Hide-Out (1934) User Reviews

The farmer's daughter

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 8 March 2006]

"Hide Out" starts out focusing on a group of racketeers operating in Manhattan. We are introduced to Jonathan Wilson, who seems to be a key man to the organization. Jonathan is clearly a ladies' man, but his luck is about to change after he is seen pursuing the glamorous Baby. In a hilarious scene, Jonathan, has secured a ring side table to watch the beautiful Baby singing, as part of a night club act. He proceeds to ask her for a date that same night, without the singer missing a beat while she accepts his invitation. That also proves to be his own undoing because the police is closing after him.

The second part of this comedy, directed with style by W. S. Van Dyke, concentrates in how Jonathan, who has been wounded when he tried to flee his pursuers, is found on the side of the road by a Connecticutt farmer, Henry Miller. He takes him home, where the whole family takes an interest in making him well. The lovely Pauline Miller, a young teacher, likes "Lucky", as Jonathan calls himself. Life in the farm works its magic in this man and transform him when he falls in love with the beautiful Pauline.

Of course, we all know that crime doesn't pay, so when at the end of the film we see Det. MacCarthy come knocking on the Miller's door, we realize that Lucky must pay for his evil ways of the past, although he makes us feel, because of his transformation and the love he feels for the young woman, that somehow, he has vindicated himself by wanting to stay in the farm forever.

Robert Montgomery's appearance in the film makes it even better than what it should have been. Mr. Montgomery is excellent in his scenes with Maureen O'Sullivan, who is perfect as the young Pauline Miller. Pauline Patterson and Whitford Kane are the older Millers, and Mickey Rooney, who was about thirteen, but looks much younger, makes a valuable contribution as Willie Miller. Edward Arnold, one of the best character actors working in films at that time, puts an appearance as Detective MacCarthy.

The film, with a running time of 81 minutes, has the right length and involves us in it. W. S. Van Dyke directed with usual sure hand and got a lot out his great cast in this delightful film.

Predictable but deftly handled

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 30 December 2007]

This is a very enjoyable though predictable film--exactly the sort of classic Hollywood film I like and they just don't make any more. The first portion of the film shows leading man Robert Montgomery to be a real jerk. Not only is he a mobster, but he's also completely selfish and a real cad. Eventually, though, his larcenous ways nearly get him killed and he is forced to escape to the countryside to avoid the law and heal following being shot by police in his escape.

Montgomery is discovered by a nice and unsuspecting family who have no idea he's a crook. They sweetly agree to let him stay there and they treat him like a member of the family. While the dad is a pretty forgettable but nice character, long-time character actress Elizabeth Patterson does an amazingly effective job as the mother and Mickey Rooney is cute as a nice little boy who is all boy! The sister was played by a young Maureen O'Sullivan who is simply radiant. It isn't surprising that Montgomery soon falls for O'Sullivan, but her inherent decency and sweetness result in a change in the crook. Over time, he realizes for the first time that he truly cares about her--as well as the entire family. Is this predictable? Sure,...but it's handled so well and the film is so engaging that you probably won't mind--I know I sure didn't! Overall, the film gets very high marks for acting (with a great ensemble cast), a well-written script (especially the dialog) and is just plain entertaining. See this one--you probably won't be sorry.

You can practically see the dividing line between the precode and code eras in this film

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 6 March 2016]

It's a modest movie. Not a big deal. But it's got some things in it I like. First, it stars Robert Montgomery, and Maureen O'Sullivan, which though not a guarantee of a good movie, sure is a sign of promise. And in this case it pays off. Montgomery plays a racketeer who has to lam it to the countryside to wait for some heat to die down. The odd thing is, I could not really figure out what his "racket" was. There he is injured and stays with a family to recover, meeting and chumming it with the daughter. That's where the dividing line is. In the first part you are in precode gangster land. Then Montgomery wakes up in a four poster bed with a gingham bedspread - he has arrived in production code land. The plot's flimsy, for sure, on both sides of the line, but it's there to provide the opportunity for Montgomery and O'Sullivan to meet and chatter. And that's the main attraction. The banter between the simple, ingenuous, yet clear-headed and no-nonsense country lass, and the sophisticated, jaded, out-of-his-element city feller, as they get to know each other, like each other, and fall in love. The style of their exchanges has an informal, conversational feel, as if they were talking, not reciting lines.

Of course, the love story is accompanied by his character reformation into a good person, or one that looks to be in the future. But it's handled discretely, and if you ignore it, it doesn't spoil things. The supporting cast is a bunch of pros, so they know how not to step on things: Elizabeth Patterson and Whitford Kane as the ma and pa, Mickey Rooney-for once not insufferably irritating playing an insufferably irritating son, and Edward Arnold as the dogged cop. One other thing I like about the movie is that it achieves portraying a lively, energetic, spontaneous family scene without being noisy, discordant, and irritating. Something a lot of movies attempt, but fail miserably at doing.

Life on a farm

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 23 November 2006]

Robert Montgomery plays a gangster hiding out on a farm in "Hide-Out," a 1934 film also starring Maureen O'Sullivan, Edward Arnold, Elizabeth Patterson, Whitford Kane, and Mickey Rooney. With the police after him, Lucky Wilson takes off but ends up shot and unconscious. He is then found by a farmer Miller (Kane) who takes him home. There, Lucky, now calling himself by his real name, Jonathan, meets a normal American family, including an above-normal looking Pauline (Maureen O'Sullivan), who is the daughter of the house. Jonathan stretches out his recovery and begins to enjoy the idyllic life of milking cows, feeding chickens, romancing Pauline, and being sort of a big brother to her younger sibling Willie (Mickey Rooney).

This is a sweet film with nothing special to recommend it except the beautiful young O'Sullivan and an amusing performance by Montgomery. In one of the best scenes, he sits at a ringside table and asks a singer out - while she's singing - and she answers him under her breath during short orchestral interludes.

The end seems a little abrupt, but this is a pleasant film. If Mrs. Miller looks familiar, she was Mrs. Trumbull, the neighbor who babysat Little Ricky on "I Love Lucy."

Maureen O'Sullivan Tames Another Tarzan

[wireshock · 3 December 2001]

This sentimental M-G-M "gangster" film works like a "Tarzan" in reverse: here the seemingly incorrigible hood played by Montgomery, urbane and a touch cynical, finds his cold heart surely melting in the warm embrace of a simple farm family and their soothing workaday life.

In "Tarzan" Maureen O'Sullivan is the "outsider", and although she must adjust to life in the jungle the thrust of that story is that she "domesticates" the "ape man" even as she learns to accept the simpler pleasures of living "close to nature". Here Montgomery is the one out of his element and we find him mystified by the sounds of crickets in the evening--something almost as strange and foreign to him as the unpretentious caring ways of the Miller family. When Mom and Pop and little "don't call me" Willy (played by young Mickey Rooney) conveniently leave the farm for a day, Montgomery and O'Sullivan get to play "farm" (baling the hay, splitting wood) the same way Tarzan and Jane get to play "house" together. In both cases O'Sullivan has "tamed" the wild beast.

"Tarzan" was an adventure film, however--the journey takes place in the great outdoors and nature is a mirror. "Hide-out" is an inner journey, on the other hand--even as he's hauled off to prison Montgomery smiles because he's finally come "home".

Very Funny in Spots, and a Happy Ending.

[mongo46538 · 7/10 · 7 March 2006]

Yeah Yeah Yeah, I read about the Cliché's, but thats why I watch movies like these. I want a predictable ending, I want cliché's. I don't want to be emotionally challenged, I want to be entertained. A forgotten concept in todays movies. Occasionally weak acting and improvisation that lends a sense of realism. I like the mix between actual barnyard scenes and studio shots, probably technologically difficult in those times. Overall a very satisfying movie, and you gotta love Mickey Rooney as an ornery boy. I would have liked to see a sequel where the main character gets out of Jail and goes back. Marries the Girl, fixes the milk problem for Pa, and raises a passel of little piglets.

Cute '30s romp

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 15 November 2019]

After Robert Montgomery, a bad-boy gangster, gets wounded in a shoot-out, his cronies decide to do what's best for him even though he's protesting every step of the way. One of his pals knows a guy who knows a guy, and before he knows it, Bob's cooped up in a farmhouse in the country during his recovery. He complains and wishes he could leave, until the daughter of the house, the young and beautiful Maureen O'Sullivan, brings him a cup of tea. After that, he tries to stay as long as he can!

It's always fun to watch two beautiful people fall in love on the big screen, so if you'd like to see Mia Farrow's mom and Elizabeth Montgomery's dad in a romance, check this one out. It's very obviously made in 1934, though, so be prepared for an old movie. Cell phones weren't invented yet, jokes are made about how to milk a cow, and the idea of a really great date is to pack a picnic and eat among the great outdoors looking at a river. For my fellow old movie buffs out there, if you liked The Life of Jimmy Dolan, you'll probably like this one. Both center on a gangster hiding out with a nice farming family, who fall in love with the pretty daughter, and who are being chased by a hard-nosed, soft-hearted cop. The cop in Hide-Out is Edward Arnold, and the rest of the "aw shucks" family who soften up Robert Montgomery and help him realize he's got a chance for a better life are Elizabeth Patterson, Whitford Kane, and Mickey Rooney.

This is another entry in Leo the Groaning Fat Cat's "Crime Pays" series . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 31 March 2021]

. . . which includes such "hits" as MASSACRE ON THE BOUNTY, KILL ALL WITCHES, GASHED WITH THE WHIP and BRAIN YOUR WIFE ON AN ANCHOR (aka, ANCHORS AWAY!). Whether it's the biggest grass hut on Tahiti, an Emerald City palace, the Tara plantation house or the West Country's Manderley estate, the common denominator of the Many Greedy Mobsters studio criminal role models is that they always live in the largest digs around because, well, crime pays. It's no surprise, then, when gangster Lucky Wilson traipses off to Sing-Sing at the close of HIDE-OUT, since this celebrity jail is nicknamed "The Castle on the Hudson." Plus the $425,000 in protection racket loot Lucky has stashed away in the hayloft (or $8.5 million, adjusted for inflation) is far more than minimum wage, no matter how many hours of unpaid overtime he has to put in during his brief 18-month vacation from Pauline, the gladder but dumber school teacher girl.

Montgomery Shines

[bhf1940 · 10/10 · 11 December 2006]

I can't help it... I'm a sap for this film. Since seeing it last month, I have spoken to anyone and everyone about the charms and witty manner of this little delight on 9 reels. With Robert Montgomery and Maureen O'Sullivan, how can you go wrong? What can I say about this film that others here have not already said? Obviously, Montgomery is ultimately one of the most beautiful stars to ever grace any screen, silver or modern. His smile is contagious - Just adorable with a touch of deviance thrown in for good measure, and his accent makes every line funny.

We begin with see him in his racketeer life style, he's mean and chases just about anything with a dress. Once circumstances force him to spend the morning in a little farm in the country, you could imagine "Lucky's" dismay. He wants out - and quick. That is until he catches sight of the gorgeous Pauline (casted flawlessly with Maureen O'Sullivan), all bets are off. Together, they share chemistry that is sure to satisfy anyone looking for a good love story.

For Montgomery fans (like me), the scenes where Bob is opposite the farm animals are just priceless. It's hilarious to see him interact with them, often speaking to them like the gangsters and "clients" he once hassled back in the big city. The scenes with chickens are some of the most humorous, like when he goes to check the chicken coop for eggs... "Hording, ay?" he says, lifting one of the hens up. "You did good, you know that, don't you?"

Before that, he feeds the chickens in one of his first attempts at mimicking farm life. When he bends down to feed them, one takes a good chomp at his finger. While Pauline is not looking, "Lucky" nearly settles the matter 'gangster' style.

There's also an adorable scene with Pauline teaching "Lucky" to milk a cow. He's never quite "on the level" with his knowledge (or lack there of) of farm procedure. When Pauline hands him the pail for milking, he responds, "Well, I'm used to a bottle but this will do."

The whole film we watch Robert Montgomery's character chase and chase Pauline, something always getting in the way of them being alone together. Finally, the rest of the family take a trip while nearly being pushed out the door by "Lucky." He hurries through the chores in anticipation of a picnic all alone with Pauline. When rain once again spoils "Lucky's" plans, they have to take shelter in a neighbor's cabin near the farm. Truly one of the most romantic scenes I've seen on film, they both sit together in front of the fire wrapped in blankets. Alone together at last, "Lucky" has been too caught up in the chase to realize he has fallen in love.

What a wonderful movie! Both these stars and the supporting cast are pure magic on screen... I can be safe in saying they don't make them like this anymore. Everything about it is heart warming and make sure when you see it, it is on some medium you can replay: For sure it will take multiple viewings to get it out of your system.

The gangster and the farmer's daughter...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 4 December 2007]

ROBERT MONTGOMERY is the injured gangster being sheltered by a farm family with a lovely daughter (MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN) who quickly responds to his tough guy charm. MICKEY ROONEY is the ornery little brother continually pestering everybody and declaring "Don't call me Willie!" Montgomery gradually reforms after his initial discomfort with country life. ("Hurry up and lay that egg!"). The predictable plot is light-hearted nonsense but enjoyable for the performances of Montgomery and O'Sullivan who seem to be enjoying their bucolic roles that have them feeding chickens, milking cows and collecting eggs. It's a pleasant little film, directed in workmanlike style by Woody Van Dyke.

Maureen O'Sullivan looks radiant and has seldom been seen to better advantage and Robert Montgomery makes the most of his reformed gangster role.

As a film, it's nothing too special, but it does pass the time pleasantly thanks to the warm chemistry between its two stars. Too bad MGM couldn't find better future material for Maureen, who is at her loveliest in this outing. I've never been a big Robert Montgomery fan, but he does give one of his more appealing performances here.

Sweet

[aimless-46 · 9/10 · 8 November 2006]

"Sweet" is not a word I've ever used to describe a film, mostly because the films that might merit the word are invariably too sappy to qualify. But "Hide-Out" pulls it off and truly deserves that description.

Much like "Bad Bascomb" (1946) and "Angel and the Badman" (1947) this is the story of an incorrigible criminal who is reformed because of his accidental association with good people. In "Hide-out" they are not reformers and there is no deliberate effort to reform; the character change comes because the positive examples cause him to adopt their values and belief system.

Robert Montgomery plays Lucky Wilson, a charming Broadway playboy who is part of a protection racket specializing in nightclubs. His boss gets a percentage of each club's profits and Lucky insures the payoff is correct by estimating each club's business from their napkin usage (a convenient procedure because they control the laundry the clubs use).

The opening sequence is exceptionally well staged, with Lucky's insatiable appetite for women revealed through a montage of blonde conquests; in the opening minutes he goes from a girlfriend's maid, to the girlfriend, to another girlfriend waiting for him in a car, to a new conquest at the night club he visits. During the brief intervals between conquests he finds time to leer and flirt with every pretty girl who crosses his path.

All these girls are blonds with lots of makeup and with elaborate hairstyles. Their appearances are meant to contrast with the natural appearance of Pauline Miller (Margaret O'Sullivan), the girl with whom he eventually falls in love.

"Hide-Out" is one of those films where the casting is perfect, as you cannot imagine anyone but Montgomery and O'Sullivan being able to pull this out without appearing completely silly. They are nicely assisted by Elizabeth Patterson (as Pauline's mother) and by a very young Mickey Rooney (as Pauline's younger brother Willie). The standing gag is Willie's frustrated attempts to get the family to call him Bill. His scenes with Montgomery are especially good and it is interesting how much natural acting talent he exhibits this early in his career. They go out on a standing gag about the reproductive abilities of the rabbits he has been raising.

A big reason why the film works is the attention paid to the details,. A second viewing will reveal many things you do not even notice the first time around, like Montgomery's continuing discomfort with "nature" when he brushes a rose bush in the front of the house. There are hundreds of these little details, most of them involving the citified Montgomery's fish-out-of-water adjustments to country life.

There was a 1941 remake titled "I'll Wait for You" staring Robert Sterling and Marsha Hunt. Although I love Marsha Hunt the 1934 original is easily the better film.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

La-La Land of Milk and Cherries

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 11 April 2014]

Light and Breezy Depression Era Escapism. About as Inoffensive as a Movie can be. Everything is Pleasant and Pleasing to the Eye. Robert Montgomery and Maureen O' Sullivan are Pretty People in a Pretty Picture that Hardly Moves, it just sort of says OK Pretty People Do this and Do that and the Audience will Enjoy the Beauty.

There is Never a Hint at Life on the Farm being Hard or Dirty ("We have more eggs than we know what to do with."). That seems like an Odd Line in a Depression where there were Food Lines and about a Quarter of the Population didn't know where their next Meal was coming from. But MGM would Argue that is the Point. This is Fantasy.

So Folks Paid Their Money and were Transported to some kind of Otherland where Everyone was Sweet, Attractive, and Life was Easy. The Only Time this Fairy Tale broke its Spell and Showed Anything Resembling Real Life was at a Dinner where Everyone was Guessing what was on the Menu.

MGM cant do gangsters

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 4 August 2005]

With one or two well known exceptions from the pre code era MGM could not make a decent gangster film.The first 10 minutes were great.Montgomery puts the heat on night club owners and then is wounded fleeing the cops.He flees to the country and the film changes tack.It becomes a homily about the virtues of country life and how the beauty tames the beast.The last 10 minutes are a bit livelier.However the hour in between just drags along as the redemptive ways of the country eventually wear away the rough edges of Montgomery's character.I don't know what it is but the majority of Warners films of this era still have the ability to entertain and engage the mind.Films made by MGM seem to be encased in aspic and totally boring.

Sparkling photography, too-predictable story

[Sleepy-17 · 4 December 2001]

W.S Van Dyke came from a documentary background (Eskimo and some stuff with Robert Flaherty) and it shows in some of the barnyard scenes that were obviously improvised. Also, at the beginning there are nightclub scenes filmed with a shimmering effect that is truly stunning. The actors drip with honest charm while going through the motions demanded by the cliched plot.

Oodles of Chemistry

[evanston_dad · 7/10 · 27 May 2021]

Robert Montgomery and Maureen O'Sullivan have oodles of chemistry together in this minor romantic comedy.

Montgomery is a gangster on the lam who gets wounded and taken in by a nice country family out in the middle of nowhere. Of course he falls for the daughter, and of course the cops find out where he is and come looking for him, and of course there's a precocious little brother who we're supposed to find adorable (in this case a young Mickey Rooney, and he actually is kind of cute). There are no surprises and no major laughs, but there are plenty of moments that will make you smile (like Montgomery feeding the chickens), and it's so short as to barely qualify as a feature length movie, so you don't have to invest much time in it.

"Hide-Out" received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Story at the 1934 Academy Awards.

Grade: B+

"Either you want to stay in business--or you don't want to stay in business"

[davidcarniglia · 6/10 · 13 March 2021]

A somewhat unusual crime drama in which Robert Montegomery literally hides out in rural New York to escape both the mob and the cops. At a farm, he's nursed back to health (from a gunshot wound) by Miller family. The farmer's daughter, Pauline (Maureen O'Sullivan) falls for Lucky/Jonathan (Montgomery). If that sounds goofy, it kind of is. The first part of the movie, by stark contrast, shows Lucky as a sharp but dangerous criminal, shaking down nightclub owners with his protection racket.

The only thing Lucky retains when he rehabilitates with Pauline is his smooth wisecracking attitude. The nightclub scenes are great: typical of upper-class urban entertainment ninety years ago. Lucky isn't so fortunate with Baby, his girlfriend. Or a blond showgirl. But he's good at making the owners' squirm when he outlines his protection 'service.' when he talks about "giving them a break" on their linen service, it's to the tune of a nickel discount on a hundred napkins; even in 1934, that's not very helpful.

The cops, led by Lt. McCarthy (Edward Arnold), scope out the situation; the Lieutenant knows Lucky is crooked, but the owners are afraid to complain. Among other amusing scenes, we see guys actually counting napkins in a laundry--to see that the nightclubs 'discount' isn't too good, apparently. Things escalate quickly, as a rival gang injured Lucky when he leaves the city. The Lieutenant eventually catches up with him. Meanwhile, Pauline and Lucky have plenty of time to get attracted to each other.

Hide-Out has an interesting premise, and is filled with good performances (particularly the two leads). The comic aspect makes the fish-out-of-water plot work to some extent. But this really seems like two different movies joined by the cliff-hanger device of Lucky's escape from the city. I wonder what this would've felt like if we started with Lucky recuperating at the farm. His notorious background could've been sketched in by flashback. He ends up having to come clean with Pauline anyway. As it is, our initial impression is that Lucky is a creepy jerk. Assuming, if we want to buy the rest of the movie's logic, that he's really just a regular guy who needs to find himself, why begin with the assumption that he's a bad guy?

Definitely gives a receptive quality to the romance.This is entertaining; but a bit muddled. It's worth watching for the high level of the performances and the witty script.

"I don't know what I'd do without my tea."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 11 April 2014]

Ladies man and gangster Lucky Wilson (Robert Montgomery) is shot by the police but manages to escape, driving into the country before passing out. He's found and taken in by a kindly family. They nurse Lucky back to health thinking he was the innocent victim of a gangster shoot-out. Gradually Lucky starts to fall for the pretty daughter (Maureen O'Sullivan) and has second thoughts about his criminal ways.

Montgomery is at his charming best here. Even when he's bad, you can't help but like him. Lovely O'Sullivan was no stranger to taming wild men in films, obviously. She's one of the most likable actresses from the '30s and movies like this show why. Whitford Kane and Elizabeth Patterson are terrific as Maureen's pure, salt-of-the-earth parents. Mickey Rooney is fun as their son. Edward Arnold is great as the tough detective out to get Lucky (ha!). Muriel Evans is extremely sexy in her small part as nightclub singer Baby. Va-va-va-voom! It's a funny, sentimental film with a little bit of edge and a great cast. Give it a shot.

Cute '30s romp

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 15 November 2019]

After Robert Montgomery, a bad-boy gangster, gets wounded in a shoot-out, his cronies decide to do what's best for him even though he's protesting every step of the way. One of his pals knows a guy who knows a guy, and before he knows it, Bob's cooped up in a farmhouse in the country during his recovery. He complains and wishes he could leave, until the daughter of the house, the young and beautiful Margaret O'Sullivan, brings him a cup of tea. After that, he tries to stay as long as he can!

It's always fun to watch two beautiful people fall in love on the big screen, so if you'd like to see Mia Farrow's mom and Elizabeth Montgomery's dad in a romance, check this one out. It's very obviously made in 1934, though, so be prepared for an old movie. Cell phones weren't invented yet, jokes are made about how to milk a cow, and the idea of a really great date is to pack a picnic and eat among the great outdoors looking at a river. For my fellow old movie buffs out there, if you liked The Life of Jimmy Dolan, you'll probably like this one. Both center on a gangster hiding out with a nice farming family, who fall in love with the pretty daughter, and who are being chased by a hard-nosed, soft-hearted cop. The cop in Hide-Out is Edward Arnold, and the rest of the "aw shucks" family who soften up Robert Montgomery and help him realize he's got a chance for a better life are Elizabeth Patterson, Whitford Kane, and Mickey Rooney.

Good country living

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 22 August 2016]

Robert Montgomery stars in Hide-Out playing a dapper hood, front man for protection racketeer C. Henry Gordon. He doesn't do the rough stuff, Montgomery is the velvet glove and others provide the muscle.

Police lieutenant Edward Arnold has been trying to nail Montgomery for years and a complaint has Gordon ordering Montgomery out into the country. With a police bullet in him Montgomery does wind up on the Miller farm upstate where they nurse him back to health.

Montgomery who got that police bullet because he made an unscheduled stop to pick up one of his bimbos, falls for country girl Maureen O'Sullivan. She's certainly the farmer's daughter in a part normally reserved for Janet Gaynor at Fox. The rest of her family are parents Whitford Kane and Elizabeth Patterson and kid brother Mickey Rooney.

I don't think I have to tell you too much more. Montgomery does well as the slowly reforming hood and he gets good support from the rest of the cast. Note down the list playing club owners and protection racket victims Henry Armetta, Herman Bing, and Douglass Dumbrille.

This one's a good comedy/drama, comedy provided by Montgomery's attempts to adapt to country living.

Forever Lucky

[movingpicturegal · 9/10 · 8 November 2006]

About handsome, smartly-dressed "Lucky" Wilson (played by Robert Montgomery), ladies' man and racketeer who spends his time hitting up successful New York nightclubs for "protection" money and at the same time hits on every blonde he sees (even when it means dumping the current blonde he's with). When a couple of smart cops get someone to spill the beans on his rackets, Lucky is forced to leave town in a hurry and head for a hideout, but he gets himself shot on the way out and ends up getting picked up on the road by a Connecticut farmer, who bunks injured Lucky in his quite lovely family home/farm. The kindly family proceeds to nurse Lucky back to health, but Lucky just wants to get out of there - until he meets the farmer's beautiful daughter Pauline (Maureen O'Sullivan). Soon he's feeding the chickens, milking the cow, picking cherries, chopping wood, and performing other farm chores (all dressed in his nice white shirt and jacket) all in pursuit of the girl. And the family has NO clue that Lucky is a criminal!

Very entertaining film, with excellent performances by all including Elizabeth Patterson as the charitable farm wife/mom, and a young Mickey Rooney as the boisterous little brother/devoted rabbit farmer. Robert Montgomery is, as usual, charming and oh so attractive, and quite good at playing this gangster type role in addition to his usual roving playboy type - plus he has a good deal of chemistry with Maureen O'Sullivan here. I enjoyed the story in this and found the whole film to be very enjoyable. Well worth seeing.

The hoodlum reforms on the farm

[SimonJack · 7/10 · 31 August 2023]

More than one movie was been made about a crook (or crooks in the case of couples) who leaves the city (usually, it's the Big Apple of New York) to go into hiding in a rural area. I've seen a few of them, and all but one that I can recall were comedy mysteries or crime pictures. Well, "Hide-Out" is an early one that stars Robert Montgomery and Maureen O'Sullivan, with a very large supporting cast.

Montgomery plays a sleezy, cocky, Jonathan "Lucky" Wilson. The cockiness fits Montgomery's normal film persona -- a smugginess in his constant quirky smile. It's a good story and film. While Wilson's conversion or change isn't quite believable, the performances by O'Sullivan as Pauline Miller, and those of the rest of her family and other supporting cast boost this film. Mickey Rooney is very good in this early role of his career as Pauline's youngest brother, Wiliam, who can't stand being called "Willie."

Old-time movie buffs and those interested in silver screen history will note and enjoy the roles of some of the great stock actors of mystery comedies. Here, Edward Brophy plays Detective Britt, Douglass Dumbrille plays nightclub owner DeSalle, and the dastardly appearing Henry Gordon plays The Boss, Tony Berrelli. Other comedy supporters are here as well, and do a good job - Herman Bing as Jake and Henry Armetta as Shuman.

Edward Arnold is one of the great supporting actors of Hollywood's golden era who never so much as received a nomination for any awards. Yet he could act in any genre, with a variety of characters and personas, and seem more natural in each role than anyone else. Arnold was superb in some great comedies and dramas. And, he could play mean and bad guys who came across tough as nails. Here he's a good guy, police detective and Lt. Mac MacCarthy who is hot on the trail of Wilson, his boss Berrelli, and the gang.

This is an enjoyable film, but younger modern audiences who have been brought up on fast action and speed in everything may not be able to slow down enough to enjoy it.

predictable plot of bad guy is redeemed by good girl, but...

[pmetzner · 9/10 · 5 March 2006]

I've become a big fan of Robert Montgomery since subscribing to TCM and hit the jackpot when he was Jan. star of the month. This is my favorite movie - the thirties had certain boiler plate plots (like every other decade) with the couple caught in the rain, the man realizes he loves her and doesn't take advantage, etc. but he was at his most charming in this movie and Maureen O'Sullivan is my favorite of his co stars. Even with the thirties hair styles and clothes she is a real beauty who would still be considered beautiful today, unlike some of the ladies of that time. I'll take the predictable romance with boy getting girl over so many current movies that are all digital effects, the couples are in bed by the second scene and there is nothing left to the imagination. I'm a little too young to have seen him in his prime and the few movies he made after the war didn't make him a romantic hero to me. But now I'm older and have more taste.

Mickey Rooney Steals the Show

[drednm · 24 October 2005]

Cute little B film from MGM in 1934 stars Robert Montgomery as a sassy hood in the nightclub rackets who flees the city after being wounded in a shout out. He lands in the wilds of Connecticut on a farm where lovely Maureen O'Sullivan is languishing. Predictable but well done.

In a role that might have been meant for William Haines, Montgomery shows his comic skills as the city slicker who has never heard a cow or seen a chicken. O'Sullivan in a rare starring role is very good as the farmer's daughter. The rest of the supporting cast is also quite good here: Elizabeth Patterson as the mother, Edward Arnold as the cop, Mickey Rooney as the kid brother, Herman Bing and Henry Armetta as the flustered nightclub owners, and Muriel Evans as the floozie. Also look for Douglas Dumbrille, C. Henry Gordon, Edward Brophy, and a funny spot for Harold Huber. Whitford Kane plays the father but I never heard of him.

No great shakes but pleasant throughout with a nice ending.

A really outstanding movie!

[JohnHowardReid · 9/10 · 7 January 2018]

It's good to change pace with a really outstanding movie dated 1934. By this stage, of course, Hollywood had fully recovered from both early talkie doldrums and experimentation.

What we have in Hide-Out is polished perfection. The photography (mostly the work of Ray June) shimmers; the direction (Woody Van Dyke) contrives to be both polished yet inventive; the script manages an abrupt plot and mood U-turn with admirable skill; and the players - whether current stars (Robert Montgomery, Maureen O'Sullivan), upcoming favorites (Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Patterson, Edward Arnold); a moonlighting Broadway fixture (Whitford Kane in his first of only eight movies); cheeky blondes (Lucille Browne, Muriel Evans, Roberta Gale, Louise Henry, Jeanette Loff); or beloved character charismatics (Edward Brophy, Henry Armetta, Douglass Dumbrille, Herman Bing) - are never less than entrancing.

(I would rate the Warner Archive DVD as at least 9 out of 10).