One Man's Journey (1933)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

John S. Robertson

Writers:

Katharine Havilland-Taylor (story)
Lester Cohen (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

8 September 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Father Daughter Relationship | New England | Banker | Disease | Father Son Relationship

Cast

Lionel Barrymore	...	Dr. Eli Watt
May Robson	...	Sarah
Dorothy Jordan	...	Letty McGinnis
Joel McCrea	...	Jimmy Watt
Frances Dee	...	Joan Stockton
David Landau	...	McGinnis
Buster Phelps	...	Jimmy Watt - Age 6
June Filmer	...	May Radford
James Bush	...	Bill Radford
Oscar Apfel	...	John Radford
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Dr. Roger Babcock (as Sam Hinds)
Hale Hamilton	...	Dr. Tillinghast
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Colin Kenny	...	Doctor at Banquet

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1459-R: 4 September 1935 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Early in the film, Lionel Barrymore's character bends to pick up the contents of his medical bag which have fallen to the ground. During the close-up of those contents, a voice can clearly be heard saying "camera" from offscreen.

Movie Connections:

Version of A Man to Remember (1938)

Soundtrack:

Long, Long Ago

One Man's Journey-Homage to those Dedicated Doctors of Yesteryear ***

Lionel Barrymore gave a memorably restrained performance in this 1933 film. It stands as a precursor to films such as 1959's "The Last Angry Man" with Paul Muni.

The setting takes place in rural America circa 1910. Having lost his wife in childbirth, Barrymore returns to his roots only to lose his first patient there as well to child-birth. The embittered husband is ready to take the baby to the poor house but Barrymore takes the little baby girl in along with his young son. Just on the girl's 4th birthday, the father returns and seems much reformed. Barrymore gives the girl, Letty, back to him. Letty maintains a father-like relationship with Barrymore through the years.

As the years pass, Barrymore wins the hearts of the town with his dedication and free services for the impoverished.

He lets opportunities pass which could have gotten him out of the town. Some how we know this from the George Bailey effect of 1946's "It's A Wonderful Life." Like George Bailey, this doctor is going nowhere.

May Robson costars as a beloved housekeeper who enters the Barrymore home at precisely the right time.

This is a nicely done heartwarming story of rural America from 1910 through 1933.