Bunker Bean (1936)

Directors:

William Hamilton
Edward Killy

Writers:

Harry Leon Wilson (novel)
Lee Wilson Dodd (play)

Release Date:

26 June 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Bunker Bean, a meek office clerk, has grandiose dreams but seems destined to remain forever in his lowly station...

Plot Keywords:

Reincarnation | Patent | Transformation | Business Competition | Self Confidence

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Owen Davis Jr.	...	Bunker Bean
Louise Latimer	...	Mary Kent
Robert McWade	...	John 'J.C.' Kent
Jessie Ralph	...	Grandmother
Lucille Ball	...	Rosie Kelly
Berton Churchill	...	Professor Ed Balthazer
Edward J. Nugent	...	Mr. Glab (as Edward Nugent)
Hedda Hopper	...	Mrs. Dorothy Kent
Ferdinand Gottschalk	...	Dr. Meyerhauser
Leonard Carey	...	Kent's Butler
Russell Hicks	...	Al 'A.C.' Jones
Sibyl Harris	...	Countess Cassandra

Also Known As:

His Majesty Bunker Bean (UK)

Runtime:

67 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2209)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The original play opened in New York on 2 October 1916.

Quotes:

Grandmother: [Bunker Bean gets a high head about himself and starts spanking his own bosses daughter. Well, Mr. Kent and his wife come in and start pampering her scolding him saying they had never struck her in her life! And Jessie ralph's character, the grandmother, comes up to him after they leave laughing and she says] "Son you'll get into heaven for this!"

Movie Connections:

Version of His Majesty, Bunker Bean (1918)

The Worm Turns

This 1936 programmer starring Owen Davis, Jr. as Bunker Bean shows signs of having been a Douglas Fairbanks Sr. sort of show when it was originally produced for the New York stage in the mid Teens, as Bunker Bean, a downtrodden clerk, finds his nerve and self confidence at the hands of some spiritualist swindlers. It is a cute idea and there are several lovely moments, but Davis' performance at the beginning of the movie is so low-key and depressing that it stops the movie from rising much above average. Later on, he seems to turn into Rudy Vallee. The bravura performance that Fairbanks would have given it hangs over the performance.

Happily, Davis is not the entire show. Robert McWade gives a good turn as his irascible, predatory boss, Hedda Hopper is fine as McWade's annoying wife and, for completists, Lucille Ball has a credited role as a gum-chewing receptionist. But her performance -- indeed the performances of all the employees shown in this movie seem completely indifferent to their jobs and all the bosses seem to think that every good deal must involve a large measure of cheating. This limited range of character types threaten to sink the movie, but some good writing manages to make the entire thing, if not outstanding, amusing.