Most movie fans would probably enjoy this film as a good comedy- romance. It is that. Those who are drawn to history will appreciate the film also for its portrayal of a real prominent person, David Garrick. And, people who love the stage and theatre will enjoy the display of acting and actors of the mid-18th century. "The Great Garrick" is all of this and more. Considering some of the history of the time, and the plot and script of this film, I think it has one more attribute – satire. Nicely nestled in the comedy and romance, and the ruse of the plot, is a wonderful spoofing of the stage and acting of the day. Most notably, that of the French and the Comedy Francaise.
The cast for this film all are excellent. Brian Aherne was a leading man of the 1930s and gives a superb performance as David Garrick. From the historical accounts, Aherne's Garrick seems to nail the character. Garrick was the best actor on the English stage in the mid-18th century. He had an ego, naturally, and he was mocked by some for his vanity. But he had great talent and he enjoyed the adulation of audiences everywhere. He also had many inconspicuous charities, and was a great producer and theater manager. Mostly, he was known for breaking with the long-standing French-imposed method of acting. Until his time, actors were pompous and gave bombastic recitations of their lines. Garrick introduced natural delivery and was an immediate success and overnight star of stage.
The film shows these differences with wonderful spoofing of the French. Garrick explains to Monsieur Picard, how he had discovered the plot against him staged by the Comedy Francaise. Picard, the president of the French theater, indeed exaggerated his movements while posing as the innkeeper of the Adam and Eve Inn. Garrick showed how a real innkeeper would walk, stooped after many years of climbing stairs, versus Picard's majestic strutting. Then he showed how a real waiter carried a tray – with one hand, versus the way the stage crew handled it with both hands.
Edward Everett Horton plays Tubby, Garrick's valet and man for all tasks. Horton was one of the best supporting actors of the day, especially for comedy. He shines in his role here. The up and coming Olivia de Havilland shows signs of her great acting ability, playing Germaine. Melville Cooper is wonderful as Picard, overacting the role just enough to cement the satire of the film. Others of the cast have even more exaggeration. A young Lana Turner is a maid.
Although Aherne stood six feet, three inches and was tall for the 20th century, Garrick was just under average height of English males in 1750. He was five feet, four inches. But he was a handsome, talented man who fast made friends. He was a ladies man for a time and had a long relationship with a leading Irish actress of the day, Peg Woffington. While Garrick helped improve her skills, she wouldn't be tied down in marriage. Garrick did have a number of love affairs until, at age 32, he married Eva Marie Veigel in 1749. They had a 30- year happy marriage that lasted until his death.
Besides his acting, Garrick was a poet and playwright. He produced and directed plays and soon became the co-manager of the Royal Theater at Drury Lane. His management of Drury Lane not only saved and revived that theater, but led to new techniques and better stage quality of sets, design, and professional production. Garrick was equally adept at comedy and tragedy. With his slightly shorter physical stature, he gradually moved out of the more youthful roles to play more mature parts.
Garrick had attended school in Litchfield, home of Samuel Johnson. At age 19, he enrolled in Johnson's Edial Hall School. After Johnson's school closed, he and Garrick traveled to London together. They would be friends for life. Garrick began his acting career at 24 in 1741, as an anonymous replacement for an actor who had fallen ill. He stayed with a road company but kept his acting a secret from his family for a while. Acting was a lowly regarded profession at the time. But, with his title role in "Richard III," he won instant recognition. Within six months, he had 18 roles and had become the talk of London. Unlike his friend Samuel Johnson, who seemed to live and work on the edge of poverty for most of his life, Garrick soon became prosperous from his acting, writing and related work.
Poet Alexander Pope saw Garrick in three plays early on and declared, "That young man never had his equal as an actor, and he will never have a rival." The Encyclopedia Britannica says, "Garrick, though highly strung and sensitive, had a strong vein of common sense and remarkable staying power." Garrick was the first actor allowed to be buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey. Two others have since been buried their – Henry Irving in 1905, and Laurence Olivier in 1989.
This is a wonderful comedy-romance and satire, with several prominent actors and up and comers before the mid-20th century. Movie fans and friends should enjoy it.
