Come and Get It

Starring: Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan, Joel McCrea, Frances Farmer, Mady Christians, Mary Nash, Andrea Leeds, Frank Shields, Edwin Maxwell, Cecil Cunningham
Directed by: Howard Hawks, William Wyler
Rating: Passed
Genre: Drama, Romance
1936

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary:An ambitious man (Edward Arnold) abandons the love of his life (Frances Farmer) to advance his career and years later, becomes smitten with her daughter.

Review:

Tim: Come and Get It is an entertaining movie that's most noteworthy for the being the first film to ever win the newly created Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Walter Brennan's effective performance is one reason to seek out this movie, but it's a solid effort all around and a movie worth seeing.

I was surprised by how dark the story here was. It's never presented as such- it plays like a drama and romance, but there's a wink and a shrug to most of the events of the film. It doesn't take itself too seriously, so it's easy to overlook how dark the story eventually becomes. We follow Barney Glasgow from being a humble lumberjack to his rise in the world. To accomplish this, he just has to sacrifice the love of his life. In a strange twist of Hollywood fate, his best friend marries the girl. They have their own child and she grows up to be the spitting image of her mother. This is where things get uncomfortable- Barney falls in love with the girl (remember, his former flame and best friend's daughter). I appreciated the movie exploring such a forbidden and uncomfortable topic. I'm not sure the movie had full self-awareness of what they were doing here, but it makes for fascinating viewing in 2022.

The cast is quite strong. Edward Arnold makes a memorable Barney. I'm not sure I completely loved his performance- it occasionally feels a bit forced, but I admit it was worthwhile. He's not out to convince us to like Barney, we see the complexity and the flaws of his character, too. It's a good performance. Frances Farmer is impressive in her role. I thought she deserved an Academy Award nomination- it sounds like there was some behind-the-scenes drama that hurt her reputation (and subsequently, her ability to get a nomination). Farmer plays two roles in the film and they feel distinct, different, and incredibly memorable. I think her performance was effective enough and important enough to the film that the Academy should have recognized her. Off topic, but her life seems very tragic, the little I've read. Still, in terms of this film and her performance, it's quite strong. Joel McCrea gave a good performance, too. It's a little bland and basic, but you did feel something for his character.

I'm a big Walter Brennan fan, although I admit I'm more familiar with his later work. Brennan was an accomplished character actor and he brings warmth to the character of Swan, endearing himself to the audience. It's a strong performance, one that brings the honorable qualities of this character to life. Brennan seems like a great choice for the first Academy Award for Supporting Actor and his performance here is well deserving of such acclaim. It might not be as flashy as many subsequent award winners, but it's an important, impactful one.

Come and Get It is a good movie, but I'm not sure I ever loved it. The story is an odd one and there's not many characters we can really root for. It's mostly a sense of hoping bad things don't happen, verses anything pulling us into the story. The movie had a good deal of behind-the-scenes drama, including director Howard Hawks being removed (or leaving, who knows) after directing the majority of the movie. William Wyler was brought in to finish the film. This obviously wasn't good for the movie and their respective approaches create a bit of disjointedness in the story. Still, Hawks and Wyler were both incredible directors, so there's that. I also wanted to mention Richard Rosson, who directed the logging sequence. This is one of the most memorable sequences of the film- it was stunning to see this work captured on film.

I liked Come and Get It, but it certainly felt like one of those films that wins an Academy Award more for a performance than the movie as a whole (the only other Academy Award nomination was for Best Film Editing). Still, not every movie will be great and this was a worthwhile, successful film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Big Sleep, To Have and Have Not, The Best Years of Our Lives, Mrs. Miniver