On Borrowed Time (1939)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Harold S. Bucquet

Writers:

Alice D.G. Miller (writer)
Frank O'Neill (writer)

Release Date:

7 July 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

Young Pud is orphaned and left in the care of his aged grandparents. The boy and his cantankerous old grandfather become inseparable friends...

Plot Keywords:

Death | Grim Reaper | Americana | Afterlife | Fairy Tale

Cast

Lionel Barrymore	...	Julian Northrup (Gramps)
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Mr. Brink (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Beulah Bondi	...	Nellie Northrup (Granny)
Una Merkel	...	Marcia Giles
Bobs Watson	...	John 'Pud' Northrup
Nat Pendleton	...	Mr. Grimes
Henry Travers	...	Dr. James Evans
Grant Mitchell	...	Ben Pilbeam
Eily Malyon	...	Demetria Riffle
James Burke	...	Sheriff Burlingame
Charles Waldron	...	Reverend Murdock
Ian Wolfe	...	Charles Wentworth
Phillip Terry	...	Bill Lowry
Truman Bradley	...	James Northrup

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "On Borrowed Time" by Paul Osborn opened at the Longacre Theater on February 3, 1938 and ran for 321 performances.

Quotes:

John 'Pud' Northrup: Aunt Demetria is a pismire!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: The Barrymores" (2004)

A Right Smart Piece of Time...

Yessir. Watching this movie was a "right smart piece of time"....as Gramp declared at the end of the movie.

This is my first outing with this movie...I can almost kick myself for not recording it. What a wonderful outing it was!

Lionel Barrymore continually amazes me. He could sure play some interesting parts - and his voice is so perfect for these grandfatherly roles. My favorite of his is "You Can't Take It With You"....which is a great piece of theater, too.

I thought the child actor, Bobs Watson, was perfect in this role. Some here have said he was on the annoying side. But which 10 year-old kid isn't?? He played it to a "T" and his crying episodes were too real for me.

I never knew my grandfathers too well. They both died before I got to know them. One died when I was 4 years old and the other one died back in Cuba and I never got to see him off.

Sure, I had my grandmothers...and I loved them both so dearly. OH....to have had a grandfather like PUD does in this movie! I feel such a sense of loss when I think of what wonderful times I might have had with my grandfathers.

And this movie, sure made this topic hit close to home. I guess I will have to wait until Mr. Brink calls on me to meet my grampses...

Yessir....A Right Smart Piece of Time I spent watching this endearing movie.

***I recommend this movie to anyone who has the sense to know they have a heart __ that beats and loves and cries...but most of all, that lives...and lives on...***