Most movie fans would probably enjoy this film as a good comedy- romance. It is that. Those who are drawn to history will appreciate the film also for its portrayal of a real prominent person, David Garrick. And, people who love the stage and theatre will enjoy the display of acting and actors of the mid-18th century. "The Great Garrick" is all of this and more. Considering some of the history of the time, and the plot and script of this film, I think it has one more attribute – satire. Nicely nestled in the comedy and romance, and the ruse of the plot, is a wonderful spoofing of the stage and acting of the day. Most notably, that of the French and the Comedy Francaise. The cast for this film all are excellent. Brian Aherne was a leading man of the 1930s and gives a superb performance as David Garrick. From the historical accounts, Aherne's Garrick seems to nail the character. Garrick was the best actor on the English stage in the mid-18th century. He had an ego, naturally, and he was mocked by some for his vanity. But he had great talent and he enjoyed the adulation of audiences everywhere. He also had many inconspicuous charities, and was a great producer and theater manager. Mostly, he was known for breaking with the long-standing French-imposed method of acting. Until his time, actors were pompous and gave bombastic recitations of their lines. Garrick introduced natural delivery and was an immediate success and overnight star of stage. The film shows these differences with wonderful spoofing of the French. Garrick explains to Monsieur Picard, how he had discovered the plot against him staged by the Comedy Francaise. Picard, the president of the French theater, indeed exaggerated his movements while posing as the innkeeper of the Adam and Eve Inn. Garrick showed how a real innkeeper would walk, stooped after many years of climbing stairs, versus Picard's majestic strutting. Then he showed how a real waiter carried a tray – with one hand, versus the way the stage crew handled it with both hands. Edward Everett Horton plays Tubby, Garrick's valet and man for all tasks. Horton was one of the best supporting actors of the day, especially for comedy. He shines in his role here. The up and coming Olivia de Havilland shows signs of her great acting ability, playing Germaine. Melville Cooper is wonderful as Picard, overacting the role just enough to cement the satire of the film. Others of the cast have even more exaggeration. A young Lana Turner is a maid. Although Aherne stood six feet, three inches and was tall for the 20th century, Garrick was just under average height of English males in 1750. He was five feet, four inches. But he was a handsome, talented man who fast made friends. He was a ladies man for a time and had a long relationship with a leading Irish actress of the day, Peg Woffington. While Garrick helped improve her skills, she wouldn't be tied down in marriage. Garrick did have a number of love affairs until, at age 32, he married Eva Marie Veigel in 1749. They had a 30- year happy marriage that lasted until his death.Besides his acting, Garrick was a poet and playwright. He produced and directed plays and soon became the co-manager of the Royal Theater at Drury Lane. His management of Drury Lane not only saved and revived that theater, but led to new techniques and better stage quality of sets, design, and professional production. Garrick was equally adept at comedy and tragedy. With his slightly shorter physical stature, he gradually moved out of the more youthful roles to play more mature parts. Garrick had attended school in Litchfield, home of Samuel Johnson. At age 19, he enrolled in Johnson's Edial Hall School. After Johnson's school closed, he and Garrick traveled to London together. They would be friends for life. Garrick began his acting career at 24 in 1741, as an anonymous replacement for an actor who had fallen ill. He stayed with a road company but kept his acting a secret from his family for a while. Acting was a lowly regarded profession at the time. But, with his title role in "Richard III," he won instant recognition. Within six months, he had 18 roles and had become the talk of London. Unlike his friend Samuel Johnson, who seemed to live and work on the edge of poverty for most of his life, Garrick soon became prosperous from his acting, writing and related work. Poet Alexander Pope saw Garrick in three plays early on and declared, "That young man never had his equal as an actor, and he will never have a rival." The Encyclopedia Britannica says, "Garrick, though highly strung and sensitive, had a strong vein of common sense and remarkable staying power." Garrick was the first actor allowed to be buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey. Two others have since been buried their – Henry Irving in 1905, and Laurence Olivier in 1989. This is a wonderful comedy-romance and satire, with several prominent actors and up and comers before the mid-20th century. Movie fans and friends should enjoy it.

Alas, this one is presented on the Warner Archive DVD in black-and-white rather than the movie's original sepia. When filming with a sepia wash in mind, the cameraman would open up at least another stop. If this is not corrected in the printing, everything will have a washed-out look in black-and-white – which it certainly does here! So we already have one strike against the movie even before we start to watch it. Strike two turns out to be Brian Aherne. Frankly, as presented on the DVD, Aherne doesn't have enough charisma for a role as large and as demanding as this one. True, Aherne seems larger than life on the DVD – which is a good thing to aim for, especially if you are impersonating an actor – but he doesn't project the charisma that Garrick undoubtedly possessed. An actors' actor like Bill Powell could certainly get away with it, but not Mr. Aherne. He lacks the punch, the identification, the admiration, the larger-than-life personality. Director James Whale obviously realized that Aherne was not exactly the greatest Garrick in the world, so he has attempted to place Garrick center stage every time the camera catches him – which is far too often. Poor Olivia de Havilland receives hardly any attention from the director at all. Her role was small enough to start off with, but although I saw the movie only a few hours ago, I can remember her in only one shot. Yes, just a single shot in which she figured! On the other hand, Aherne comes to mind in so many shots, he literally smothers just about everyone else in the cast. I didn't spot Lana Turner at all. I'm told that she "hovers around in the background." Well, that could be true. Melville Cooper, on the other hand, has a comparatively large role – and he makes the most of it! So this is definitely one for Melville Cooper fans! The plot, such as it is, turns around on what is meant to be an elaborate joke. Personally, I feel that a joke is too weak an instrument to sustain interest in a movie that runs 90 minutes. You could get away with it in a two-reel short maybe! But 90 minutes, despite all the glossy production values, and a support cast as long as your arm – no!

Ernest Vajda's "play for the screen" revolves about a fictional encounter between the celebrated 18th-century English actor David Garrick and the members of the equally celebrated Comedy Francaise at a country inn.Under the direction of the estimable James Whale, the film is generally lively but sometimes sags with too much talk. It also benefits from a team of choice supporting actors (Melville Cooper, Lionel Atwill, and especially Edward Everett Horton and Etienne Giradot) who come to the rescue with inspired line readings or bits of business. A theatrical spirit prevails. Heading the cast is Brian Aherne as Garrick who gets a rare chance to chew the scenery and does so in high style. But we never know from this scenario whether Garrick was really great or just a charming ham. When does the acting stop and the real Garrick take over? The line between the two is not clear here. Maybe it's not meant to be.The story: the French troupe, having heard a false rumor that the visiting Garrick arrogantly intends to teach them how to act, impersonates the staff and guests of a country inn where they know Garrick will be staying on his way to Paris, with the intention of devising such mayhem that Garrick will bolt in terror, whereupon they will reveal who they really are, proving they are indeed great actors, and humiliate him. But he sees through the ruse and turns the tables on them. Olivia DeHavilland, effective in an early role, turns up at the inn as a young woman fleeing an arranged marriage and falls in love with Garrick, who spurns her, thinking she too is part of the collective trickery (as the film's trailer states, he "couldn't tell the difference between real love and bad acting").

With every new Whale film I watch, it's becoming increasingly evident that it's not just his horror output that was unique; this one, in fact – the director's sole effort for Warner Bros. – feels nothing like any of their productions! The title would seem to suggest a biopic of the celebrated English actor – many similar prestige films emerged from Hollywood during this time, such as THE GREAT ZIEGFELD (1936) and THE GREAT WALTZ (1938) – but Whale and screenwriter Ernest Vajda concentrate instead on one curious incident (the fact that it never actually occurred is immaterial). Most of the director's typical qualities – and faults – are to be found in the film: his eye for pictorial detail (accentuated by Anton Grot's distinctive set design), the fluid camera-work (courtesy of Ernest Haller), the dry English humor, etc. However, he also tends to over-indulge his character actors (which, this being essentially a celebration of the art of performing, is hardly surprising in this case) and, consequently, the film's initial momentum isn't sustained throughout – the second half is somewhat chaotic and ham-fisted – but picks up again for the splendid finale. Nevertheless, Whale biographer James Curtis considers THE GREAT GARRICK his last wholly satisfying film – which, actually, makes me look forward all the more to watching THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK (1939) someday given its own solid reputation! Inevitably, the cast has been carefully and most ably chosen: the underrated Brian Aherne is superb in the title role, while it's always a pleasure to see Edward Everett Horton (playing nervous and cowardly as always); among the endless list of supporting actors, perhaps the most impressive are Etienne Girardot (funny and poignant as an elderly stage prompter and Garrick's most devoted fan) and Luis Alberni (a specialist in servant roles relishing his one-shot opportunity at essaying the showier part of a lunatic); in contrast, demure Olivia De Havilland – a Warners contract player – feels somewhat lost in such company, to the point where additional close-ups were imposed by the studio (notably the unwarranted and corny final shot).This stylish and delightful gem is truly one of the unsung films about the acting profession, in every way a worthy companion piece to such major works as Marcel Carne''s CHILDREN OF PARADISE (1945) and Jean Renoir's THE GOLDEN COACH (1952). Unfortunately, the audio on the DVD-R I watched (made from a TCM broadcast) was occasionally accompanied by a distracting echo; given Warners' recent DVD release of Whale's WATERLOO BRIDGE (1931) – as part of the "Forbidden Hollywood" set – and the rumored one for SHOWBOAT (1936) – along with two other cinematic adaptations of the popular musical – I hope that THE GREAT GARRICK won't be left behind (after all, those two films were actually Universal productions which became the property of Warners solely by virtue of the MGM remakes!).