mark.waltz Review of Long Lost Father

Long Lost Father (1934)

Barely Barrymore, but oh that treasure hunt!

[5/10 · 17 March 2018]

The reunion between a long estranged father and daughter is an awkward event, but within an hour, all is seemingly resolved even with a little lawbreaking. "The great profile* John Barrymore is top billed but only gets about 20 minutes of footage in this hour long comedy/drama. He's a successful nightclub owner and she's a spoiled socialite engaged to Donald Cook and trying to establish a career as a singer. A legal issue concerning a treasure ("scavenger") hunt threatens to get Chandler arrested, giving dad the opportunity to step up to his daughter's defense. Amusing, if slight, this is one of those droll British set drawing room comedies filled with amusing but stereotypical English eccentrics, including a downtrodden apple seller and associates of Barrymore's whose English is barely understandable (even though it is their first language) and often hysterical. A handsome production, it is a showy opportunity for Chandler who is very close in dynamics to the American socialite played by Carole Lombard in "My Man Godfrey" two years later, right down to the scavenger hunt.