One Sunday Afternoon (1933) User Reviews (31)

A precode rendition of...

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 30 July 2023]

... The Strawberry Blonde.

This film is much darker than "The Strawberry Blonde". Biff Grimes (Gary Cooper), aspiring dentist, has a bad temper, and really loves Virginia (Faye Wray). However when Hugo Barnstead (Neil Hamilton) elopes with her, he marries her friend Mary on the rebound and to save face. Hugo rises to the level of running the factory where Biff works and threatens to fire Biff if he doesn't spy on the other employees. In a face off with Hugo, Biff gets into a scrap with a cop and the cop's gun goes off, striking him in the leg. Biff goes to prison for two years and finishes his dental training through correspondence. Then "one Sunday afternoon" years later Biff encounters Hugo again when he needs to have a tooth extracted. Since he uses gas during such extractions, Biff sees an opportunity for paying Hugo back with murder.

Although this film plays out much like "The Strawberry Blonde" there are a few differences. "The Strawberry Blonde" was much lighter. Hugo Barnstead in that film was played by Jack Carson, who could always manage to inject just a bit of likeability into the cads he played. Cagney doesn't seem as angry in his rendition of Biff as Cooper does, and Cagney's Biff doesn't need to see what has become of his ideal woman (Virginia) years later in order to start appreciating his wife. Also, Cagney was innocent of any intentional wrongdoing in the crime that sent him to prison, where Cooper's Biff Grimes let his temper get the best of him in his downfall.

A charming little movie.

[mountainkath · 7/10 · 2 June 2009]

I had never heard of this movie (or the subsequent remakes), but I've been on a Gary Cooper kick lately so I watched this movie. I am so glad that I did.

The movie starts out a bit slow, but after 20 minutes or so it picks up and becomes quite entertaining. Other reviewers have covered the plot in detail, so I won't repeat them. My favorite parts of this film were the performances.

First, there's Gary Cooper (the whole reason that I watched the movie) giving an understated performance. Cooper is entirely believable as a man indifferent about his wife and pining for another woman. The moment when he realizes that Virginia is not the person he imagined her to be is powerful. The change of emotion is written all over his face. The next scene where he talks with his wife is very sweet and romantic. We (the viewer) can tell that he is seeing his wife with new eyes and (for the first time) appreciating her.

Roscoe Karns is one of my favorite character actors (he was Shapely in It Happened One Night)and he was his usual delightful self in this movie. His best scene was the one where Biff was gassing Hugo.

The delightful surprise in this movie is Frances Fuller. I have no idea why this woman was not a huge star. Her performance drew me in and I couldn't take my eyes off of her when she was on the screen (quite a feat when sharing the screen with Gary Cooper!). While her character of Amy was a bit lackluster, Fuller managed to inject life into her and make her likable.

One Sunday Afternoon is not what I would call great cinema, but it is a lovely and enjoyable movie. You might say it's the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon...

The Grass Ain't Always Greener

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 15 December 2006]

I was pleasantly surprised that this film was aired on Turner Classic Movies. In The Films of Gary Cooper when Warner Brothers purchased the rights from Paramount for James Cagney's remake of One Sunday Afternoon entitled The Strawberry Blonde, it says that the Paramount film itself was purchased and buried. The author said that the original might not see the light of day again. It was interesting to see this version and compare it with Cagney's.

This is a much darker version and probably a lot closer to what you saw on Broadway. One Sunday Afternoon closed that year of 1933 after running for 332 performances, very nice indeed for the Depression era audience and pocketbook. Lloyd Nolan originated the role on stage and I'm sure it must have been closer to Cagney's interpretation.

I can see Lloyd Nolan playing this part a lot easier than Gary Cooper. For one thing, Cooper just was not an urban type. In fact two of his most successful roles in Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Meet John Doe he was the country boy out of his environment in the big city. But Lloyd Nolan was not a movie name, in fact he'd make his screen debut shortly.

The story structure is still the same, Gary Cooper while about to pull a tooth of his rival Neil Hamilton thinks back to the old days with Hamilton when they were both courting Fay Wray. Fay had a girl friend played by Frances Fuller who was all aglow over Cooper, but he couldn't see her at all. When Hamilton and Wray elope Cooper literally settles for second best and marries Fuller.

The Strawberry Blonde was done with so much lighter a touch. Here the Hamilton character is far more directly responsible for Cooper landing in prison. He's a much nastier guy, much nastier than lovable blowhard Jack Carson was. In fact Hamilton commits outright perjury to land Cooper in jail where he finishes his correspondence course to become a dentist.

In fact Jack Carson played the same part again in yet another version that reverted back to the same title and starred Dennis Morgan in the Cooper/Cagney lead. That one was done as a musical and didn't get nearly the acclaim that the other two did.

There's not much to choose from with Frances Fuller and Olivia deHavilland. Both are the good girls of the plot and those were the kind of parts deHavilland was looking to ditch. But whereas Rita Hayworth turns out to be a shrew, Fay Wray is a tramp. Remember this was before the Code.

In this case the remake was better. The story required a much lighter touch than Paramount gave it. Still a miscast Gary Cooper gives it his best shot and One Sunday Afternoon is still entertaining.

But if you view this side by side with The Strawberry Blonde, I'm betting you'll what Warner Brothers did so much better.

A charming slice of Americana with Gary Cooper in one of his finest performances

[Kalaman · 2 October 2002]

"One Sunday Afternoon" is a charming and little-known piece of Americana, the first filmization of James Hagan's play about a dentist named Biff Grimes (Gary Cooper) who has long tried to revenge on his old friend Hugo Barnstead (Neil Hamilton) for marrying Grimes' girl Virginia (Fay Wray) and leaving him with the charming and devoted Amy (Frances Fuller). The film opens with Grimes and his pal Snappy Downer (Rascoe Karns) singing and drinking. Barnstead shows up Grimes' home to get this tooth pulled. Grimes puts him on nitrous oxide gas, and then the film dissolves into a flashback as Grimes remembers their past, providing him with a motive for revenge.

"One Sunday Afternoon" was remade in 1941 by Warner Bros. and Raoul Walsh into a timeless and unforgettable classic, "The Strawberry Blonde", starring James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, and Rita Hayworth. Walsh's version is infinitely superior, but "One Sunday Afternoon" is worthwhile for Gary Cooper's superb performance.

Very good and very watchable, but it lacks the life and fun of the remake.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 27 December 2006]

The film begins in a dental office, as the dentist, Biff (Gary Cooper), talks to a friend (Roscoe Karns) about this relationship with Hugo (Neil Hamilton) back in the Gay 90s when they had been friends. This is instigated when Hugo comes to the office and sees Biff for the first time in decades. Hugo needs a tooth pulled and while he is sedated with gas, Biff recalls their past when they were both ardently pursuing a pretty young lady (Fay Wray)--while pretty much ignoring her more plain but much sweeter friend (Frances Fuller). Through the course of the film, Hugo stabs his supposed friend in the back again and again.

This movie is the original--with remakes in 1941 (THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE) and 1948 (ONE Sunday AFTERNOON). While I rarely prefer remakes, I must say that the 1941 version is much more watchable and fun. Part of this is because the 1933 version is so very, very quiet--with very little music to help set the mood. Also, the whole mood of the 1933 film is more somber and the story a bit more direct and "bare bones" in style. Also, while I like Gary Cooper films, for a comedy like this one, Cagney was better and the supporting actors he had were also superior and gave THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE so much more energy. This film is still well worth seeing, but the 1941 film has a more polished plot, better characters and the full Warner Brothers package (wonderful and first-rate production values) that this Paramount film lacks.

An Enjoyable Story About Revenge And Justice

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 22 September 2014]

The exposition that takes place in a dentist's office, before the flashback that constitutes the major part of this film, seemed rather long to me. And the main character, Biff Grimes (Gary Cooper), seemed to be the least likable. So, I thought this film was going to be a drag.

But as the story develops, one learns that Biff, though a dense, insensitive lout, has an interesting story to tell. And the first part of the film is necessary to fully appreciate what follows.

I have always felt that Gary Cooper is best suited for characters that are socially awkward. Biff is just such a role. Cooper is surrounded by actors who outshine him at times. But they form a solid ensemble for this adapted play (that would be remade two more times in the forties). Fay Wray, in particular, amazes with her transformations throughout the film.

This plot is a simple story about revenge that no doubt pleased audiences of the depression era who looked to champion the common man.

One Sunday Afternoon Is a Worthy Original----but The Strawberry Blond Is the Version Everyone Loves and remembers!

[malvernp · 7/10 · 20 September 2022]

One Sunday Afternoon (OSA) shares an interesting history with its one theatrical predecessor and two subsequent movie remakes (one of which was retitled The Strawberry Blond). The primary source for this group of three films is a Broadway play that ran in 1933 for nine months and 322 performances. The play by James Hagan involved the various relationships (and their complications) of its hero---Biff Grimes. The feisty young mail-order dentist (originally played on the stage by veteran character actor/leading man Lloyd Nolan) went through a number of trials and travails, from unrequited love to betrayal by a "friend," until all the problems are satisfactorily resolved with a happy ending to cap the sentimental and nostalgic story.

In an unusual development while the play was still in its original 1933 Broadway run, OSA was acquired by Paramount Studio and produced as a feature movie that starred Gary Cooper as Grimes. On the face of it, the Grimes role would seem to be outside of both Cooper's usual screen image and also his range as an actor---and this appears evident from a viewing of the film. In it, Cooper comes across as both hot tempered and somewhat edgy-----and lacks the unique charm that he generally brought to so many of his later memorable screen roles. OSA is one of the very few movies made by Cooper during this period that was unsuccessful at the box office. It also featured a lovely performance by the winsome, petite and little-known Frances Fuller as Amy Lind, matinee idol Neil Hamilton as Hugo the "friend" and veteran supporting actor Roscoe Karns as Biff's sidekick.

Notwithstanding the financial failure of the Cooper film, Warner Brothers acquired the property in the late 1930s. It ultimately came to the attention of director Raoul Walsh and actress Olivia de Havilland, and both expressed an interest in remaking OSA now retitled The Strawberry Blond (TSB). The featured role of Virginia Brush, who was the attractive young woman Grimes loved from afar (played by Fay Wray in the Cooper version) was slated for contract player Ann Sheridan. She promptly went on suspension to avoid doing the part, so WB then borrowed the little known (at the time) starlet Rita Hayworth from Columbia Pictures to play the title Strawberry Blond character. It turned out to be a pivotal positive development in Hayworth's long career, as well as one of de Havilland's most endearing and fondly remembered portrayals as the loving and loyal Amy Lind. WB wisely cast James Cagney as the excitable yet good natured Biff Grimes, who then astonished many people with his fine part comic/part dramatic star turn. Jack Carson completed the lead cast as Biff's unscrupulous "friend." TSB was engaging, appealing and rather sweet in its own special way. It remains as a lovely entertaining film to this very day.

For whatever reason, Walsh was induced to remake TSB as a musical in 1948 with Dennis Morgan as Biff, Don DeFore as the "friend," Janis Paige as the Strawberry Blond and Dorothy Malone as Amy. Like the earlier Cooper version, OSA the musical did poorly both critically and commercially. It is reminiscent of what happened to acclaimed director Frank Capra when he, too, decided to remake one of his great early classics Lady for a Day in 1966. The resulting film now titled A Pocketful Of Miracles did so badly at the box office that it spelled the end of Capra's career as a major film director. It really is quite difficult for the lightning of success to strike the same property twice.

Here is a piece of trivia that you may not know. The Hagan play was once translated into Yiddish and renamed One Sabbath Afternoon! The Yiddish version was later revived in 1939, and it received high praise from the New York Times during its Gotham run! Perhaps this may be viewed as an exception to the rule previously cited on the above paragraph!

some good things

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 18 June 2014]

I wasn't as crazy about this movie as others on this board. Gary Cooper stars as Biff, a dentist in small town America during the depression. His mortal enemy, Hugo, back in town with the wife Biff wanted. The funniest part of the film for me was right in the beginning. Biff receives a call from the hotel, asking him to see Hugo. He agrees. Hugo enters, sees Biff, and becomes nervous. Biff puts him in the chair. "I want gas," Hugo says. Biff replies. "You'll get gas." I can only say that it was the most underplayed but somehow threatening line -- it made me laugh out loud.

While Hugo is under, Biff recounts to his friend the story of his friendship with Hugo, and its downfall. Basically they both were interested in the same girl, Virginia (Fay Wray), and Hugo married her. The woman he met at the same time, Amy (Frances Fuller) is crazy about Biff, and though he still has Virginia on his mind, Biff marries her. Later on, because of Hugo, Biff has to go to jail for two years. Biff and Virginia finally leave town, and Hugo makes it big. Now they're back for a visit.

The story is based on a popular play on Broadway at the time, and frankly, the characters aren't very pleasant, including the Cooper character. They undoubtedly seem more unpleasant today than they did back then. Biff thinks women should be told after they get married to mind their business. However, it has a nice moral and one always worth remembering: Be grateful for what you have, and don't envy others. You only think you know what's going on in their lives based on what they present to the world.

Hugo is played by Neil Hamilton, who became the Commissioner on TV's Batman. Fay Wray, as we know, had a date with a gorilla atop the Empire State Building.

Great Job of Turning Play "One Sunday Afternoon" Into Paramount Movie

[gerrythree · 10/10 · 1 April 2006]

One Sunday Afternoon is an example of what movie studios used to do with total professionalism - in the space of a few months, use a Broadway play as the template to make a movie. One Sunday Afternoon opened on Broadway on February 15, 1933; the movie went into production at Paramount in May 1933 and was released on September 1, 1933, while the original play was still at the Little Theater. Grand Hotel is another example of a Broadway play becoming a movie in a relatively short time.

Warner Bros. turned the play Arsenic and Old Lace into a movie after the play was a hit on Broadway, but by then, the play's producer knew the score. One Sunday Afternoon closed on Broadway in November 1933, a closure that probably was sped up by competition from the movie. As a condition of the sale of movie rights, the movie Arsenic and Old Lace, made in 1941, could not be released until the play it was based on closed on Broadway. That was in 1944.

Back to One Sunday Afternoon, the movie. As with many movies made during the Depression, this movie has a grim edge to it. Although things work out, all the leads have rough times of it. Fay Wray is cast against her usual role, playing a mean person. Gary Cooper is no hero, just a guy who gets jammed by people he trusted. Frances Fuller (Amy Lind) does not change much during the movie, she always believes in Biff Grimes (Cooper). She made one more movie in Hollywood as a lead character before vanishing until some television roles over 15 years later, so she did not have a chance to be typecast.

The end result of Paramount's production is a movie that shows what a struggle life is, and how people can change along the way. Instead of cheerful memories of a time gone by, which the title implies, you have scenes such as Gary Cooper returning from prison to meet Amy in Avery's Park, an amusement park that closed and fell into disrepair while Cooper was in prison.

One Sunday Afternoon is a slice of real life, a movie that deals with hard times for some ordinary (but very good looking) people.

"She's duck soup for me."

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 7 May 2014]

Gary Cooper plays a dentist named Biff whose former friend Hugo (Neil Hamilton) stabbed him in the back many times when they were younger and even wound up with the woman Biff loved, played by Fay Wray. Now Hugo has come to Biff to have a tooth pulled. While Hugo is sedated, Biff flashes back to how things went down between the two men. Good movie but later remake called The Strawberry Blonde is better. That one stars James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, and Rita Hayworth. It's lighter and funnier than this one, which is dark in parts. Cooper's great here and his support is fine but I'm not sure Fay Wray was quite right for her part. This is yet another movie from the early '30s where Neil Hamilton played a man that women go crazy over. Something must have been in the water back then because I just don't see any woman preferring him to Gary Cooper. I remember another movie where he was picked over Clark Gable. Insane!

One Of Cooper's Worst

[djbrown-00897 · 3/10 · 2 April 2020]

If I named my top three actors ( or actresses) of Hollywood's "Golden Age" I would choose in Alphabetical order;James Cagney, Gary Cooper and Myrna Loy. I am sorry to say, One Sunday Afternoon ) and the slightly better Strawberry Blonde) just did not appeal to me. Why? I found the story to be boring. As a Cooper fan. I have seen 70 movies of his ( IMDB lists 118 in total but I do not count cameos ( regardless if I have them such as Paramount on Parade) or not), lost films ( Arizona Bound and Legion of The Condemned to name two), or films where he was an extra), so I can say I know most of his work. There are very few Cooper movies that I do not consider good ( at least 7/10 stars), and this is one of them. I'm fact, it falls in the bottom 3 I have ever seen. The best things I can say about it are. 1: I did not despise it like Design For Living ( by far the worst Cooper film I have ever). 2: I actually got to see it in 2019 ( the only two movies that were newer to me are The Texan and The Last Outlaw that I caught this year). Since this is film 67 ( out of 70 I have seen), and third from the bottom In likes (Return To Paradise and the previously mentioned Design For Living are the other's). I give it 3 stars

Frances Fuller, where have you been all my life?

[Lone_Prospector · 10/10 · 27 August 2012]

I am a huge fan of Fay Wray. For those of you who think of her only in terms of her performance in "King Kong" (and if you are reading this, you probably don't), you are truly missing out. Try to catch anything she's in! She's great in "One Sunday Afternoon"; gorgeous as usual.

The real star of this movie, however, is Frances Fuller. She is an absolute delight. A beautiful, tremendously talented actress who shines throughout. She plays a very tough role - the kind of sappy woman that may drive today's moviegoers crazy. But she pulls it off with charm, grace and pride. This is a must see.

Didn't know anything about Frances before watching this movie. Not surprised one bit to see that she had a successful Broadway career as well as a successful life off stage.

The Passage of Time

[tr-83495 · 6/10 · 8 May 2019]

How the passage of time changes things. People have probably heard of Gary Cooper (although my kids and grandkids claim not to), Fay Wray is a little more identifiable because of her King Kong status, but Neil Hamilton is by far the most well known star of this film today, having survived three seasons of the camp "Batman" series on ABC-TV in the 1960s. The show is still being shown in syndication and is readily available on YouTube. They don't know his name, but they do know his face.

In this film, Cooper exhibits his normal shortcomings, but also displays his natural charm. The other actors do a fine job. This movie captures your attention and holds it well. Short, sweet, and to the point, this is a good little film.

Dreary version lacks the charm and appeal of the livelier remake with Cagney...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 7 May 2009]

If you're looking for a pleasant story about a bygone age, this is not it. The 1941 remake with James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland and Rita Hayworth was much more enjoyable, with expertly shaded performances from the three stars and a bouncy score for a musical background, dealing as it does with turn-of-the-century's 1900 era.

This is the more somber, muted version with an unappealing central performance by GARY COOPER as Biff Grimes, the lovestruck man who thinks about his past when he let Virginia (FAY WRAY) marry his best friend (NEIL HAMILTON), and ended up with his second choice (FRANCES FULLER) for his wife.

The pace of the story is leaden and dull, with no musical background at all for most of the scenes. None of the players strike the kind of sparks that were evident in the later version, letting good opportunities for character development pass right by--although this is more the fault of the script (from the James Hagan play) and director Stephen Roberts. It's a pretty trite script, completely devoid of the kind of humor and spunkiness on the part of Amy as played by Olivia de Havilland in Raoul Walsh's version. Fuller has to play Amy like a dull simpleton. NEIL HAMILTON's Hugo Barnstead is a far darker version than the amusing heel, as played by Jack Carson in the Cagney film.

Cooper's fans will probably forgive him for a performance that lacks the luster Cagney gave it, but the film is a lackluster version of the story which reached the screen three times in remakes. His Biff is not the charming sort of guy to attract a girl like Amy--in fact, her interest in him is puzzling, to say the least.

A charming tale has been turned into a dreary story with uninspired direction. The characters and their motivations are entirely different from those in the more successful version where both women have well-written roles and the humor is much more emphasized.

Summing up: The vast difference in approach spoils this version for me.

Quietly magnificent

[rick_7 · 11 June 2010]

One Sunday Afternoon (Stephen Roberts, 1933) is a small masterpiece, vastly superior to its better-known remake, The Strawberry Blonde – which starred James Cagney. Gary Cooper plays a dentist besotted with the flirtatious, hateful Fay Wray. When she marries his rival, Cooper weds sweet-hearted admirer Frances Fuller, but he's unable to forget his great love. Then, years later, she walks back into his life. Cooper was a fine comic performer, adept at screwball fare like Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, but also able to inject humour into his straighter work. He's ideally suited to this wonderfully-scripted movie, an incisive marital drama laced with irony that offers considerable concessions to character comedy. Stage star and future acting teacher Frances Fuller is arguably even better in a rare screen role: loving, faithful and stoic, though she knows her husband's heart lies elsewhere. As the other woman, Wray is only fairly good, possibly overdoing it in the last scene, though Roscoe Karns offers his usual combination of laughs and laconic sentiment in support. The film has a singular feel, with the plot concisely, intelligently handled, allowing each scene to play out effectively, despite the short running time. It is book-ended by contemporary scenes showing the greying Cooper plagued by his nagging wife, shown only in silhouette, making us complicit in his bitterness – at least at first. One Sunday Afternoon is short but not slight: delightfully played, perfectly-formed and with a lovely message somewhat atypical of '30s Hollywood.

One case where the remake was superior

[MissSimonetta · 6/10 · 31 August 2015]

One Sunday Afternoon (1933) is a rather slow, uninteresting effort. While I adore Fay Wray and Gary Cooper, neither is allowed to do much here. Cooper's main character is rather boorish and unlikable, so dumb that you can hardly root for or sympathize with him. You could argue that this is intentional, but I don't get the feeling that it is: during the finale when Cooper is supposed to see the light so to speak, I don't feel triumphant for him or his wife. I'm not even sure he really ever loved her or will love her-- he's just happy his wife isn't a shrew or a tramp! Wray gets to chew the scenery a little in the third act, but otherwise, she is wasted.

The plot just rattles along from plot point to plot point. You're better served with the 1941 remake starring James Cagney and Rita Hayworth, which had a much lighter atmosphere and better pacing, plus the main character does not come across as such a lout.

Fay Wray Channels Mae West

[kitchent · 6/10 · 28 September 2014]

Finally caught this one on TCM as part of my unhealthy quest to see every Fay Wray film possible. Not a bad little story, but nothing spectacular. Very cool to see Neil Hamilton in his early days, and Gary Cooper and Frances Fuller were equally interesting. Fay is not really on screen much which was disappointing, but then she steals the show at the end by channeling Mae West. What a treat this was!

The direction was fine with some really cool moving camera work in the opening scene. This seemed to be a trend in the early 1930's to have a really cool moving camera shot to open the film, but then fade into standard static setups thereafter.

Overall worth a look for the performances of Cooper and Fay Wray or if you just want to see what Batman's Commissioner Gordon looked like in his younger days. Otherwise, it's pretty routine.

One Sunday Afternoon is the first of two versions of the same story I'm reviewing on this site

[tavm · 6/10 · 19 June 2015]

There are two versions of this movie that I'll review on this site back to back. This is the 1933 version. Gary Cooper plays Biff Grimes, a dentist whose old rival (Neil Hamilton) comes to his office by surprise. We see in flashback scenes how they both had designs on Fay Wray which Neil got while Cooper ended up with her friend, Frances Fuller. Some other complications follow before the ending. I'll just now say while there's some humor, it's mostly pretty dramatic concerning these players and it's not always a pleasant sight to see and hear what happens. According to this site, this was originally 85 min. but the DVD case says 69. In any case, there did seem some missing sequences when some events are only referred to and not shown. So possibly that may be a reason I wasn't satisfied enough with the version I saw. Still, it seemed partly good especially with the conclusion that happened. (The fact I watched much of this late at night and then the last 30 min. in the morning may have something to do with those last two comments.) So on that note, I say One Sunday Afternoon is worth a look. P.S. Because I like to cite when members of my favorite movie-It's a Wonderful Life-are in something else, well, actually it's the father of the one who played Harry Bailey in that one-Todd Karns-who's in this one, Roscoe Karns as Snappy. And, of course, Ms. Wray was becoming an icon earlier in the year in the original King Kong, and Hamilton would eventually become one as well decades later as Commissioner Gordon in the campy version of the "Batman" TV show.

darker than expected

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 1 August 2022]

Small town dentist Biff Grimes (Gary Cooper) is married to the sweet Amy Lind Grimes (Frances Fuller). When his former crush Virginia Brush (Fay Wray) comes back to town, he starts wondering if he missed his chance. Hugo Barnstead (Neil Hamilton) had stolen her from him and he considers taking revenge.

Well this gets dark. Initially, I was expecting some light romantic misadventures. The darker tone is also surprising with Gary Cooper at the helms. I really wasn't expecting him to dip his toes into the murder pool. This is a pre-Code film based on a 1933 Broadway play. Did they start making this before the play opened? I don't really see the comedy. Maybe it's a black comedy.

Great, overlooked Americana

[marcslope · 9/10 · 13 May 2003]

I suppose it doesn't stand up to close analysis: For one thing, what does the Frances Fuller character see in the Gary Cooper character (other than his looking like Gary Cooper?). He's undeservedly boastful, he's hot-tempered, he's snide and hyperdefensive. Also, how, having fallen so ignominiously, would the Coop character reestablish his place in the community? It doesn't add up.

Nevertheless, this is a heartfelt and most moving rural romance, less elaborate than its Warners remake but more affecting. Despite its Paramount imprimatur, its small-town setting, unfussy production values, and understated tone more suggest the Fox studio of the day. Cooper, underplaying masterfully, somehow makes this lout likable, and Fuller, who didn't have much of a career, has unusual soulfulness. Somewhat in the fashion of Molnar's "Liliom" (or its Americanized counterpart, "Carousel"), it's a sincere story of a ne'er-do-well braggart and the good woman who loves him unconditionally; the happy resolution is perhaps not credible, practically speaking, but it's so soul-satisfying.

Roscoe Karns is enormous help as Cooper's uncomplicated, good-natured longtime pal, and interesting folk like Jane Darwell and Clara Blandick turn up in small roles. At a trim 75 minutes, it's not only a good story well told but a vivid look at a happier America long, long vanished.

Very different than 'The Strawberry Blonde'

[HotToastyRag · 2/10 · 5 July 2020]

It's absolutely shocking to see the differences between the first adaptation of One Sunday Afternoon and the subsequent two. I wasn't able to find out the plot details of the original Broadway production, but the first movie is vastly different. I adore 1941's The Strawberry Blonde and 1948's One Sunday Afternoon, but the 1933 non-musical is horrible.

I don't like Gary Cooper anyway, but it's not entirely his fault that this movie stinks. Just mostly. Screenwriters Grover Jones and William Slavens McNutt wrote the protagonist Biff Grimes to be a first-class jerk! Anyone who's seen James Cagney or Dennis Morgan endearing the audience with his big heart and foolish trust knows Biff Grimes isn't supposed to be the bad guy. But I couldn't help viewing Hugo Barnstead's character as the hero, constantly pestered by Biff. In this version, Biff was a rebellious child and smoked cigarettes in school, and as he grew into an adult, indulged his violent temper with countless fistfights. When he gets invited to a double date by his pal Hugo (Neil Hamilton), he's shockingly rude during the introduction to the two high-class ladies, then he horns in and steals Hugo's date away from him. He knows that the girl (Fay Wray) has feelings for Hugo, but he repeatedly butts in and tries to steal her away. To save face when Fay and Neil elope, he marries her girlfriend (Frances Fuller), whom he doesn't even like. He treats his wife badly, and his bad temper gets him into scrapes and out of work. How is he the good guy?

Those aren't the only differences to the story. Frances's character isn't developed at all. She's basically furniture. Fay never leads Gary on, letting him believe he's a true rival for her affections. Gary never utters the immortal, "That's the kind of a hairpin I am," line. This is a very different version, one that pits the hero as a terrible person. Stick with James Cagney or Dennis Morgan. They're just delightful.

I adore this movie

[stoneyburke · 10/10 · 20 December 2006]

There are three versions of this movie and hands-down this is the best. I of course adore James Cagney, Rita Hayworth and Olivia De Haviland in The Strawberry Blonde but this version is the best. Gary Cooper, aka Biff Grimes, is smitten with Virginia, aka Fay Wray. Ms Virginia was not interested in the simple Biff. Amy, aka Florence Fuller, has had a crush on Biff since grade school. Virginia is no more attracted to Biff than I can fly. Near the beginning when Biff is trying to impress Virginia there's a scene where he's winding around a tree ala true county bumpkin style, it's wonderful. And hanging upside-down on a Merry-go-Round ride, is too darling. The beginning of the movie gives away what happens but the whole 85 minutes is a treasure showing the road of the trials and tribulations. The real eye-opener of what's real and right is exposed in this lovely film.

A slow, stagy and lifeless film

[SimonJack · 5/10 · 15 May 2021]

Gary Cooper was excellent as "Sergeant York." And, he played some other early roles in which his character was slow, deliberate, either thoughtful or hesitant. But in "One Sunday Afternoon" it doesn't work except to drag this film on and on and on. The plot isn't very complicated, but the screenplay stretches it out to boredom. Most of the cast in this film even seem wooden - as though they haven't yet got used to being able to move around in sound pictures from the earliest talkies when the microphones were stationary.

Cooper's role as Biff Grimes is the stiffest. The story itself is weak and stagy. I think both females played their roles well, Fay Wray with her change in character was good. But Frances Fuller gives the best performance as Amy Lind and is the reason this film gets five stars, instead of fewer.

This is one time when a remake of a film is far better than the original. "The Strawberry blonde" of 1941 was even superb. All of the characters had more life, and the changes in the story worked just fine. I can't recommend this film at all - except for those who like to nap with background noise.

The actress Frances Fuller

[rbutler-12 · 9/10 · 15 February 2007]

I watched the movie, "One Sunday Afternoon," because of Gary Cooper. I was enchanted by the unknown actress, Frances Fuller. She was far different from the character that opened the movie. I first thought what has the Gary Cooper character gotten himself into. My favorite scene was the first date at the carnival. Gary Cooper and the tree was perfect. Boys do act like that on first dates. I know from experience. I wanted to know more about Frances Fuller. Why she was never a big star. I searched the internet for info about her career. Although I'm satisfied with the results, I'm still puzzled that she wasn't a bigger star. I'll try to see all her movies. Oh yes, Fay Wray. That's not the girl the big ape loved. Entirely different.

One of Cooper's most multi-faceted performances...

[howyoodoon · 8/10 · 24 September 2015]

This is a real gem of a little film--filled with wonderful performances by its leads. Fay Wray very nearly steals the film with her boisterously show-boaty performance. And it's hard to watch the luminous (and almost totally forgotten) actress, Frances Fuller, without wondering why she didn't become one of the all-time greats of that era! Her patented look of pained disappointment in life really reaches the heart. But it's Gary Cooper who's the real revelation here. This performance is unlike anything else he ever filmed. Dark, complex, insecure--and yet strangely self-satisfied-- it's really a well- wrought role, and Cooper adds just the right touches to make the character of "Biff" likable and sympathetic. As noted by other reader/reviewers here, his best scene is the awkward, first date "courting" scene at the carnival. This is Cooper at his finest. It seems this film might have been a real breakthrough for Cooper. He shows a sure-footed confidence that had been previously under-realized. I suggest you take this film at face value--and don't judge it for something it isn't. It's pure entertainment--and Gary Cooper (who was then at the very peak of his startling handsomeness) is an absolute pleasure to watch, in every scene he's in.