Ordnung ist das halbe Leben (1937) Online

"The Great O'Malley," directed by William Dieterle, was Bogart's second film with Pat O'Brien, a man he deeply respected as a person and as an actor… In this very predictable movie, O'Brien was a too zealously cop whose attachment to the letter of the law alienates friends as well as enemies…

Bogart was an honest family man who was forced to turn to crime in order to provide for his family after O'Brien arrested him for a minor offense and caused him to lose a job opportunity…

Bogart had an excellent chance to show some versatility by turning from his earlier carefree attitude into one of frustration and bitter hatred, and he carried it off rather effectively…

Pat O'Brien portrays the title character, a strictly by the book rookie patrolman in New York's 7th Precinct, in this formulaic story that will have you experience a range of emotions, as does O'Malley before it's all over. "I just love to watch him pull out that manual" - so says newspaper reporter Pinky Holden (Hobart Cavanaugh), who takes great pleasure in taking shots at O'Malley and the Police Department under his byline. O'Malley is so strict in fact, that he pulls out the manual and admonishes his own mother when she throws a handful of crumbs out her apartment window for the birds - it's littering after all!

When O'Malley stops John Phillips (Humphrey Bogart) for a loud muffler, it causes Phillips to be late for his first job in a long time. With a wife and young daughter, Phillips loses his chance for work when he arrives late and finds the gate to his factory job shut down. You can more or less guess what follows - the frustrated Phillips accidentally injures a pawn shop owner and takes four hundred dollars out of the till. Arrested and sentenced to a minimum two year prison stretch, Mrs. Phillips (Frieda Inescort) is left alone to care for daughter Babs (Sybil Jason), who's suffered a knee injury that cannot receive proper medical attention because of their meager circumstances.

O'Malley realizes what he's done and attempts to set things right, even though by now, the neighborhood takes him for a real hard nosed pain in the butt. Ultimately, it's young Babs Phillips who helps O'Malley understand the error of his ways, at first not knowing of her connection to the man he helped put away. The humbled officer seeks medical treatment for the young girl, and arranges for Phillips' early parole, all in secret. By the time the story ends, O'Malley has done a complete turn, and is now the one who tries to model compassion for his captain and fellow officers.

Filmed in 1937, "The Great O'Malley" is an excellent period piece of city life and neighborhood relationships. Without giving too much away, take note of the blood transfusion scene in the latter part of the movie to see how far medicine has evolved in seventy years.

Pat O'Brien and Humphrey Bogart made a total of four films together, with O'Brien top billed over Bogey in each - the others being "China Clipper", "San Quentin", and the minor classic "Angels With Dirty Faces", all made within the space of three years, 1936-1938. For her part, actress Ann Sheridan appeared with both actors in this film and "San Quentin", all are recommended.

Thinking about The Great O'Malley put me in mind of an episode of NYPD Blue in its final season. Andy Sipowicz has been just appointed sergeant and the point of the whole series was watching Dennis Franz as Sipowicz grow as a human being. There's a scene in this particular episode where Sipowicz as sergeant mediates out a dispute when a young rookie cop collars a truck driver who was trying to make a delivery on a crowded street and was double parked. The driver protested the ticket and the cop arrested him and we see the driver in handcuffs.

Sipowicz basically tells the young patrolman to enforce the law, but with a little discretion, after all this is some poor working stiff, not serial criminal. And in the end the driver is cut loose and presumably the patrolman will use a little more tact in the future.

In the title role in The Great O'Malley is Pat O'Brien who's a walking rule book, so much so no one can stand being around him. But one day just like in NYPD Blue, he stops some guy for speeding on his first day to report to a new job. He detains him so long that the man loses that job.

Which leads to Humphrey Bogart just plain losing it and committing a robbery just to gain enough money to feed his wife and daughter. Of course that results on wife Frieda Inescourt and daughter Sybil Jason staying on relief which is what welfare was called back in the day.

None of this makes any impression on the officious Great O'Malley, but O'Brien happens to make the acquaintance of Inescourt and Jason and between the two of them, manage to soften him up a bit. Even O'Brien's girlfriend Ann Sheridan likes the change in him.

Later on he gets a chance to really make it up to Bogart, going quite a bit above and beyond in his job as a policeman.

The Great O'Malley is a typical Warner Brothers Depression era product from the working man's studio. Both Pat O'Brien and Humphrey Bogart do fine jobs, especially Bogart who at that time was playing mostly gangsters. Here he's a decent, but desperate man and really registers in the role that was a change of pace for him.

This film is not run too often, hopefully TCM will broadcast it and soon.

Actually filmed in Hollywood, but boy, did someone do their research for the sets.

Many of outdoor scenes are made up to look just like the intersection of East Broadway and Montgomery Sts. on the Lower East Side, in front of old P.S 34 (still there, but long since closed) as well as the old Gouveneur Hospital (Where O'Malley was rushed to) on Water Street; it's still there too, now a flop house for bums, unfortunately.

Possibly because much of Hollywood was run by Lower East Side Jews who migrated to California, they obviously remembered their old haunts well when knowing how to build a set.

Also, on O' Brien's NYPD uniform, he wore the number "7," on his collar, signifying the Seventh Precinct, which was, and still is the NYPD Precinct that covers the LES.

That's what I call authenticity! Movie pretty good, no real surprises, but a joy to watch.

Pat O'Brien plays John O'Malley, a New York City beat cop who thinks that enforcing the law is all mechanics and no heart. He tickets businessmen for having awnings that are inches too long, threatens to cite his own mother for spreading debris when she feeds bread to the pigeons from her kitchen window, and cites John Phillips (Humphrey Bogart) for a loud muffler when he is on his way to the first job he has had in years - remember this is the Great Depression. This sets off a string of tragic events starting with Phillips being late to his job and thus losing it, then being too proud to tell his wife and crippled daughter (Sybil Jason) that he lost the job, and finally an altercation at a pawn shop where Phillips was trying to pawn his gun and WWI medals that turns into a robbery. Philips goes to prison, and O'Malley becomes the laughing stock of the force and a target of the press as an example of law enforcement abuse.

All the while, O'Malley holds tight to his belief that he is just doing his job by enforcing all the law the all the time by the book. His captain wants his resignation, and when O'Malley won't give it, he has him assigned to public school crossing guard duty. The captain believes this will break or make the man. Did I mention that Phillips' little daughter goes to the same elementary school where O'Malley is assigned, and they strike up a friendship, neither one knowing who the other is? A romantic and humanizing interest comes in the person of Ann Sheridan as a schoolteacher at the elementary school.

This is a pleasant little early production code era entry, with O'Brien playing the same kind of hard boiled egg he played before the code, but this time donning a policeman's uniform. The only negative in the film, in my opinion, was a common device in films of the mid 30's - a child that is sickly-sticky sweet (Sybil Jason's character) over-sentimentalizing matters and sucking the adult cast into more than a few silly situations. However, at least here the child star is central to the plot. All in all, recommended especially for fans of Pat O'Brien and Ann Sheridan and anybody that is interested in a film in which Sybil Jason is actually billed above Humphrey Bogart - an odd sight indeed some 75 years later.

Pat O'Brien plays a very different sort of character in this film. He's the title character and is a cop. But, what makes him so different is that he's an incredibly overzealous jerk--a cop who is more interested in finding obscure laws than following the spirit of the law. As a result, the people on his beat in New York hate him, as he's always writing them up for petty violations instead of building rapport with the community. It all comes to a head when his persecution of a sap (Humphrey Bogart) results in his pushing Bogart to break a serious law--landing him in prison. As a result, he leaves a wife and handicapped daughter to fend for themselves--yet O;Malley STILL insists he did the right thing! His boss is furious with him. Despite telling him to ease up and be a human being, O'Malley just won't listen. So, to punish him (and perhaps teach him something) he assigns O'Malley to crossing guard duty. Now, saddled with a group of young kids to protect, the toughness of O'Malley starts to wane...a bit.

On the new beat, O'Malley makes a new pal--a cute kid who limps due to some leg injury. The kid is adorable and O'Malley even saves her life in an exciting scene. But, when he discovers WHO the kid is and who her far is, O'Malley is filled with regret--especially when he sees just how destitute the family now is. If he'd just shown a little heart with her dad (Bogart), the kid's life would be so much better.

How all this plays out is something you'll need to see for yourself. I'll say that what occurs isn't particularly believable, but it's also a lot of fun--thanks to some good performances--especially by O'Brien and Sybil Jason as the cute kid, 'Babs'. A very enjoyable film...even if it is a tad schmaltzy.

Pat O'Brien plays an obnoxiously by-the-book policeman who's hated by the people on his beat and not exactly loved by his fellow officers. He's forced to rethink his outlook when a man (Humphrey Bogart) turns to crime to support his family after O'Brien's rigidity inadvertently costs him his job.

Interesting if not wholly successful drama from Warner Bros. O'Brien's character actually reads up on archaic laws just so he can write people tickets for breaking them! That would be bad enough today but imagine doing that at a time when most people didn't have two nickels to rub together. It's got a nice cast and that helps a lot. Any movie with Bogie is worth seeing.

Overall this is a particularly good film. Top-notch acting and direction, an involving plot, realistic scenery. A gaggle of veteran and up-and-coming actors deliver worthy, multi-dimensional performances that make us care about their characters. Pat O'Brien, always reliable as a fast-talking, rough and tough, take charge and take no prisoners character here gives a much more nuanced performance than is his usual. Donald Crisp is reliable as always as O'Brien's boss. Sybil Jason, the South-African wunderkind, was very endearing and a professional despite her age. It's too bad she didn't make it as she grew older. Then there's Humphrey Bogart, Frieda Inescourt, and Ann Sheridan who would all go to much bigger and better things.

So what's my beef? Well, let's consider the basic premise of the film: a man (Bogart) is on his way to work in a beat-up car with faulty exhaust and is given a ticket by an overzealous cop (O'Brien). The delay causes him to lose his job and in desperation he commits a burglary which lands him in prison. OK, so the cop didn't have to cite him for such a minor offense and even after he stopped him, could have believed him and let him go. But this is exactly where the logic is flawed and we find out how in the next few minutes. When Bogart tries to pawn some items the pawnbroker asks him why he doesn't go on relief to which Bogart replies that he wouldn't take any handouts. And there you have it. Had the man been on relief he could have fixed his muffler which would have given the cop no reason to stop him and he would have made it to his job on time. But no, in true pioneer spirit, rather than ask for government help (which after all he contributed to with his taxes) and preferring false pride to responsibility to his family he runs foul of the law and ends up in the clink completely powerless. And to me that's stupid.

Now I'll get off my pedestal and stop sermonizing. "The Great O'Malley" many not be masterpiece but it certainly bears watching and a worthy addition to anyone's collection.

I've seen this movie several times, and in great detail most of those times. It helps to look for the humor. O'Brien, the cop, comes up with some funny ones, even though the is wisecracking to the people he it ticketting. Barbara, Bogart's daughter is a darling. I think there are some parts that tug at the heartstrings. This is a movie that gets better after you have seen it once and go back to look for the details. Example: SPOILERS... Bogart is stopped for driving his car with a noisy, broken muffler. The cop comes up to him as asks, "What 'er you celebratin'?" When Bogart explains that he can't help it, "It's the muffler." The wisecrack from the cop is, "I thought it was a violin." Funny, huh? Well, I guess it's not for everybody.

Great O'Malley, The (1937)

** (out of 4)

Boring melodrama from Warner about cop James O'Malley (Pat O'Brien), an overbearing cop who follows the law down to the wire and this includes passing out tickets for the smallest of issues. Soon he costs a poor man (Humphrey Bogart) a job and the man turns to crime and soon finds himself away from his cripple daughter and doing a ten year sentence. O'Malley gains more and more enemies and soon finds himself close to the man's daughter where he might finally learn his lesson. I'm really not sure what the point of this film was for several reasons. O'Malley is an ugly character, a complete jerk and one people are really going to hate so showing this type of cop to people probably wasn't the best of ideas. I'm not even sure why a story like this would interest anyone and the film comes off like the stars and director didn't have much faith in it either. Dietrich is certainly directing by the numbers as nothing here really jumps out at you as having much effort put into it. There's really not any powerful scenes, drama, laughs or anything else. Granted, nothing here is overly bad but just flat. O'Brien gives a decent performance but it's certainly far from his best because there's not much soul or fire to the character. Bogart does get to shine in a role that you normally wouldn't see him play. I thought he did a pretty good job playing the poor guy trying to look out for his family and it's the type of role you'd expect someone like Spencer Tracy to play but Bogie does fine with it. Sybil Jason and Ann Sheridan add nice support as does Donald Crisp. Warner was the studio for blue collar tales but this one here never really works and I'm really not sure what the point of any of it was.

A very predictable, sentimental movie about a pedantic cop whose strict adherence to the letter of the law results in Bogart turning to crime to support his family during the Depression. Of course, as the cop (O'Brien) gradually realises what trail of events his 'efficiency' has sparked, he begins to relax his attitude ....

A great cast, headed by Pat O'Brien, is trapped in a preposterous and unconvincing story in which all the characters are actually caricatures or types. Despite his second billing, Bogie has only a small role, though it's an important one. Maybe he was sulking, but he's nowhere near as convincing as usual. Some movie historians have affirmed that Jack Warner was deliberately trying to induce Bogart to break his contract by casting him in roles he knew the actor would despise. Bogie himself would later affirm that "the film was terrible, but Pat was very good. In fact, Pat was never bad." As usual, Bogie is right on the ball. O'Brien is most impressive, particularly in the early part of the film where he is required to be obnoxious. The story gets pretty sticky and sentimental later on, but comparatively restrained performances by Frieda Inescort and Sybill Jason, prevent it from going completely overboard. Ann Sheridan has a small role and is none too attractively costumed. Although it's by no means a typical assignment, William Dieterle's direction has pace and his crowd scenes are handled with a sharp eye for detail and atmosphere. The punchy editing in the courtroom scene is a standout.

This film is about an above the board policeman who learns that having a little heart along with the necessity to do what is right goes a long way. Bogart is playing a small but significant role as the well meaning every day Joe that gets caught up in the circumstances of poverty. Still the show is all O'Brien's as we see him go through a range of emotions from start to finish. Worth watching.