SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

csteidler Brian Aherne stars as David Garrick, renowned 18th century actor, in this wild little tale that is certainly no stodgy biopic but rather "a romantic adventure that might have happened," as the picture's introduction tells us. Invited to Paris to perform with France's famous Comédie-Française, Garrick stops over a day out from Paris at a quaint country inn. The players of the French troupe, meanwhile, have already occupied said inn, posing as staff and guests, and have plotted out an elaborate ruse designed to embarrass Garrick—who, they have been informed, has made disparaging remarks about French acting. Ensuing events include plenty of table-turning...and the plot is stirred delightfully when plucky runaway Olivia de Havilland, her carriage broken down on the side of the road, arrives at the inn and asks for a room. Aherne is funny and dashing, pompous when necessary but also quite capable of being bewildered; de Havilland is funny and radiant and sometimes bewildered herself. The character actors filling out the cast are also outstanding— Edward Everett Horton as Aherne's valet whose duties sometimes include giving pep talks; Luis Alberni as an actor eager for his chance to play a mad scene; and especially Etienne Girardot, in a small but essential role as a stage hand who takes the Great Garrick's side. Best of all, though, is Melville Cooper, who probably never had a better role than this one: as the manager of the Comédie-Française, he is dramatic, commanding, a bit ridiculous—the perfect leader for a crew of enthusiastic but misguided actors. Oh, the costumes look great too. Good fun all the way around.

richard-1787 The reviews on here really range from very positive to very negative, and I'm not sure why. I found this a very well-paced comedy that works in great part because the Warner character actors are so good, starting with Edward Everett Horton and Melville Cooper. Cooper in particular gets to do more than his usual upper-class type-casting. (Think *Pride and Prejudice*) One of the reviewers wrote that he could only remember one scene with de Havilland an hour after having viewed the picture. I would strongly recommend glasses - and a testosterone check. She is astonishingly beautiful in this movie in scene after scene, captured ravishingly by a very sympathetic cameraman. Her part is pretty straight-forward, it's true, and doesn't give a lot of room for acting in a movie about acting - and over-acting. But when she's on screen, it's hard to take your eyes off her.With no disrespect to her, that may be, in part, because of her leading man, Brian Aherne. His is certainly a major role, and a tricky one, because sometimes he is acting and, at least in principle, sometimes he is not. And there lies the problem. Aherne has chosen to play Garrick as an excessive actor, what we would call a ham. And perhaps that was the style in England in the 18th century. I can't say. But it was very hard for me not to imagine Errol Flynn in this part, and Aherne did not benefit from the comparison. I think the movie would have worked better if the "sincere" Garrick had been played as a real romantic, to create a clear contrast between the real one and the on-stage one. That is supported by his scene near the end where he gives acting lessons to the members of the Comédie française, and emphasizes realistic acting, rather than overly theatrical.Though I realize that it was the basis for much of the comedy here, I wondered why the premise was that the Comédie française actors all over-acted outrageously. I have no answer for that.The script here is good, and the directing really first rate. I do strongly recommend this movie.

bkoganbing 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.

Michael_Elliott Great Garrick, The (1937) ** (out of 4) James Whale film about an ego maniac British actor (Brian Aherne) who insults a French acting group only to fall victim to a prank that might destroy his career. Here's a rather interesting "comedy" that features no laughs. Whale can brilliantly do comedy but it seems like he can only pull it off when he mixes it with horror or drama. The performance by Aherne is good and the supporting cast, which includes Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Marie Wilson and Lana Turner, are also good. The idea of the plot is an interesting one and could make a good film but this isn't it.