Starring: Sally O'Neil, Alan Dinehart, Frank Albertson, William Collier Sr., Virginia Cherrill, June Collyer, J. Farrell MacDonald, Mary Forbes, Albert Gran, Louise Mackintosh, Margaret Mann
Writers: S.N. Behrman & Sonya Levien (based on the play by Maude Fulton)
Cinematography: Joseph H. August
Editor: Alex Troffey
B&W, 1h 02m. 1.20:1 presentation.
Released on: August 23, 1931 by Fox Film Corporation.
My experience: YouTube
I've always been quite partial to fish-out-of-water comedies, of which there were plenty in the 1930s. In almost all of these, a poor or supposedly "lower class" person gains access to the world of socialites and high rollers, and by the end, through situations comic and otherwise, said person enriches the lives of the shallow folk among whom they've been spending their time, usually making them take off their sheltered goggles and "see the light" as it were. I'm referring specifically to films like My Man Godfrey (1936), Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936), Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), and Ball Of Fire (1941), to name just a few. There are also some in which the hoity-toity are forced to spend time with the plebs and have their eyes opened, such as It Happened One Night (1934) and You Can't Take It With You (1938) -- both best picture Oscar winners directed by Frank Capra -- but the point I'm trying to make is that there's just something about the little guy standing up to the big guy and showing them a lesson that just resonates with me.
This being said, you would think that John Ford's career would consist of more class comedies than he has, what with his films being chock full of moments pointing out the hypocrisy of societal leaders, but other than the odd job he took in the late 1920s and early 1930s, there doesn't seem to be many that come to mind. Perhaps as he got more clout as a director he wanted to go on location more and try new things, and films set largely in one location (or two, as The Brat) is, just didn't interest him. Regardless, class-conscious comedy, while appearing in many of his movies to some extent, was for the most part relegated to side-stories and background observations.
The Brat is based on a 1917 play by Maude Fulton, who also originated the title role on stage. The film, is very much set in the 1930s, at first seems to be a bit of a take on Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (perhaps better known today as the basis for the musical My Fair Lady by Lerner & Loewe, but I digress). Sally O'Neil plays the titular waif, who we first meet in a night court where she has been brought before a judge (William Collier, Sr.) for eating and running from a diner (this being the Depression, we believe her when she says she hadn't eaten in two days, and hasn't had a job in two months). One of the judge's friends, author MacMillan Forrester (Alan Dinehart), seemingly takes pity on the young lady, pays her fine and brings her back to his country home. Mac has an agenda, however, as he is inspired to study the young lady and use his findings in a new novel he's writing.
Upon arriving at the mansion, the Brat is shocked to see the way the other half live, and develops a friendship with Timson, the Forrester butler and the local bishop (Albert Gran), who seems to come and go as he wishes. She sees the callous way Mac's mother (Mary Forbes) treats his brother Stephen (Frank Albertson), who is obviously considered the black sheep of the family, having taken to alcoholism as his mother is withholding the deed to his late father's ranch. Most troubling is the presence of Mac's two live-in girlfriends, Angela (Virginia Cherrill) and Jane (June Collyer), who have nothing nice to say about anybody at all and seem to exist just to leech off the family's money. When the Brat realizes that Mac is just as callous as the rest of his family, her feelings of admiration for him are shattered. After a knock-down, drag-out catfight between the Brat (whose name we never find out, as Mac never thinks to ask) and Angela, and after bearing witness to Mac's callous behaviour (influencing his mother to sell the ranch so he can buy a yacht), she and Stephen, who is much more suited to her personally, run away from the family to get married and move out west to start life anew.
The Brat, having been based on a Broadway play, is very stagebound, and aside from the opening few minutes Ford doesn't do too much to open it up cinematically, but as a filmed stage play, I did find it amusing in fits and starts. I think my enjoyment of it was influenced by my love of the fairly specific subgenre it fits into; The Brat isn't quite a screwball comedy (with the exception of perhaps the WWE-style brawl between the two women in gowns), but it does have some very pointed satire and biting witticisms aimed at cutting off the wings of the snobbery of some folks and siding definitively with the hoi polloi.
One thing I need to mention is that the print available on YouTube is, compared to most things available to stream online, visually quite murky. This is due to it being a filmed copy of a screening at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. The only extant copy is a badly damaged nitrate print, hence the difficulty in restoring it for a transfer worthy of release. What we have is unfortunately the best we will ever get. Still, all of Ford's sound films are in circulation, and for a film that's over 90 years old, the fact that we still are able to watch it when so many films released in the early 1930s have been lost forever is nothing short of a miracle.
I enjoyed The Brat. It had some nice comedic moments, and while nothing really stood out (with the exception of the performance of Sally O'Neil, who sadly didn't have a long career due to stage fright), it was a solidly performed stage play, albeit with perhaps too short a running time for all the action packed into it. It's not much to look at, but if you're willing to sit through some murky visuals, you may get something out of it. For Ford completists and fans of comedic social satire.
Five affluent a-holes out of ten.
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