STEAMBOAT ROUND THE BEND (1935)
Starring: Will Rogers, Anne Shirley, Irvin S. Cobb, Eugene Pallette, John McGuire, Berton Churchill, Francis Ford, Stepin Fetchit, Roger Imhof, Raymond Hatton, Hobart Bosworth
Writers: Dudley Nichols, Lamar Trotti (based on the novel "Steamboat 'round the Bend" by Ben Lucien Burman)
Cinematography: George Schneiderman
Music: Samuel Kaylin
Editor: Alfred DeGaetano
B&W, 1h 22m. 1.37:1 presentation.
Released on: September 6, 1935 by Twentieth Century Fox.
My experience: Ford at Fox DVD box set.
Definitely a lesser Ford film, in both recognition and artistry, and yet there's something about it that makes it a pretty enjoyable show.
Will Rogers, in the penultimate role of his career before his untimely demise in a plane crash in August of 1935 (the film was released six weeks after his death), stars in the last of his three rural Americana joints for John Ford. Here, the comedian and social humorist plays Dr. John Pearly, owner and captain of the Claremont Queen, a run down shell of a vessel that, like its owner, has seen better days. Dr. John's nephew Duke (John McGuire), has been wrongfully accused of killing a man, and takes shelter along with his love, the incredibly named Fleety Belle (Anne Shirley) on the vessel. After being caught, Duke languishes in jail under the watchful yet sympathetic eye of Sheriff Rufe Jeffers (Eugene Pallette), while Dr. John takes on a couple of comedic assistants (Jonah, played by Stepin Fetchit, and Efe, played by Francis Ford) on the boat to help him and Fleety Belle out, all the while searching out the self-proclaimed prophet New Moses (Berton Churchill), the only man who can prove Duke's innocence. All the while in a race down the Mississippi against rival Captain Eli (Irvin S. Cobb, author of a previous Ford/Rogers venture, Judge Priest).
While there are visually few obvious Fordian touches to be seen, his hand is felt in the direction of the comedic scenes. While not nearly on a par with Bringing Up Baby, this film has plenty of chuckles to be proud of. The physical comedy is top tier, as when Francis Ford mistakenly drinks a bottle of turpentine while painting the boat. Another great moment was when, during a scene in which Dr. John is putting together a museum of historical figures on the boat, Efe brings a mannequin of Elizabeth I to Dr. John, bends it over doggy-style, and asks, "Where do you want this ... virgin queen?" That one got past the censors!
I've always been a fan of the classic Hollywood character actors, and we've got a few of them in this one, including Hobart Bosworth as a chaplain on the hanging block, Roger Imhof as Fleety Belle's pa, and the aforementioned Eugene Pallette -- distinctly recognizable with his bullfrog voice -- and Francis Ford, the director's brother, who gets a plumb part here as Efe. I feel the need to mention Berton Churchill here, however. Churchill was almost always cast as the villain of any given piece, or if alternatively as a stoic authority figure. So it's a nice change seeing him in a heroic role as a half-crazy self-proclaimed prophet who throws himself wholeheartedly into the madcap proceedings. The scenes when everybody uses jugs of liquor to power the steamship had me in stitches.
There's not much more to be said about Steamboat Round The Bend. Did Ford really fill up a river with four steamboats and just let them go at it? Definitely looks impressive for sure, especially in these days of everything being CGI. The ending was a little too quick and pat, like many films of the era, but all told, it's only slightly more than an hour, filled with laughs, and worth watching if you're into this kind of thing.
Seven speedy steamboats out of ten.
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