Highly Overrated But Still Good

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

A Masterpiece!

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The 1936 version of "The Three Godfathers" may be compared to the 1948 remake in somewhat the same manner as the 1940 "Love Affair" is often compared to the 1957 "An Affair To Remember". A black and white classic is remade in Technicolor with the advantage of advanced technology. Here the comparisons part company. The director of the original film gave way to a much more noted director and the lead role gave way to a much bigger box office draw. The biggest divergence came with the climax. This 1936 version opted to remain faithful to the author. The later version appeared to succumb to preview popularity.When one mentions the name Chester Morris, most old timers will respond with 'Boston Blackie'. But with this role and his subsequent appearance in the classic "Five Came Back", he has managed to edge into the book of classics.Lewis Stone and Walter Brennan play wonderfully off of each other although the former seems to have the lion's share of lines.Irene Hervey is the brief love interest. Miss Hervey was known more popularly as Mrs. Allan Jones, the mother of Jack Jones.Sidney Toler appears briefly prior to his succession to the role of Charlie Chan.This film does not have the grittiness of the 1930 "Hell's Heroes" nor the slickness of the 1948 version but because of its tautness and faithfulness to the author's intent, it is a very satisfactory experience. One is left with a feeling of 'all's right with the world'. To fully appreciate P.B. Kyne's novella, watch this version before the 1948 version and also the 1930 version('Hell's Heroes') if you can catch it.

This is apparently the second remake of this film. While I have not seen the two prior versions, I did see the 1948 John Wayne remake and the two films are different enough (especially the endings--I preferred the more realistic way it was handled in this version) and I recommend you see both. And, overall I strongly prefer this film to the 1948 one.Chester Morris was the main star in this film, though today he's mostly been forgotten despite the many films he starred in during the era. The other two co-star bandits are Lewis Stone (yes, the kindly "Judge Hardy" from the Hardy Family series) and Walter Brennan. All did a competent job and the entire movie is well written and directed and is far more watchable than the average Western. About the only problem, and it's a minor one, is that occasionally the film becomes a little bit too melodramatic and heavy-handed. But it also gets high marks for being less predictable and more entertaining that what you usually find in the genre.

Warning: Spoilers for two versions below: This film was a revelation.Ford's 1948 Technicolor version, scripted by Laurence Stallings and Frank S. Nugent, while action-filled and pretty, is a lesser film which pulls its punches, pushes its performances, and is shot through with sentimentality. Ford's mellower mood is certainly understandable, as he opens his film with a visual dedication to his recently-deceased friend Harry Carey, Sr., a veteran of Ford's films who had starred in a silent version of this tale; and the film is Harry Jr.'s first role for Ford.Edward E. Paramore Jr. and Manuel Seff's 1936 script, directed by Richard Boleslawski, is tougher minded, which makes its antihero's change of heart truly moving. Unlike John Wayne's likable, harmless Bob Hightower, Chester Morris's Bob Sangster is a cold, dangerous brute who still manages to redeem himself, giving up his life to save a stranger's baby. Wayne's character, by contrast, gives up only a year of his life, in jail.There's the remarkably dark, unnerving moment after Stone and Brennan depart the story, when Morris prepares to abandon the squalling infant on the desert. He yells for the kid to shut up. The baby keeps wailing offscreen, so Morris turns back, aims his pistol and fires. The crying immediately stops. Then the camera reveals that Morris has just shot a rattlesnake that was endangering the child. An unforgettable scene for any era, especially the heavily censored 1930s. This, and Morris's wrenching sacrifice at the climax, are far more powerful than anything Ford attempts in his "3 Godfathers."

Not as well known as the 1948 John Ford version, this one does not spoon feed the issues to the viewer. Harsh, uncompromising and utterly devoid of false bonhomie, Boleslawski made this at almost the same time as the screwball classic, THEODORA GOES WILD.