A very important film for me, as a big Nigel Bruce fan. Bruce was in the original Broadway play of Springtime for Henry in 1931 and is the only cast member of that production to be cast in the film version, such was his success on stage in same. It set the template for his many appearances on screen as a lovable buffoon and set him off on the road to a very productive silver screen career as a character man and eventually principal player in the Sherlock Holmes films as Dr Watson opposite Basil Rathbone's Super sleuth. Back to the film version of 1934, one would think that the play would be opened out for film and this appears to be the case in that a cast of 4 become more than twice as many but belied by the fact that a three act farce, on stage, runs shy of 1 hour and fifteen minutes on screen. And it feels like a B movie. Bruce is by far the best thing in it and the screen is enlivened when he appears. Fellow principals Otto Kruger, Nancy Carroll and Heather Angel all have their moments and Herbert Mundin does a decent Job as a butler but for such a short piece it is rather muddled in the middle and lacks the frenetic pace a farce should have. The final scene is great fun but is rather too little, too late and considering the play had people rolling in the aisles and crying tears of laughter, it lacks belly laughs. Much of the humour of the last scene is of the blackly comic variety involving wife swapping, murder and an apparently strait laced character not being all she seems. But watch it for Bruce and a great last scene and if you don't set your hopes too high, you will get some enjoyment out of it.
Review of Springtime for Henry
