One Man's Journey (1933)

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:

Rock-a-Bye Baby

Despite being a bit sentimental, this is an excellent and enjoyable drama

This is one of the "lost but found" films shown on TCM on 4/4/07. Apparently this and two other films shown that night were held out of public release due to litigation concerning royalties and now the powers that be at Turner Classic Movies have taken care of the licensing issues. Of the three films shown that night, none of them were great treasures but all three were excellent--very solid examples of the type of films RKO made during the era. Normally, when you think of RKO in 1933, you think KING KONG or Astaire and Rogers as a team, but there were other good films that might rank just below them in quality and entertainment.

This film is rather reminiscent of several other doctor dramas from the era (such as THE CITADEL and ARROWSMITH) where the doctor's nobility and sacrifice are celebrated. A younger Lionel Barrymore (sporting a dark doo thanks to hair dye) comes to a rural area to set up a medical practice. However, at first, he is unsuccessful and only begins to get patients when he agrees to use the barter system. Because of this, he is constantly in financial straits, but because he is so noble and decent, he doesn't give up and is eventually accepted and loved by the community. While all this could have been VERY syrupy, thanks to good writing and a terrific performance by Barrymore it is not.

There is certainly a lot more to the movie than this--including an excellent (as usual) performance by May Robson and an early performance by Joel McCrea. See this film and see a "small" film that really packs an excellent punch.