Johnny Trouble (1957) User Reviews (10)

Johnny Trouble-Ethel Makes A Man of Stu Whitman ***

[edwagreen · 7/10 · 5 August 2010]

Interesting but dated film where Ethel Barrymore believes that Stuart Whitman is her grandson. Seems that Ethel's son left 27 years ago and never returned.

Cecil Kellaway steals the show in his somber tell-all tale at the end of the film. It's a heartbreak, but it is also the story of the human spirit.

How ironic that this turned out to be Ethel Barrymore's last film.

As the girlfriend, Carolyn Jones starts off as quirky as she did that same year in her Oscar nominated supporting performance in "The Bachelor Party." She really matures at the end when you want to cry for her.

This is basically a story of redemption.

Well I thought it was sweet

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 1 May 2015]

Okay, I'm a big sap.

Ethel Barrymore stars in "Johnny Trouble," a 1957 film with Stuart Whitman, Cecil Kellaway, Carolyn Jones, Jack Larson, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, Nino Tempo, Jim Bridges, Jesse White, and Sam Colt (Ethel Barrymore's son).

Barrymore plays Mrs. Chandler, who lives in a residential hotel being turned into a boys dormitory. She refuses to leave, and they can't make her - she owns the apartment and hasn't sold it to them. The college agrees to allow her to stay, and it's not long before she's charmed the boys.

One of them is named John Chandler, and Mrs. Chandler's own son left 27 years ago and was never heard from again. Mrs. Chandler believes that this John, a boozer and womanizer who is always in trouble, is her grandson. When he's about to be expelled, she intercedes for him, and the agreement is that he will live with her, and then they will both move to another place after the semester.

This was Ethel Barrymore's final film. As always, she was very dignified. Cecil Kellaway was delightful as her assistant, and Jesse White was appropriately exasperated.

I thought this was a sweet and sentimental story. My big complaint is that these college kids didn't look like any college kids I've ever seen - they were for the most part too old.

Carolyn Jones is a knockout as Johnny's girlfriend - beautiful and sexy, with her unusual sleek haircut for those days and her blue eyes. She was a fine actress and very enjoyable in this.

Stuart Whitman was okay and since he had been a Marine, maybe the fact that he looked like he was about 30 was okay - if some of these guys were in the Korean war, I suppose looking a little older was fine, if distracting.

The actor in this film listed as "Jim Bridges" has a separate listing from the director "James Bridges," but I think they are one and the same.

By the way, the 1940 film "Johnny Apollo" supposedly started these "Johnny" films. In looking over the films with the name "Johnny" and a last name, Johnny Apollo seems to have been the first one.

Inferior remake of "Someone to Remember" (1943)

[sdiner82 · 6/10 · 27 May 2001]

Sentimental tale of an elderly woman awaiting a reunion with her long-lost "bad" son. Sadly, this was Ethel Barrymore's last film. And, again, sadly, the plot (based on Ben Ames Williams' short story) was handled exquisitely in the forgotten 1943 version entitled "Someone to Remember". This uninspired re-make has its moments, and Barrymore is, as always, splendid, but Stuart Whitman and the supporting cast can't hold a candle to the definitive, original movie. Seek out "Someone to Remember" and let this weak re-do be forgotten.

An actress who can do no wrong

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 30 April 2015]

We all have our favorite actors and actresses. But it isn't that I am a huge fan of Ethel Barrymore. It's just that it seems as if she can do no wrong. I know. That's silly. But despite the quality of the script, Barrymore was always a joy to watch.

And make no mistake. The depiction about how college students behave is pretty low quality. Because of this part of the film, it would be easy to dismiss this film. But on the other hand, I always give films a few extra points when they are somewhat unique. And make no mistake...this film is unique.

The cast is interesting. Aside from Ethel Barrymore, the other primary oldster is Cecil Kellaway, who has a key role, but not a very impressive one. Carolyn Jones is Caroln Jones...and oddball actress in an oddball role. The reincarnated (?) son/college student is played by Stuart Whitman; I've never been very impressed with him...and still am not. Jesse White would seem more at home in a Maytag commercial instead of a college. Edd Byrnes (Kookie, Kookie, lend me your comb) has a small role. Jack Larson is one of the college students; sadly he was typecast in his Jimmy Olsen role from the "Superman" series; in the right kind of role (and this is one) he was pretty decent.

The ending isn't a happy one, but rather a sentimental one.

I doubt this will be a favorite movie of many, but it is so different that it is worth watching...at least once...if for no other reason that to see for one last time (it was her last film) Ethel Barrymore.

Ethel Barrymore Exits Stage North

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 6 August 2010]

Although her apartment building is turned into a men's dormitory, elderly Ethel Barrymore (Katherine "Nana" Chandler) decides to stay. After renovations, the "thundering herd" of young male college students arrive for the fall semester. They are quickly charmed by Ms. Barrymore, helping servant Cecil Kellaway (as Tom McKay) with her wheelchair, and even accompanying Barrymore to Church. Freshman trouble-maker Stuart Whitman (as John "Johnny" Chandler) catches Barrymore's attention with his antics and "Chandler" surname. An ex-Marine with a chip in his shoulder, Mr. Whitman drinks whiskey, gets bad grades, and sneaks out to squeeze the hourglass figure provided by promiscuous Carolyn Jones (as Julie Horton). Barrymore thinks Whitman may be her long-lost grandson, and fights to keep "Johnny Trouble" in school.

This re-make of "Someone to Remember" (1943) is most notable as the distinguished Ethel Barrymore's last screen appearance; approaching her eightieth birthday, she died in a couple of years. No doubt due to Barrymore's presence, director John H. Auer, photographer J. Peverell Marley, and the crew make the low-budget affair look relatively classy. The sentimental story is okay, but the "college kids" are silly and miscast. As examples of both, Whitman and "Jimmy Olsen"-type roommate Jack Larson (as Eddie Landis) receive special "Introducing" credits, but had been in features for years. Fresher faces include future "teen idol" Edward "Edd" Byrnes (as Elliott) and "Deep Purple" singer Nino Tempo (as Charlie). Future "Gypsy" actor Paul Wallace (as Paul) and the cast must have been thrilled to co-star with Barrymore.

****** Johnny Trouble (9/21/57) John H. Auer ~ Ethel Barrymore, Stuart Whitman, Carolyn Jones, Cecil Kellaway

Apart from pairing Jack Larson with James Bridges, the movie was ill-conceived and a bit sad.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 9 March 2020]

Ethel Barrymore was a very well respected and classy actress from a family of well respected and beloved actors. In light of this, I found it rather sad to see her starring in "Johnny Trouble"...especially since it was her last film. Why? Because the writing and Stuart Whitman's acting were pretty limp at best.

The story begins with a college trying to kick everyone out of an apartment house so it can be converted into a dorm for male students. However, Katherine Chandler (Barrymore) isn't about to leave. After all, she owns her apartment and they cannot legally force her to move, so they eventually decide to let her live there...and the students begin calling this nice old lady 'Nana'.. One of the students, Johnny Chandler (Whitman), however, is a problematic jerk who seems mad at the world and self-destructive. Katherine convinces herself, with almost no evidence, that the guy is her grandson...the child of her estranged son whose current whereabouts are unknown.

So why was I so unimpressed by this one? Well, mostly it was Whitman's character...he seemed unreal and overacted. His brooding jerk act was anything but subtle...as was him inexplicable transformation at the end. While the film has a few interesting moments, overall it's a miss and probably not worth your trouble.

By the way, about the only positive about the movie is that Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen from "The Adventures of Superman") met his life partner, James Bridges, on the set as both played students in the film.

A little sugary but Ethel makes it worth seeing

[jjnxn-1 · 8/10 · 30 April 2015]

This was Ethel Barrymore's final screen appearance and she bows out in a most dignified way.

The story stretches credulity but is a sweet tale of an elderly woman who chooses to remain in the hotel she has lived in for many years, and which contains an apartment she owns, when it is purchased by a university and transformed into a male dorm.

Taken on as a surrogate grandmother by the guys she lives in genteel peace in the best behaved dorm in existence. One day she discovers that one of the men, the angriest of them-the Johnny Trouble of the title, might be the son of her son who vanished decades before and she tries to straighten him out. Along the way she meets the girl who has fallen for Johnny, played by Carolyn Jones, and strikes up a friendship with her as well. So it goes for the most of the remainder of the film.

It's not a great film but endearing and a nice way for a great actress to close out her career.

Ethel Barrymore's movie swan song

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 27 January 2022]

This was Miss Barrymore's last motion picture appearance, and she's grand in it. She is taking on a role that was previously played by Mabel Paige in the original version that was produced by Republic Pictures in 1943. That earlier version, called SOMEONE TO REMEMBER (a much better title), featured young Peter Lawford as one of the boys that adopts an elderly woman who lives as a "house mother," more like a den mother, in the building that his college fraternity uses for lodging.

Some of the set-up is a bit unbelievable but it works, because at its heart, the story is about a generation gap and people coming together in uncertain times. The old gal is joined by a faithful manservant, played by Cecil Kellaway. Film buffs will know that Barrymore and Kellaway previously costarred in PORTRAIT OF JENNIE (1948).

Since this rendering of the story takes place in the mid-to-late 50s, there is no mention of the second world war, just the Korean war. Primarily, the focus seems to be on what's important to this younger generation of men that are attending college. And what is important to them is not really their studies, it is predictably, girls.

Stuart Whitman plays the main guy in this fun-loving fraternity and he's in a relationship with sexy Carolyn Jones. Part of the plot has her find out she's pregnant, and what they are going to do about it.

The main storyline, however, concerns Barrymore who never got over losing her college-aged son 27 years ago. Whitman's character shares the same name as her missing son, and she starts to think he may be her grandson, having been named after her own boy. Is it really true, or is it all just a coincidence?

I do like how the mystery about Whitman's identity propels the story forward. We do want him to be her grandson, and when his father visits campus, for her to be reunited with her errant son. But it turns out to be that this is mostly just her imagination, and when she dies, we have a rather bittersweet ending.

Rebel Without a Grandma

[JohnSeal · 4/10 · 18 September 2010]

Stuart Whitman takes the moody and broody James Dean route, Cecil Kellaway affects a reasonable Scottish accent, Jack Larson plays himself playing Superman character Jimmy Olson, Carolyn Jones looks ooky and spooky (and a bit like Keely Smith), and Ethel Barrymore does her best Spring Byington impersonation in this torpid tale of family estrangement. Whitman plays John Chandler, an Argentine-born ex-marine who finds himself housed in an apartment building with old Nana Chandler, who suspects he might be her grandson. If not for the fine cast, this poorly written feature would be unbearable, but as it stands its just the right side of tolerable.

Great opportunity for Stuart Whitman

[NRREX · 9/10 · 6 February 2000]

Stuart Whitman plays a tough ex marine who enrolls in a small college and becomes a classic anti-hero. This movie has heart. Sentimental ending resolves the conflict. They just don't make movies like this anymore.