Too much of everything

good back-story, and good acting

Admirable film.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

There is a lot of talent involved in this movie. They all perform as expected. the problem lies with the script, which was corny, dull and repetitive for the forties, and would have been also in the 30s, even in the 20s!! When released,it flopped, and no wonder.Ann Sheridan always said the reason was the lack of chemistry between her and Gary Cooper, but the real reason for me, a great fan of both of them is the script. It is monotonous and seems to go on forever.... The production values are all first rate: cast, sets and direction are first class A pity those responsible did not see what the result would be, in time. A pity for all concerned, including us, the audience .

It took three years for Leo McCarey to get back to the screen after directing Bing Crosby in that double barreled triumph of Going My Way and The Bells of St.Mary's. Sad to say, Good Sam didn't quite live up to the standards of those two films. Leo took no Oscar nominations home for this one.Gary Cooper is a fine upstanding citizen with wife Ann Sheridan and two small kids and a mooching live-in brother-in-law played by Dick Ross. He's an impulsive do gooder, an easy touch for a sob story and a handout. He drives poor Ann to distraction. A sermon by minister Ray Collins at the beginning of the film on the virtues of charity put Cooper's generosity into overdrive. It's a nice film, maybe a bit too unbelievable. I can't believe that Ann Sheridan hadn't taken Coop in tow by this point of her marriage. Two noted baseball immortals, Babe Ruth and Dizzy Dean, had in common the fact that they both married strong willed women who took charge of the finances lest their hubbys give it all away.Still I did like the message of the film which is delivered by Harry Hayden who has a small role as a banker. Coop's generosity not only with cash, but co-signing loans for various people has put him as a credit risk. When he needs the money he can't get a loan from the bank. But later on Hayden comes over to the house and tells Sheridan that he changed his mind and approved the loan for their new house. Character and decency should count for something. It was a very similar message to one that was delivered in a far better film, The Best Years of Our Lives when Fredric March as a veteran who returns to his job as a bank loan officer, approves a loan to a veteran on the strength of his character.Character and decency should count, but Coop's pants pockets still needed a lock put on them.

Leo McCarey's Good Sam, the story of a suburban good guy who can't say no to his friends and neighbors, should have been a masterpiece. It has many of the same ingredients as It's a Wonderful Life, and was directed and co-written by a man who was at his best Frank Capra's equal. McCarey directed the best Marx Brothers picture, Duck Soup, plus the splendid Ruggles Of Red Gap, the heartbreaking Make Way For Tomorrow, the enormously popular (if overlong) Going My Way, and its sequel, The Bells Of St. Mary's. He was even in a partnership with Capra, to produce films independently, but lost his touch after the war. Good Sam shows McCarey's brilliance with actors, all of whom (Gary Cooper, Ann Sheridan, Ray Collins, William Frawley) are excellent, but the script is convoluted and the story, an inspired idea, is, as told, hard to follow. It's worth watching, for McCarey's directorial "touches", which are wonderful, but the film is plodding and episodic, and seems to go on forever.

Leslie Halliwell didn't like this film either. He called it Capraesque, and it seems quite obvious that that is the effect the filmmakers were going for.Frank Capra certainly had a special touch. It wasn't always infallible, mind you, but he could do wonders with some pretty soppy material. Maybe it's good to have an example of what happens when you go Capraesque without Capra.Gary Cooper is a Good Samaritan so generous that he consistently gets himself into dire straits. The idea isn't bad, but the execution... Cooper's character goes way past selflessness and on into suckerdom. (Suckerhood?) He's so virtuous, he's neither believable nor sympathetic. I've seen this film twice in the past couple of decades, and both times the impulse to reach out and throttle him was difficult to suppress. He's infuriating to watch. An actual person like this would be a menace to his family and friends. He simply begs to be walked all over.Ann Sheridan is Coop's wife. What a waste. The following year, 1949, she was paid back in spades for her generosity in suffering through this one by co-starring in the uproarious "I Was a Male War Bride" with Cary Grant. Capra fans will recognize Todd Karns immediately. He played Harry Bailey, Jimmy Stewart's younger brother, in "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946). It's because of films like that one that you can find a word like "Capraesque" in the dictionary.