... or at least that seems to be the case for Daniel Pardway (Lionel Barrymore) as he comes to Chicago with his new bride shortly after the great fire of 1871. Daniel sees in this fire opportunity, and he builds a great department store "The Bazaar" in its aftermath. In the meantime, on the personal front, he and his wife have four children. Daniel's wife dies due to complications of the birth of the fourth, Freddie. With his wife dead, Daniel pours all of his energy into both his store and his children, with the hope, rather the expectation, that the children will have as much enthusiasm for the store as he does.
In the meantime, Daniel overlooks loyal employee Abe Ullman (Gregory Ratoff), who has been with him since his first sale, first as a customer arguing that the price is too high, and five seconds later as an employee telling the throngs of customers that this is a great deal. Ultimately he becomes the general manager of the store for decades.
I'll stop describing the plot right here, because it would be too easy to give it away by saying anymore. Let me just say this is a great tribute to the acting of everyone involved. Lionel Barrymore was 55 years old when he made this film, and at the beginning he seems every inch an energetic 25 year old for which the sky is the limit. During the film he realistically ages from 25 to a decade past his actual age. Gregory Ratoff was really a revelation here. I'm accustomed to seeing him play hypertensive bosses with few brains, but here he shows a great deal of range and mystery. Is he just a hired man for an unappreciative boss who often makes him a verbal punching bag for life's frustrations, or is he perhaps actually looking out for himself? Watch and find out whether and how.
Of the four Pardway children, I thought Eric Linden was the standout. Over at Warner Brothers he was usually given "Gee Whiz" Jimmy Olsen like parts. Here he gets to play a real rotten apple with no gratitude and seemingly no conscience.
Good acting, good camera-work, good direction, and for a plot that seems to be going by the numbers, a couple of surprises at the end - I'd recommend it.
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