Film’s Title: Come and Get It! Cast: Edward Arnold (Barney Glasgow), Walter Brennan (Swan Bostrom), Frances Farmer (Lotta Morgan and Lotta Bostrom), Joel McCrea (Richard Glasgow), Mady Christians (Karie), Mary Nash (Emma Louise Glasgow), Andrea Leeds (Evvie Glasgow), Charles Halton (Mr. Hewitt) Director: Howard Hawks and William Wyler Genre: Comedy Based on the novel Come and Get It (1935) by Edna Ferber The movie Come And Get It tells the story of two friends, Barney Glasgow (Edward Arnold) and Swan Bostrom (Walter Brennan) who were both working as lumbermen in Northern Wisconsin. One night, in a bar, Barney met Lotta (Frances Farmer) who was a singer in that bar. Despite the crash he had on her, he preferred to marry Emma Louise Hewitt (Mary Nash)—the daughter of the owner of the wood factory where he was working. But Swan married Lotta. Twenty-three years later, Barney and Swan met again, and Barney had a crash on Swan’s daughter, named also Lotta, who looked very much like her deceased mother. And Barney decided to help Swan and his family to relocate closer to where he lived so that he could visit them (and Lotta) more often. This one-hour-forty-minute movie is a masterpiece from an artistic point of view. And by ‘artistic’ I include and I mean language, too. First, the movie starts and ends with ‘Come and Get It!’ said by the same Barney, still different as he grew considerably as a character. Second, Swan-character, a Swedish immigrant in America, has a distinct and lovely English syntax formulation that gives the movie a lot of vivacity. The actor Walter Brennan, who interpreted Swan, entered so well in the skin of the character that he was awarded the first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Third, from an artistic point of view, the movie includes some wise words. Here are some examples: ‘Don’t start anything you cannot finish!’, ‘Money don’t grow in trees’, ‘Blessed be your heart!’ and others. From a technical point of view, I would like to point the bar fight (min. 25) that reminds the silent movies. This is a 1936 movie based on a novel published the year before, and there should not be any surprise that the silent movie still echoed in the sound-movie era. I, personally, loved to notice that echo, because I love the back and white silent movies, too. There are the foundation from where the cinema technique could grow and did grow, and on which they could build modern cinema. Also, from a technical point of view, there are several particularly enjoyable and suggestive shots that help tell the story, but the most suggestive is the last one: it frames Barney in an upward triangle with tears in his eyes. This last shot is a technical accomplishment with a literary value. It is an allusion that says: ‘May Your will be done, not mine!’
This is a lovely family movie, with a lovely story and characters. I ‘enjoyed’ the steam bath (min. 30) and the meaning of the ‘private car’ in the 1930s. They are also elements that can put a smile on the viewers’ faces. I also enjoyed the grace with which the film directors, Howard Hawks and William Wyler, subtly depicted in images what Barney and Swan got in twenty years-time: Barney got a house, while Swan got a home—that Barney loved and made him happy. In general, film directors are subtle with language and/or images, but as a movie consumer and participant in the movie, I am glad I identified this. What else did I miss? ‘Come And Get It! Or we’ll throw everything to the dogs!’ Come and watch the movie! Anyway, I will not throw it at the dogs, but dogs are invited to watch because it is a family movie. Enjoy it!
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