Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

gavin6942 When acerbic critic Sheridan Whiteside slips on the front steps of a provincial Ohio businessman's home and breaks his hip, he and his entourage take over the house indefinitely.Four of the leading characters are based on real-life personalities. Sheridan Whiteside was inspired by celebrated critic and Algonquin Round Table member Alexander Woollcott, who eventually played the role on stage; Lorraine Sheldon, by musical stage actress Gertrude Lawrence; Beverly Carlton, by playwright and renowned wit Noël Coward; and Banjo, by Harpo Marx.Whiteside comes off as a cross between WC Fields (with his witty remarks) and the Simpsons' Comic Book Guy (with his mocking condescension). He is both a joy to watch, and simultaneously a wretched monster to be reviled. The romance is really the thread that ties everything together, but it hardly carries the film the way Whiteside does.

surangaf This movie is about an art critic and radio personality, supposedly 'wonderful', 'charming', 'clever', and 'witty'(or so other characters keep telling he is, when he in fact opposite of all of them), meeting with an accident during a lecture tour in American Midwest, his taking over the house of his businessman host, and his selfish (one of his 'endearing' traits by testimony of characters in the movie) interferences in the lives of all he comes into contact.If ever there was movie that can be called dated, this is it. It was made to reflect and entertain particular set of people. Most of them and their work were, though now thankfully forgotten, then influential in so called theater, art, and intellectual, circles of USA, based mainly in New York and Hollywood.As is to be expected, movie looks down on so called 'flyover country' and its values. That in itself may not be a bad thing, but is not a good idea if one is stupider and empty headed than people one is looking down on.No matter how hard one tries one can't make superficial cliché words turn lukewarm water into acid that burns, or wine that delights. Writers of this play turned movie were not Oscar Wilde, and it shows. Especially in contrast when they borrow a few lines from him.Protagonist's much praised wit seems to consist mostly in verbal threats of slapstick violence against various victims. As such it is even more ephemeral than actual slapstick, which at least has some physical substance. Almost all of his victims do not resist (this is another giveaway that this movie is a coastal elite fantasy since actual people in middle of USA are not known for passive submission, quite the contrary). When his sectary, Bette Davis, give him a talking to, she is as mild and ineffective as other token resistance from others towards the end. In fact, given that she has very willingly worked for him for 10 years, before objecting to what she has seen, only conclusion that can be drawn is that her character is extremely stupid. Movie shows its stage origins. But then people who produced this can't be very imaginative or creative to begin with.It does have the polished production values expected of a studio product, and has a competent enough cast, though as expected during that period, most of them overact (in the case of the lead, Monty Woolley, atrociously).This almost completely wordy movie, drops names and makes allusions, to then current celebrities, and would be celebrities, in every other sentence. Most of the references have been unintelligible to most viewers since shortly after the movie was made. Its characters were also supposedly based on specific real people, people long dead and buried now, deservedly so, as viewers of this movie soon realize.

richard-1787 This is a superlative comedy. Some of the other reviewers on here have complained that it's just nasty characters acting nastily. It's far more than that. It's a remarkably example of an ensemble piece - yes, an ensemble piece - that works perfectly because the director and all the leads - and there are many of them - are at the top of their form.Monty Woolley is wonderful as the almost completely unrepentant Sheridan Whiteside, the syrupy radio commentator who, in real life, delights in ridiculing everyone around him.But Woolley, while wonderful, is not the only outstanding performer here. Ann Sheridan, who is barely remembered today, mostly because she made a lot of undistinguished movies, proves to be a very fine comedian, playing the part of the excessive actress - think Vera's character in "Auntie Mame" - to a T. Her sparring scenes with Bette Davis are among the high points of the movie. It doesn't hurt that she looks very beautiful.Grant Mitchell plays his part seriously, and that makes it all that much more effective. The same is true of Davis, who comes off as a very real woman and not just a straight woman to Whiteside's outbursts.Reginald Gardner gives what is the best performance I recall seeing from him, and Durante does his usual comedic job. Mary Wickes, when she finally breaks down and quits, announcing that she is forsaking nursing to work in a munitions plant, turns what could be a forgettable role into another star turn.Even Ruth Vivian, as Mr. Stanley's sister, adds an ethereal something to her brief appearances.The short romantic scenes between Davis and her romantic interest, Richard Travis, are unremarkable, but probably necessary to provide a respite from what sometimes becomes chaotic craziness.The last scene is at a level with all the best that precedes it. Yes, of course, Whiteside slips and falls on the stairs again. But we're not left with that, which would have been obvious. Rather, we're left with an imitation of Eleanor Roosevelt's voice on the phone.There is a lot of name-dropping in this movie, figures from the New York stage of the time and the art world that may not mean anything to many today. That's unfortunate.But ignore what you can't catch. The rest will still entertain you royally.

brendangcarroll What a great disappointment this famous film turned out to be when I finally sat down to watch the DVD.In spite of its impressive literary pedigree, remarkable cast and fine production values, it tries much too hard to be funny and likable. Maybe it's because I am British and not American that to me, this frantic farce seemed so desperately unfunny?The main problem is with the central performance by Monty Woolley who may have been terrific in the stage version but whose 'hit the audience over the head' style doesn't really work on film. Every time he is about to deliver another bon mot, he draws himself up and tells us "Get ready!" before he even opens his mouth. His delivery is also less than crisp and he often gabbles his lines. Originally Bette Davis hoped for John Barrymore in the role and it is a great pity that, by 1941, the Great Profile was an alcoholic wreck unable to memorise dialogue or withstand the frenetic demands of such a production. In his heyday, he would have eaten this up, and brought a manic quality to the role (think of his Oscar Jaffe in Twentieth Century, a part not dissimilar to Whiteside) He would also have been much more likable. The rest of the cast are interesting, especially Davis who impresses by being able to suppress her familiar mannerisms and bring a presence to her scenes. However it was hardly a convincing romance between Davis and the colourless Mr Travis (another dull actor that Warners had high hopes for, similar to the vacuous Michael North a few years later).Ann Sheridan does her best but seems out of her depth. Reginald Gardiner makes the most of his cameo as a Coward clone (though I was sorry that Cole Porter's song written for the stage version was dropped). Billie Burke reprises her usual dizzy matron act, and Grant Mitchell does his usual flustered, pompous father.In spite of the gloss, the film irritates and tries far too hard, and the one-liners - though coming thick and fast - are just not very funny. The original trailer (also on the DVD) interestingly makes much of the Davis-Sheridan rivalry and even the soppy romance with barely a mention of the main plot strand at all. It also contains scenes not in the finished film!No matter.This is a much over-rated film that does not bear repeated viewings.