Wow! Such a good movie.

Fantastic!

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Guy Kibbee (Asa Plunkett), May Robson (Marcia Prentiss), Sybil Jason (Abigail Prentiss), Jane Bryan (Betsy Ann Prentiss), Fred Lawrence (Tom Squires), Dick Purcell (Chester), Mary Treen (Libby), Gus Shy (Johnny Shores), Maude Allen (Miss Chester), Granville Bates (Sheriff Pengast), Vic Potel (Jake), George E. Stone (Steve), Gordon Hart (mayor), Tom Wilson (Bill Brown), Robert Emmett Keane (Bridges), Jack Wise (Weymouth, the desk clerk), Jessie Perry, Leo White, Jacqueline Saunders, Stuart Holmes, Joseph E. Bernard (jurors), Joe Cunningham (jury foreman), Joseph Crehan (Knickerbocker), Fred Trowbridge (judge), Spec O'Donnell (bumpkin), Lillian Harmer (Mrs Pengast), Hal Craig (motorcycle policeman), Annoe O'Neal (Flora, the telephone operator). Director: NICK GRINDE. Screenplay: Tom Reed. Treatment: Roy Chanslor. Story: Earl Felton. Photography: Ernest Haller. Film editor: Jack Saper. Art director: Carl Jules Weyl. Gowns: Milo Anderson. Music: Howard Jackson. Title song and "Drifting Along" by M.K. Jerome and Jack Scholl. Assistant director: Frank Shaw. Producer: Bryan Foy.Copyright 4 December 1936 by Warner Brothers Pictures Inc. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 23 January 1937. 8 reels. 72 minutes.SYNOPSIS: An eccentric but pleasant town drunk entertains the local kids with outlandish tales of adventure.COMMENT: The films Nick Grinde directed at Warner Bros are far superior to those he managed for MGM. This one is a delightfully folksy comedy with a splendid chase climax. True, the screenplay is inclined to be a bit talky, but the dialogue is amusing and briskly delivered. A couple of pleasant songs are thrown in (including the catchy title tune) and the sets are far more eye-catching than is the norm with offspring from the studio's "B" unit.

The captain is Guy Kibbee, as Asa, and the captain's kid is Sybil Jason, as Abigail. The interactions between these 2 stars makes for a pleasant screen play. Other actors include May Robsin, as elderly Aunt Marcia, 18y.o. Jane Byran, as Abigail's decade-older sister: Betsy Ann, Fred Lawrence, as Betsy Ann's boyfriend: Tom, Gus Sky, as Aunt Marcia's chauffeur, Mary Treen, as Aunt Marcia's housekeeper, Granville Bates, as the sheriff, and Dick Purcell, Maude Allen, and George Stone as the robber gang. The plot has several components. There is the conflict between Aunt Marcia and Betsy Ann over whether Betsy should be going to summer school or be home, where she can promote her marriage plans with Tom. There is the animosity between Aunt Marcia and Asa over his frequent drunkenness and escapades while drunk. Also, there is Abigail's hero worship of the laid back Asa and his tall tales. Aunt Marcia and Abigail come into frequent conflict over Abigail's extreme measures to be with Asa, especially when he is in jail. Then, there's the arrival of the 3 thieves, who initially plan to rob the bank. However, they redirect their attention to the possible buried treasure on Bird Island, when they learn about that. Abigail found the map to the treasure in Aunt Marcia's attic things.In the middle of the night, Asa and Tom take Asa's fishing boat to Bird Island. They don't know that Abigail and Betsy are stowaways inside the cabin, until Tom sings the romantic ballad "Drifting Along". A little later, Abigail sings "I'm the Captain's Kid". Upon landing, they immediately find a treasure chest filled with expensive goblets. But 2 of the thieves have barrowed a boat, and stick up the treasure seekers. However, Asa gets ahold of the gun and sticks up one of the thieves. However, the other thief, behind him, grabs his arm, and he accidentally fires at the other thief, killing him. Asa is charged with murder in a court hearing, in which the remaining robber tells big lies about what happened. Abigail doesn't help, by telling that Asa has killed people before, derived from his tall tales. Thus, Asa is kept in jail, pending a regular trial. The 2 remaining robbers knock out the chauffeur, and take their own car for a getaway. Abigail rouses the chauffeur, and they chase after the robbers. The chauffeur loses consciousness for a while, when Abigail drives the car, nearly hitting various vehicles and objects. The chauffeur regains consciousness and finishes the drive when they find the robbers, having overturned their car. Police soon arrive and arrest the robbers. Asa is let out of jail when it is discovered the man he killed was wanted for murder in another state. Asa is given a monetary award, and the treasure chest contents, which had been confiscated by the city. Marcia now tries to be pleasant with Asa, seemingly hinting at a possible marriage proposal. But Asa gets in his fishing boat and motors off, with Abigail again a stowaway.Sybil Jason(as Abigail), a precocious youngster, was signed by Warner as a possible answer to Fox's Shirley Temple. The screenplay is structured as a typical Shirley Temple film, with Abigail a virtual orphan, with a cranky older person at odds with her, becoming friends with a young unmarried woman, and with an older man. She has no contact with other children.The relationship between Asa and the layed back sheriff was most unusual. When the sheriff left the jail for a while, he let Asa roam the office. He agreed to let Asa out for a couple of days to hunt for the treasure.See this entertaining film at YouTube.

This is among the lesser Guy Kibbee films mostly because the script is only fair and occasionally little Sybil Jason's performance is a bit too cutesy and saccharine. Still, a second-rate Kibbee film is still fun and worth seeing.When the film begins, you learn that stern old Aunt Marcia (May Robson) is the guardian for little Abigail (Jason). However, Abigail really admires old Uncle Asa (Kibbee)--an old reprobate but a likable one. Asa lies again and again and pretends to be a big man in front of Abigail but he's really just a dreamer and drinker. However, through the course of the film, Asa has many adventures-- such as discovering a treasure, being accused of murder and turning out to be a hero by the end of the film! Throughout all this, Abigail is practically ever-present and the whole thing comes off as very contrived and sentimental. Enjoyably contrived and sentimental, mind you.

Sybil Jason was Warner Brothers' answer to Shirley Temple -- a child star who can sing and act well. But she is so cloying here it negates any personality she has. The problem is more with the screenplay, which has her act like a ninny most of the time, not realizing what can help or hurt a person. She does sing the title song nicely. The plot involves buried treasure and a set of crooks which is somewhat entertaining.I did enjoy seeing Gus Shy, an actor I have seen in other movies. He looks, sounds and has mannerisms so much like Danny Thomas, I thought they might have been related. He's worth checking out, even though his part is small.