Copyright 19 September 1936 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. New York opening at the Capitol: 16 October 1936. 92 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Two East Side kids initiate an English lad.
COMMENT: I don't know why this film was so popular in Oz. Perhaps for the same reason that "Scrappy" cartoons were enjoyed there - a pronounced Australian identification with neighborhood kids, their rites, customs, gangs, bullies, conventions and escapades.
Rowland Brown was a legendary figure in Hollywood. "The guy who socked a supervisor." After his initial success with "Quick Millions" in 1931, the director/scriptwriter found it difficult to hold a job. Finally he (or his agent) convinced Louis B. Mayer that he could write and direct The Devil Takes the Count (as it was then called).
After shooting for many months with photographer George Schneidermann and getting apparently nowhere, director W.S. Van Dyke, plus writers John Lee Mahin, Richard Schayer, and photographer Harold Rosson were called in. The resulting movie is unbelievably lengthy, has jerky continuity, keeps coming to a climax, and then starting all over again with new material. It's a mess most certainly, but an interesting one for lovers of classic Hollywood.
SYNOPSIS: Two East Side kids initiate an English lad.
COMMENT: I don't know why this film was so popular in Oz. Perhaps for the same reason that "Scrappy" cartoons were enjoyed there - a pronounced Australian identification with neighborhood kids, their rites, customs, gangs, bullies, conventions and escapades.
Rowland Brown was a legendary figure in Hollywood. "The guy who socked a supervisor." After his initial success with "Quick Millions" in 1931, the director/scriptwriter found it difficult to hold a job. Finally he (or his agent) convinced Louis B. Mayer that he could write and direct The Devil Takes the Count (as it was then called).
After shooting for many months with photographer George Schneidermann and getting apparently nowhere, director W.S. Van Dyke, plus writers John Lee Mahin, Richard Schayer, and photographer Harold Rosson were called in. The resulting movie is unbelievably lengthy, has jerky continuity, keeps coming to a climax, and then starting all over again with new material. It's a mess most certainly, but an interesting one for lovers of classic Hollywood.