endeavor that not only showcases the star but has the added attraction of Bela Lugosi, fresh off his triumph as Dracula, appearing as his nemesis. The story concocted by writers Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby is episodic and serves up some Pre Code style sex and debauchery while director Mervyn LeRoy switches gears from social melodramas to lensing the shenanigans of Brown in a pleasant though uninspired way.

Jack Hackett (William Collier Jr.) is youthful New York playboy living off his father's wealth and indulging in a freewheeling party lifestyle. When his latest escapade nearly ends in scandal his father (Holmes Herbert) orders him to leave town and puts him into the care of his cousin Ossie (Brown) whom the old man somehow believes is a steadying influence. The young duo pack up a car and drive out to Pasadena where they become involved with a pair of society gals (Ona Munson and Marjorie White), their disapproving Aunt Polly (Grayce Hampton), and hot headed South American named Pancho Arango (Lugosi) whom Ossie runs afoul of.

The story presents minimal plot and commences with a truly bizarre party sequence where everyone is dressed like a baby. The film is largely set-bound with a handful of exteriors around the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena. Sequences of Ossie and Jack driving are lensed with some hilariously awful rear projection that is so phony it intrudes on whatever suspension of disbelief the movie intends to conjure up. Director Leroy seems to have encouraged broad, theatrical performances from his cast who emote as if they were onstage. One wonders how a film depicting the travails of spectacularly rich and decadent sex-starved characters with unlimited free time went over with Depression audiences.

Fans of Joe E. Brown will likely be pleased with his antics here. The rubber faced, Pac Man-mouth star is frequently amusing and displays remarkable athleticism in several scenes. Perhaps even more delightful is Bela Lugosi as his combustible antagonist Pancho if only because it is so refreshing to witness the horror icon in a completely different milieu. Lugosi deserved costar billing but for some reason is buried down the cast list and not even mentioned in contemporary promotional material. Nevertheless he leaves an impression and all of the film's highlights involve him. William Collier Jr. Is forgettable as the horny heir being haplessly chaperoned by Brown as is a disappointingly vapid Ona Munson who enacts his true love. Spunky Marjorie White and equally vivacious Margaret Livingston chew up scenery as Miss Munson's pal and Collier's spurned lover, respectively, while Grayce Hampton channels Margaret Dumont as the haughty Aunt Polly. Adding plenty of glamour to the show is foxy Thelma Todd whose mere presence causes all kinds of trouble for the men in the cast. Miraculously she ultimately ends up in the arms of Lugosi!

Broadminded is a mirthful exercise in the absurd and will likely entertain most anyone. It serves as a proper gateway film for those who wish to explore Joe E Brown while fans of Bela Lugosi are sure to enjoy him in this atypical role. Toss in the tragic Thelma Todd, frank depictions of amorous protagonists, and Hollywood Pre Code freedom and the recipe for a harmless good time is achieved.

Broadminded (1931)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Pretty good comedy about a playboy (William Collier, Jr.) whose father grows tired of his constant woman-chasing so he sends him out west with his cousin (Joe E. Brown), which turns out to be a major mistake. Out west the playboy strikes up a relationship with a woman who he plans to marry if they can stay away from a crazed South American (Bela Lugosi) that they keep running into. At 73-minutes the plot doesn't really carry even that short running time but there are enough good things here to make this worth sitting through at least once. Brown gets top-billing but the picture actually belongs to Collier with the big-mouthed comedian playing more of a supporting role. Brown certainly eats up each scene that he's in and actually manages to turn in some very funny moments including one where he spoofs Jekyll and Hyde and another sequence where he talks about how he almost beat up a South American only he doesn't realize the guy is sitting and hearing everything he's saying. Marjorie White and Margaret Livingston add nice supporting performances as does Thelma Todd who plays a friend of the boy's who ends up getting them into more trouble. I didn't care too much for Collier and in fact thought he dragged the film down a bit as he was a bit too stiff in the role and really didn't add any laughs. The highlight of the film is without question Lugosi who easily steals the film with his hilarious performance. I've often wondered what would have happened had the actor never appeared in Dracula and got type cast in horror roles. Many of his early films show he had some nice talent that studios could have worked with and he shows that off here. He mainly plays a guy whose job is to scare Brown by screaming and raving but Lugosi is so good that you'll have a laugh riot just watching him. The strawberry shortcake scene is a minor classic as is the scene that follows during the car wreck. The screenplay has several weak spots but I guess that's to be expected as the film certainly goes for many laughs but in the end it only gets about half of them. I doubt those who hate older movies are going to change their opinion by watching this but this remains a must-see for fans of Lugosi and of course Brown fans will want to check it out.

The normally likable Joe E. Brown is trapped here in an extremely unfunny comedy with an extremely poor script. Missing is his usual screen persona of a brash, cocky naif and is seen here as just a dimwit. The screenplay is surprisingly awful and seems ad-libbed in places. Vaudeville was still alive but I have to think it was funnier than the lame jokes contained in this picture, many of which fall completely flat. Hard to believe Mervyn Leroy directed this mess.

Trapped in this movie is some pretty good acting talent, especially Thelma Todd who was a foil in some Marx Bros. pictures as well as some Laurel and Hardys. Also on hand is Bela Lugosi as a South American playboy. It's hard to tell if comedy was his oeuvre because, as mentioned, there is very little humor here. Give him an A for effort.

Not much to recommend this film except for Bela Lugosi and hard-core Joe E. Brown fans.