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There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

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.

If anyone is expecting the story of the real David Garrick than this is not the film for you. According to Wikipedia, the real Garrick was rather short, but his talent added several inches in stage height and happily married to a German dancer for many years. Though I'm sure then as now the celebrated actor attracted his share of groupies. I also doubt that Garrick ever made an appearance at the Comedy Francaise as a guest artist. Mainly because Great Britain and France were at war a whole lot during the 18th century. Just as I doubt Moliere saw much of his work playing at London's Drury Lane Theater where Garrick was the managing director as well as star attraction.However The Great Garrick is a charming comedy of manners about a quick witted actor who is given an unforgettable night at a roadside inn by the Comedy Francaise. Garrick played with effortless ease by Brian Aherne and when he announces that he will be off the London stage for a while because he's going to be a guest artist at the Comedy Francaise, the crowd reacts bad. With a quick wit Garrick gets the audience on his side when he appeals to their nationalism by implying he will be giving them acting lessons. He leaves with the ringing cry of "teach the French".Of course the company of The Comedy Francaise reacts real bad when they hear that news. They resolve under managing director Melville Cooper to teach Garrick a lesson. They rent out an inn where Garrick is supposed to stop overnight and prepare a bit of theatrics for him.Aherne is tipped to it and he and valet Edward Everett Horton just act oblivious to some madcap behavior. A young woman played by Olivia DeHavilland arrives at the inn and she's running away from a proposed marriage. Aherne just thinks she's one of the players though he offers her accommodations in his suite.I think you get the idea how this is going. Though The Great Garrick has no relation at all with the real David Garrick it's not a bad film with several good comic spots. This was another costume film where Olivia got cast in and got rooted in at Warner Brothers. She's pretty and classy, but the laughs all belong to the guys. And Aherne became family for a while, soon marrying Olivia's sister Joan Fontaine shortly after The Great Garrick came out.

Brian Aherne is the great actor David Garrick in "The Great Garrick," directed by James Whale and costarring Olivia DeHavilland. The actress was 21 years old when this film was released. The Comedy Francaise, insulted by comments made by Garrick about working with them, decides to give him a night in a French inn he won't ever forget. Knowing he will stop there en route to Paris, the head of the company rents the place for the day, dismissing the staff. The company take roles as maids, waiters, servants, etc. in a play written for the occasion by Beaumarchis, full of love triangles, duels, a crazy man, and lots of noise. What they don't know is that the old prompter, who once worked with Garrick, has gone ahead and warned him of what is to happen. One other thing they're not counting on is the appearance of another guest (DeHavilland) besides Garrick. Garrick, however, thinks she's part of the troupe.This is a witty, well done comedy. Aherne, an accomplished Shakespearean actor, is great as the egomaniacal Garrick. He was equally good in "Merrily We Live," but for some reason, stopped getting the showy roles, possibly because of Errol Flynn. Edward Everett Horton is excellent as his manservant. The supporting cast, including Lionel Atwill, Melville Cooper, Fritz Leiber, and Marie Wilson are all wonderful. Lana Turner has a tiny role as one of the maids. Olivia DeHavilland is luminously beautiful in a true ingénue role, done before Warners realized what a wonderful actress they had in her.Very entertaining, and a good chance to see a very young DeHavilland and Aherne shine.

Together with even more underrated, ONE MAN RIVER(1934), this is probably James Whale's most neglected classic, a witty, self- reflexive, consistently enjoyable 18th century period comedy on the life of egocentric English actor, David Garrick, played to perfection by Brian Aherne. Ernest Vadja's dialogue is clever and delightful, plus a haunting period photography by Ernest Haller. The film also boasts some wonderful cast that includes the lovely Olivia de Havilland, Edward Everett Horton, Lionel Atwill, Melville Cooper, Fritz Leiber, and Marie Wilson. David Garrick's talent is well-known everywhere in Europe. The film opens in London where Garrick tells his audience that he has a new starring role coming up, guest starring in the production of "Don Juan" with the Comedie Francaise in Paris. While the crowd reacts the news with disdain, Garrick convinces his audience that he is leaving to teach the French. Meanwhile, at a country inn in France the members of the Comedie Francaise are furious about Garrick's insult, so they all conspire to embarras him and teach him "a lesson in acting." The real fun begins when the sly Garrick and his amiable old companion (Edward Everett Horton) figure out the hoax and play along the game.A true Hollywood gem, there are moments in THE GREAT GARRICK that are quite remarkably hysterical, so funny that the film deserves to be ranked along with the great comedies of the period. Tragically, THE GREAT GARRICK was never released on video. At all cost, I suggest you get a copy and enjoy it. They don't make 'em like this anymore.