On Borrowed Time (1939) – full review!
On Borrowed Time (1939) – full review!
Yet another classic from that Golden Year of 1939! Directed by Harold S. Bucquet based on a play by Paul Osborn (East of Eden (1955) & Sayonara (1957)) with a screenplay co-written by Claudine West (Mrs. Miniver (1942)) this above average fantasy drama with comedic elements features a recognizable cast that includes wheelchair-bound Lionel Barrymore (A Free Soul (1931)) Cedric Hardwicke two time Supporting Actress nominee Beulah Bondi Una Merkel (Summer and Smoke (1961)) Nat Pendleton Henry Travers (also Mrs. Miniver (1942)) Grant Mitchell Eily Malyon James Burke and Ian Wolfe. The story is most compelling about a man and his grandson who trap "Death" up a tree in their yard so that no one can die until he’s let down. Its execution is also very good with excellent characterizations all the way around. Barrymore’s loving relationship with child actor Bobs Watson who plays his character’s devoted grandson and Hardwicke’s calm & confident soft spoken Death are particularly noteworthy.
Dr. James Northrup (Truman Bradley) and his wife (Barbara Bedford uncredited) pick up a passenger on their way home to their son who’s staying with his grandparents Julian (Barrymore) & Nellie (Bondi) Northrup. Unbeknownst to them their passenger is Death (Hardwicke) and the car soon drives through a guard rail and crashes killing both. So their son John nicknamed ‘Pud’ (Bobs Watson) by his grandfather who spoils him must stay with ‘Gramps’ & Nellie. Town gossip and John’s Aunt Demetria Riffle (Malyon) hears that Dr. Northrup had a large life insurance policy and schemes to figure out she can gain custody of John to control the $50000 he was left.
Meanwhile Gramps and Pud do everything together including avoiding going to church when they can go fishing instead. However Julian does give a significant donation from the inheritance money to Reverend Murdock (Charles Waldron) with which to help others. Ian Wolfe plays the Reverend’s assistant. On their way home Pud tells Gramps he’s entitled to a wish for his good deed per something he’d heard said. Later when Gramps chases a boy out of his large backyard apple tree he wishes that he could keep whomever climbs the tree to steal one of his apples would have to stay there until he decides to let them get down – Pud tells him that he’s made his wish. But Gramps doesn’t think anymore about it until another boy (Dickie Jones uncredited) and then Pud gets stuck and are unable to climb down until he gives them permission.
After Aunt Riffle fails to succeed in getting Nellie to sign custody of Pud over to her Death (who calls himself Mr. Brink) visits John’s grandmother and tired she goes with him willingly. Gramps meets with his lawyer Ben Pilbeam (Mitchell) but is unable to assign custody of Pud to their maid Marcia (Merkel playing a much younger woman than her 35 years) who Demetria had earlier accused of scandalously kissing her beau Bill (Phillip Terry) in a public park! When Mr. Brink visits Gramps a second time actually in Pud’s presence the two conspire to get him to climb the tree to get an apple. Of course he is now unable to get down to "take" Gramps without his permission. Gramps learns that anything that touches the tree will die instantly so he hires some men to build a fence around it that very day. Demetria hears of this and the reason for it and brings Dr. Evans (Travers) and Ben to witness Julian’s "insanity". Gramps and Pud can talk to hear and even see Mr. Brinks but no one else can.
Later Dr. Evans returns with an assistant (Pendleton) to take Gramps to an asylum but Gramps proves quite dramatically that nothing can die while Death is treed in his backyard. Dr. Evans comes to believe what Gramps has said but then urges Julian to let him down lest the natural order of things be disrupted. In fact he tries to force Gramps to allow Mr. Brink to come out of the tree. James Burke plays the Sheriff. Without spoiling the ending one should know that Death will eventually be invited to come down out of the tree by Julian/Gramps.
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