Fri 14 Sep 2012
Western Movie Review: WHEN A MAN’S A MAN (1935).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western movies[5] Comments
WHEN A MAN’S A MAN. Atherton / Sol Lesser Productions, 1935. Based on the novel by Harold Bell Wright. George O’Brien, Dorothy Wilson, Paul Kelly, Harry Woods, Richard Carlyle. Director: Edward F. Cline.
Here’s a western with a story line that’s as standard as they come, at least as far as Hollywood is concerned – that of one cattle rancher diverting an area’s water supply from a neighboring ranch to his own – but in this case, it’s also one that’s a whole lot more entertaining than anything in the first part of this sentence might suggest.
There are two reasons for this, and one of them may be that the movie’s based on a novel, rather than one dreamed up by a hack of a script writer, no offense intended. The other, though, may be the star, George O’Brien, who is not your typical B-western movie star. Not in When a Man’s a Man, he isn’t.
He’s chunky, he’s from the East (an engineering school, as I recall, where he majored in football), he may be a little naive or idealistic, and when he’s hired by the rancher whose cattle are now dying (see above) he discovers that he’s accidentally become part of a love triangle, the other two being the rancher’s daughter (Dorothy Wilson) and the rancher’s foreman (Paul Kelly). Reluctantly but admirably, he’s willing to stand aside, and stand aside he does.
He’s almost but never quite a comic figure. I don’t think there is any western actor other than George O’Brien who could pull off a role like this and make it succeed.
There is, of course, more to the story than an ill-fated romance – for one of the two men, that is – and that is how to deal with the scheming evil rancher, played by Harry Woods (also see above). This involves a lot of digging, some dynamite, and some last minute rescuing.
All in all, there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had from watching this old western movie, more than you might think if you come across it with no advance notice. Which is what happened to me, and I’m glad it did.
NOTE: There was a second movie that was made based on the same novel, that being Massacre River (1949) starring Guy Madison and Rory Calhoun, but you know how that goes. I’ve read the description of that movie written by someone on the IMBD website, and I don’t see much resemblance between the two films at all.
September 15th, 2012 at 7:27 am
George O’Brien is a big favorite of mine also. In fact Ed Hulse wrote a long post for MYSTERY FILE about his friendship with O’Brien. The link is: https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=12049
Ed also points out that George O’Brien is one of the few men with military careers in four wars: WW I, WW II, Korean War, and Vietnam.
September 15th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
Thanks for supplying that link to Ed’s piece, Walker. I envy him for coming to know George O’Brien so well, which makes the article essential reading for anyone who’d like to know more about George O’Brien the man as well as the actor. For most of his movies, including WHEN A MAN’S A MAN, they seem to have been one and the same.
September 15th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
This is a very good article, about a film I’ve never heard of.
George O’Brien is a great favorite of mine too. Both O’Brien and director Edward F. Cline were silent screen veterans, who perhaps had their biggest successes in the pre-1929 world of the silent film.
Edward F. Cline was Buster Keaton’s co-director on most of Keaton’s silent comedy shorts. These are now considered as among film history’s greatest works. Movies like THE HIGH SIGN, COPS, NEIGHBORS or THE ELECTRIC HOUSE are just plain awesome to the max.
Cline’s comedy feature THE RAG MAN (1925) is also beloved. The story of the partnership of a poor old Jewish rag dealer (Max Davidson) and a feisty if penniless young Irish orphan (Jackie Coogan) has plenty of zip, comedy and a real lesson about the brotherhood of man.
George O’Brien’s most famous film SUNRISE (1927) is on TCM’s the Essentials tonight. SUNRISE was just voted the #5 film of all time, in the Sight and Sound 2012 poll.
September 15th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
The poll results:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time
September 15th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
I subscribe to SIGHT & SOUND and I’m always interested in their polls. Though I’ve seen VERTIGO several times and think it is an excellent film, I would not vote it #1 as the Best Movie of All Time. I would probably drive myself crazy trying to narrow it down to even my favorite ten films. These polls are alot of fun to discuss and argue about though.