A Successful Failure (1934) Online

Charming suburban comedy with a social and moral message for 'depression era' audiences who would have related to this family feature well. Solid well decorated sets and a friendly wink to the audience via the humorous script allow this lovely little Monogram feature from 1934 to be undemanding and effective without being preachy. Some pre Andy Hardy type family situations and ideas add to the familiar family drama. The casting of the parents seems a generation to wide for later audiences, they actually look the kids grandparents, but the actors of Mom and Pop: William Collier Sr and Lucile Gleason are excellent characters with charming easy delivery of whimsical dialog. There is a few real laughs and some good looking night time suburban street scenes. It is almost a Blondie and Dagwood script before either that series or the Hardy Family turned up. These pre 1935 Monogram pix are really interesting productions to me, as the studio was successfully gaining a good reputation and their developing image is evident especially by 1934..... A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE is typical of their solid small film style with good cast roles and interesting sets and design. You can see how other studios copied this formula and suburban style about tired Dad and his teenage family dramas. The young teen actor in this one is George Breakston and he is particularly effective, both in modern look and easy realistic style.

This pleasant, low-key B-comedy is a bit trite at times, but worth watching. William Collier plays a character full of homespun wisdom who is nevertheless under-appreciated by his family, who care only about his salary, and by his boss, who sees only that he is growing older. The story that follows is quite simple, and sometimes moves too slowly, but it has its moments and is mostly upbeat, so it is worth seeing how things play out. The Monogram production is strictly routine, so there isn't anything especially impressive about it, but it is probably worth a look for fans of old low-budget comedies.

William Collier Sr. is getting on, and has troubles at work and at home. His age and poor eyesight are about to get him fired. His family certainly doesn't respect him. Daughter Gloria Shea is dating a rich man and about to fall; his elder son, William Janney, is a loafer who spouts unfiltered Communist propaganda; his wife, Lucille Gleason, is a nattering nitwit. They all think he lacks gumption and should ask for a raise. Only younger son George Breakston and fellow reporter Russell Hopton admire him. When Collier is finally fired, Hopton quits and they set out to try to get Collier's proposed column of aphorisms sold.

I've seen far too many cheap B movies from this era and judging by the others, this movie is far better than it has any right to be. I attribute this excellence to a fine, well-chosen cast and director Arthur Lubin pushing the plot points at a speed that keeps the movie humming along, yet allows the performers to work at their own speed, with some nice warm humor. Certainly he was a comedy specialist, and would direct commercially successful movies with Abbott & Costello and Francis the Talking Mule. Collier's slow-talking, folksy character might not seem his meat, but he certainly gets a fine performance out of the man.

While pop always pays, nobody seems to notice him unless they are asking for cash, and even then, it's more demanding than asking. Everybody is on his case to get him to demand a raise, and nothing seems to be in it for him. William Collier Sr. is quite good as the milquetoast father whose nagging wife (Lucile Gleason) has no appreciation for him, daughter Gloria Shea is demanding a new wardrobe (after all, that's all a young girl has to make contacts is how she looks...), rebel rousing son William Janney is a fledgling commie, and youngest son George Breakston seems to be the only one who understands him. But like Paul Lynde remarked in "Bye Bye Birdie", "Who wants respect from a 13 year old kid?" It's Breakston who first notices that the new radio commentator "Uncle Dudley" sounds exactly like dad but nobody else believes him. Certainly, Collier has taken on this job as radio commentator, being on the sly side by keeping this from his family. If pop's going to have to kow-tow to the ways of his no-good clan, he's going to retain some of his dignity.

Shea is dating a rather shallow older man who insists that "intelligence from a woman in romance has the effect of a wet blanket". Collier is against this relationship and when he runs into Shea on the street on her way to an encounter with him unknowingly breaks up their date after having already told the man (Jameson Thomas) in no uncertain terms to stay away from him. Collier would rather see her with a nice boy her own age, so his meddling does give him one understandable flaw. When "Uncle Dudley" is injured in an accident, his secret is exposed, but will Collier be able to turn the greedy ways of his family around? This is an interesting take on the story later show in more detail in "Father of the Bride" where Spencer Tracy kept a quiet face in spite of his having to shell out cash every time bride-to-be Elizabeth Taylor and mother of-the bride Joan Bennett wanted something added for the upcoming wedding.

There's no nuptials here, however, just the commentary on how dad is the one who collects the salary, but mom collects the wallet once he's home on payday. It gives an interesting look into the family element that usually focuses on mom and usually makes her out to be the heroine rather than the dad as hero. The kids aren't any good either, but all they have to do is wake up and smell the Maxwell House in order to get their acts together. This is one time when you really want to see dad step out of the background and tell his ungrateful family off, especially mom (who should know better) and freeze all of their allowances until they start taking responsibility for themselves.

Ellery Cushing is a middle aged man who is modestly successful. He owns a home and his family has plenty of food and all the comforts of home. Despite this, his worthless wife and awful kids treat him like he's a failure. None of them work (although the two oldest are clearly old enough to get jobs) and yet they hound the guy to ask his boss for a raise. While all this seems pretty awful, you must remember that this is during the Depression--a time when many, many people were out of work and jobs were very hard to come by. 1934, for example, had an unemployment rate of almost 22%. Because of this, the audience can't help but hate the guy's family...I know I sure did.

When Cushing goes to work (after his family harasses him about the raise yet again), he finds his nasty boss has fired him. His friend, a reporter who is also dating Cushing's daughter, Ruth, is so angry that he quits as well. As to what to tell the family, Ellery is convinced not to say anything as he might just be able to get another job and his family won't have to be the wiser. Surprisingly, he helps re-invent Cushing into a radio show host, Uncle Dudley--a nice old man with homespun wisdom a lot like Will Rogers. Yet despite the new job and more money, the family still seems totally focused on money...his money. And, they don't realize that the man they like and respect on the radio is Dad...the man they totally disregard.

This film does have some significant plot problems. Why does Cushing allow his family to treat him like dirt? Why does his reporter friend love Ruth when she is just awful? And, why does Ruth seem interested in Franklin--a man who is even worse than any one of the Cushings? Additionally, the family is so bad that throughout the film you keep wanting something terrible to happen to them...something violent and which hopefully leaves them dead!! I think they went too far and presented most of the family in too much of a one-dimensional way. Why Ellery cared about them, I have no idea--and that really hurt the film.

So am I saying the film is bad? No...but it's got problems that keep it from being much better than it was. A case of a film with a good idea but which was undone a bit by pedestrian writing. Worth seeing but not altogether satisfying. A rewrite making the family less hateful would have improved it tremendously. Also, the ending was just too pat to be believable after seeing such a hateful family.

Edgar Kennedy made a total later career playing a P-whipped character like this. A guy whose family treats him like dirt. The big difference is Kennedy was actually funny.

This is a very slow moving film that is nothing special. It's OK, but if you can find ANY Edgar Kennedy film, you'd be better served. In fact, in the 40s Kennedy lifted this entire plot for a two reeler. It was WAY funnier.

The plot of this

Ellery Cushing is full of catchy sayings and old-fashioned wisdom. But all that his family cares about is how much money he makes, and all that his boss at the newspaper sees is that Cushing is getting too old to keep up with his work. So his loyal co-worker Phil decides to see what he can do to help everyone see what his friend has to offer.