Fri 14 Feb 2025
An Archived Movie Review: A MESSAGE TO GARCIA (1936).
Posted by Steve under Action Adventure movies , Reviews[6] Comments
A MESSAGE TO GARCIA. 20th Century Fix, 1936. Wallace Beery, Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, Alan Hale. Director: George Marshall.
During the Spanish-American War, an American courier is sent with a vital message to the leader of the Cuban rebels, aided by an ex-American soldier, now a small-time thief and adventurer, and an aristocratic Cuban woman.
As the courier, John Boles makes very little impression, and while Barbara Stanwyck is immaculately beautiful, the show is really all Wallace Beery’s, as a loutish but devoted oaf, and like the movie itself, twice as large as life itself.
— Reprinted from Movie.File.1, March 1988.
February 14th, 2025 at 9:03 pm
Is there a female performer who had a longer, more colorful career in movies and TV than Barbara Stanwyck? From silent and pre-Code films to TV (THE BIG VALLEY, THE COLBYS) and all of them memorable, in several different ways.
February 14th, 2025 at 11:37 pm
It’s hard to call the famous story that inspired this a story in any real sense, it is more of an essay with an attitude, but the film manages to be rousing thanks to Berry chewing scenery in his usual manner.
February 15th, 2025 at 3:01 am
John Boles disappears out halfway through FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and nobody notices, so colorless is he, despite what sounds like a pretty adventurous career ante-Hollywood as a spy in Germany, Bulgaria and Turkey.during WWI. Intriguing, but no solid information on the nature of his work.
Of milder interest: He came out of retirement in 1953 to play opposite Paulette Goddard and Gypsy Rose Lee in Edgar Ulmer’s BABES IN BAGDAD.
February 15th, 2025 at 4:28 pm
The original Message to Garcia can come found here: https://www.nato.int/nrdc-it/about/message_to_garcia.pdf
The author, Elbert Hubbard, was an interesting story in his own right—and signs of his arts and crafts community, The Roycrofters, remain in E. Aurora NY still. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbert_Hubbard
https://www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com/
February 15th, 2025 at 7:59 pm
Fascinating stuff, Tony. Thanks! More than I knew about the story back then, and even now, today.
February 16th, 2025 at 3:57 am
Chalk one up for me as well. I’d somehow absorbed the original story too, set in Cuba. Very likely I’ve heard it on an episode of OTRR. Probably an edition of either ‘Escape!’ or ‘Suspense!’