The Magnificent Dope (1942) User Reviews (15)

Delightful Henry Fonda with a new philosophy

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 7 August 2005]

A refreshing, funny film about a different kind of American dream - laziness.

Dwight Dawson (Don Ameche), peddling his success classes, launches a contest to find the laziest man in America. The plan is to turn the winner into an aggressive, driven success through his class and draw thousands of enrollees. The winner is Tad Page, beautifully portrayed by Henry Fonda. He's a happy man who feels that, though he's not rich, he has everything - he just wants the prize money to buy a fire engine for his town. He has no interest in taking Dawson's class. Then he falls in love - with Dawson's girlfriend (Lynn Bari).

This is a delightful movie about a man who has the true secret of life and is able to impart it to many he meets. As the original post indicated, it's a great life lesson and something to think about.

The cast - Fonda, Ameche, Bari, Edward Everett Horton, are just great. The birthday party, during which Ameche and Horton try to keep Tad from realizing that Bari is Ameche's girlfriend - was especially funny. Highly recommended.

A weird topic for the war years...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 3 March 2013]

...but fun just the same. It is almost escapist entertainment due to the fact that it just ignores the fact that WWII is going on at the time. Don Ameche plays Dwight Dawson, the owner of a school for success in New York City that doesn't really teach anything other than self confidence. Like the Wizard of Oz, he doesn't seem to be passing out anything that people don't have inside already. His business is down, and so he decides to run an ad looking for the biggest failure in America, using it as the basis for a publicity campaign to turn the contest winner into a success via his methods. Even this he does wrong, though, because who he ultimately picks isn't someone who can't get ahead, but someone who is happy with not getting ahead - a guy from Vermont (Henry Fonda as Tad Page) who rents fishing boats in the summer and thinks about summer in the winter.

The prize is five hundred dollars and a course at Ameche's business school. Tad is interested in the five hundred dollars only - he wants to buy a new fire engine for his community. However, he is perfectly happy with his life as it is and is not interested in changing. So now Dawson and his fiancée (Lynn Bari as Claire) have to convince Fonda to go to the classes, prevent him from convincing the other students they don't really need these courses to be happy, and get him to be a success.

A romantic triangle forms, rather predictable comical consequences ensue - Tad Page rubs off more on New York than New York rubs off on Tad Page, and I really never saw how Tad Page was either really magnificent or a dope.

Darryl F. Zanuck, head of Fox studios, was big on message pictures and films with a historical context, and this is a rather rare example of a film done at his studio during his reign that is set in the present day that is not a noir. It's enjoyable stuff with Fonda doing his familiar likable every-man character and with Ameche as the debonair little weasel that you just can't bring yourself to truly dislike - much like a ferret in a tuxedo. A recommended rarity.

" Success is a job in itself, and Shrouds don't have pockets "

[thinker1691 · 8/10 · 2 September 2012]

The city of New York is home to millions of people who desire to become successful in business. Thus a man like Dwight Dawson (Don Ameche) believes he can teach any candidate how to succeed in business without really trying. Dawson is worried however that his school is lacking students and therefore needs to increase his student body count by offering a $500.00 prize and a free 8 week course to the Laziest man in the country. He hopes by transforming a failure into a go-getting success, his school will flourish. His contest selects Thadeus Winship Page (Henry Fonda) who is selected, but has no ambition to change who or what he is, that is until he meets and falls in love with Dawsons' assistant, Lynn Bari (Claire Harris) who along with Horace Hunter (Edward Everett Horton) strive to make him unhappy with himself. The original story originated with Joseph Schrank and is further directed by Walter Lange who combine to creates a wonderful film that is fun for the entire family. Indeed, audiences reacted well to the movie, so much so, both Fonda and Ameche launched their careers with it. In the end, the entire cast should be credited with this milestone. Excellent viewing. ****

A paean to laziness

[buckboard · 13 July 2006]

Peter Gibbons, meet Thadeus "call me Tad" Page. Selling life insurance may have been the 1940's equivalent of a cubicle job, but in any case Tad Page doesn't take to it much better than Peter Gibbons did in "Office Space", and they both appreciate fishing. Henry Fonda is the perfect personality for demonstrating the value of well-timed laziness. Don Ameche was either Alexander Graham Bell or a pleasant schemer in his films (until "Trading Places" at least) and his Dwight Dawson-ambitious-man-with-a-gimmick is nicely drawn here. I also appreciated the subtle manner in which the tune "Lazy Bones" was woven unobtrusively into the background during Fonda's scenes. Watch for it on TCM; worth your time.

Don Ameche plays a real weasel...and perhaps he's the dope!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 2 December 2015]

Dwight Dawson (Don Ameche) is a real huckster. He runs a 'School for Success' but all he's been able to accomplish is run up a lot of bills. In desperation, he decides to run a contest and offer some total loser $500 as well as a free course on becoming successful. Tad (Henry Fonda) appears to be such a loser and wins the prize but instead of being able to use him for publicity, Dwight is shocked to find out that Tad doesn't want the course, just the money. It seems that Tad is quite happy with his lazy life back in Vermont. So, in desperation to salvage Tad as the new poster boy for the success courses, he conspires to find a reason...any reason...to keep Tad in New York. When he learns that Tad is smitten on Dwight's girlfriend, Claire (Lynn Bari), he convinces Claire to pretend to be interested in him. How all this works out is quite enjoyable and the ending, particularly so. Not a great film by any stretch but fun and original...and it's nice to see a jerk like Dwight get his in the end!

Star quality

[ilprofessore-1 · 6/10 · 31 January 2019]

A rather run-of-the-mill Twentieth Century Fox film from 1942 directed with his usual competence by Fox staff director Walter Lang, worth watching if only to be reminded that young Henry Fonda was as excellent a comic actor as he was a dramatic one. Here, he plays the country bumpkin, a fall guy from Vermont who gets taken by city slickers: slick Don Ameche in the Donald Trump role and his cynical sidekick Edward Everett Horton. This was Lynn Bari's big chance, and although she is extremely attractive and thoroughly professional in everything she does, she isn't very convincing as the cold-hearted femme fatale who falls for the good guy with a heart of gold, a role that Barbara Stanwyck did so believably with Fonda a year earlier in Preston Sturges' classic, The Lady Eve, and Jean Arthur played twice for Frank Capra. Lynn Bari, thoroughly reliable, went on working for another twenty five years in less demanding roles. Only goes to prove that some actors, good as they were, just didn't have that rare undefinable something called star quality. As this film shows, Fonda had it from the beginning.

Everyone Should See This Movie.

[mr. 880 · 10/10 · 22 January 1999]

It will be evident, that any attentive viewer of this movie, will have a thoughtful review of their own past. Moreover, it will cause one to ponder on the concept, "Why have I been going the way that I have been." Slow Down !!! ... Take it easy. There are many people that are in such a rush to get somewhere that they will never get there. Some folks, run Smack-Dab into their destiny on the same road they use to get away from it.

some big names in this romp from the 1940s --spoilers

[ksf-2 · 8/10 · 17 December 2015]

SPOILERS

Magnificent Dope is a fun caper. Claire (Lynn Bari) works for a newspaper, and they hold a contest to find the biggest failure. They find Tad Page (Henry Fonda), but he turns out to be more than they bargained for. They bring him back to New York, where Dwight (Don Ameche) wants to make use of him for his own evil purposes. Of course, things get wacky when they have to keep Tad from finding out to whom Claire is already engaged. You'll also see Edward Horton, (from all the Fractured Fairy Tales, and of course all those Fred Astaire films). Fun cast. Moves right along. It's quite predictable, but you'll have fun along the way. The main players had all been in the biz for many years when this was made, so everything falls right into place. Fonda had just won his Oscar for "Grapes of Wrath", so he was certainly a good choice to put in this one. Directed by Walter Lang, who had started in the silents. Lots of fun. The actors look like they are having a fun time too!

Henry Fonda is adorable

[HotToastyRag · 8/10 · 9 September 2021]

If you've read my reviews, you know I have a saying about Henry Fonda: he's gorgeous until he opens his mouth. Well, folks, I'm happy to report that there's a movie where he's so cute his winy voice just doesn't matter: The Magnificent Dope. He's absolutely adorable!

Don Ameche plays the head of a success school that's about to go out of business. He doesn't have any students and he's in debt to his eyeballs, but his faithful sidekick Edward Everett Horton and his patient girlfriend Lynn Bari help him cook up a scheme to gain national publicity: set up a contest to find the biggest loser and turn him into a success. Henry Fonda wins the prize. He's an unemployed, loafing fisherman from a small town. But the only trouble is, he's happy being a flop! He loves being lazy and has no interest in becoming ambitious. Don sends his girlfriend to motivate Hank, but she does too good of a job...

Even though he's supposed to be a terrible coach with horrid advice, some of the things Don says are very funny and quite true. "Wives seldom believe in insurance. Widows always do." He emphasizes the importance of a clean-cut appearance, a firm handshake, and a confident smile. So even though he's not exactly the hero in the story, you're still rooting for him to have a happy ending. Not as much as you're on Team Fonda, though. Who would have thought the normally wooden Henry would be able to act so naturally goofy?

With cute, peppy silver screen music by four great composers, Emil Newman, Leigh Harline, Cyril J. Mockridge, and David Raksin, and an adorable ending, this forgotten gem is not to be missed. It's by far my favorite Henry Fonda movie - if this were the first movie I'd seen him in, I'd love him forever. What a cutie pie!

Mr. Deeds Gets Assertiveness Training

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 5 October 2006]

If The Magnificent Dope had been made over at Paramount it would have been a musical film for Bing Crosby. Of course Bing would never have played the kind of rube that Henry Fonda was in this film, but the premise is something he used in a whole lot of his films. Remember he had the idea of only having to work on holidays in Holiday Inn which came out the same year. A couple of musical numbers would have been nice for this film also.

But this wasn't the kind of stuff Henry Fonda wanted to do though he does do a fine job in portraying a Mr. Deeds like bumpkin. Against his better judgment in 1940 he signed a studio contract with 20th Century Fox to get the part of Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath. For the next few years whenever Fonda made a good film it was when Darryl Zanuck loaned him out for The Lady Eve at Paramount and The Male Animal at Warner Brothers.

Don Ameche with assistance from Lynn Bari and Edward Everett Horton runs a Dale Carnegie like assertiveness training course which has been on the skids of late. Lynn Bari gets the idea to have a contest to find the laziest man around and turn him into an ambitious go getter. Ameche likes the idea and they come up with Fonda who also happens to be from Vermont as Longfellow Deeds was.

Without saying the idea has results that Ameche and company never expected. The Magnificent Dope is lightweight stuff, but pleasant enough entertainment.

In fact Don Ameche was also getting tired of the roles he was getting at Fox as well. Both Fonda and Ameche were taking second place to Zanuck's house favorite, Tyrone Power.

Maybe The Magnificent Dope could have used a song or two though.

***1/2

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 10 April 2016]

Very clever comedy where Don Ameche taps Henry Fonda as the nation's biggest failure and lures him to New York where he will have him take his course on being assertive.

Lynn Bari shed her usual image of a cunning, devious woman to play Ameche's secretary and fiancé who ultimately falls for the Fonda character. Fonda gives a good performance as the simple, kind person who believes in relaxation and the simpler things of life.

The shenanigans that are pulled to prevent Fonda from learning about Ameche's relationship with Bari and coaxing him to remain in New York and take the course are well staged.

The Best Sales Movie Ever

[djbrown-00897 · 10/10 · 5 April 2020]

I actually did a speech about The Magnificent Dope @ Toastmasters. The theme being "Selling Yourself." I strongly believe this movie is first and foremost a sales movie, and the best of it's type. Henry Fonda's character Thaddeus Winsome Page ( Tad) from Vermont is considered the "laziest person in the county" and is offered a free sales course worth $500 ( a lot of money in 1942), by Dwight Dawson ( Don Ameche), to prove his aggressive sales method works with anyone. He does not want it, until he meets Ameche's fiancée Claire ( Lynn Bari) and falls for her. Of course, he does not know they have been engaged for six years. Besides that, she is a sophisticated New York woman, and way out of his league. Spoilers ahead: Although he has no sophistication, the one thing Tad is able to do is sell himself. First he goes over to an old man in a restaurant, someone alone and everyone is afraid of, but not Tad. It turns out he is a powerful Wall Street Executive, and by actually talking to him, finds out there is one thing in his life that he enjoyed ( besides making money), and that was fishing as a boy. He convinces the man to retire and go fishing. He then has to sell an insurance policy to someone considered uninsurable ( which he does not know). Why? So he can buy a fire engine to bring back to his home town. He brings Claire along, and it turns out Claire's Uncle was a Fire Chief in New Jersey, so she knows all about them ( something that not only Tad but Dawson did not know ( despite being engaged to her for six years)). Towards the end he finds out about Claire and Dawson and gives up on her, but still needs the fire engine. He meets the man and finds out the truth. But he was able to get him relaxed, so he passed a medical examination and the man was so happy he gladly took the most expensive policy and Tad was able to buy the fire engine. He then went over to Dawson's to have it out with him, but he heard Claire arguing with him, and admitting she loves Tad. As soon as he heard that he went to the fire engine and when Claire left the building he said "Going my way"? Of course, he ended up taking her back to Vermont with him. Meanwhile Dawson copied Tad's technique and started selling it as his own. Of course, the keys to sales are no fear, being willing to face rejection, and when the opportunity to close the sale arises to take it. The failure to close the sale ( marrying Claire), is the mistake that Dawson made, allowing Tad the opportunity to come in and take her away. Again my favorite sales movie. ps. I did get Best Speaker that day. 10/10 stars

Henry Fonda and Don Ameche

[marthawilcox1831 · 3/10 · 30 July 2014]

Here we have Henry Fonda playing a lazy guy who is happy to just drift through life. When he answers an advert that earns him $500 and puts him in touch with Don Ameche, we learn that Fonda's character is not someone you can change by arguing with them, but rather by showing them how they should live. It follows the pattern: tell me and I'll forget; show me and I'll remember; demonstrate and I'll buy. If you want to motivate people you cannot do it by arguing with them you have to show and demonstrate to them the right way to do things. We don't have enough role models in daily experience, but we have loads of people who want to change us by criticising us.

It's a nice touch when Fonda sees a man eating dinner by himself and he goes over to offer friendship. Realistic you couldn't do that today, but it shows Fonda had his heart in the right place.

funny but?

[dankarlamont · 5/10 · 12 February 2013]

This movie contains some incredibly racist lines. It was obviously aimed at southern belief system. I wouldn't let my kids watch it. Lynn Bari makes remarks about Louise Beavers making a cake with her "lilly white hands". Louise Beavers basically says she can't read. Then during the actual party scene Don Ameche sings in a pseudo black voice.

On the other side the movie does have some very fun scenes but some of the lines are not funny and unnecessary to the plot of the movie.

The clothing in this movie is fabulous. Lyn Bari's outfits are quite fashionable. I don't think she ever looked better in a movie.

Henry Fonda, Don Ameche and Everett Horton play their usual excellent comedic roles. Good for a quick laugh.

Henry Fonda Smitten With Lynn Bari. Just A Little Implausible

[Handlinghandel · 5/10 · 7 August 2005]

Yet he is, in this movie, a charming and sly country vs city tale. Fonda is the title character. He is chosen as a prime loser who can take Don Ameche's positive thinking course: If he can come through it, the cynical Ameche and his sidekicks reason, anyone can. And others will try.

Edward Everett Horton is one of these sidekicks, as is Bari, his mink-wearing secretary.

Fonda is from rural Vermont and teaches everyone in New York a thing or two himself. He wins over a famous financier, who promptly retires to enjoy life. He shows all and sundry how to relax. And he pines for Bari.

It's a cute idea, which twists and turns several times before its ending. The premise resembles a far less cynical and cruel "Curtain Call" -- which is an infinitely better, less conflicted, movie.