On Borrowed Time

1939 movie

Rating: 15/20

Plot: Recently-orphaned Pud tells his grandfather that he gets a wish because he did a nice thing, and the grandfather, presumably because he's ignorant, wastes it by wishing that anybody who climbs into his apple tree will be stuck until he says he can climb down. It doesn't seem like such a bad wish, however, after Death comes to fetch him and he manages to trick the Reaper into climbing into the tree. This buys Gramps time while he figures out how to save his grandson (Pud) from having to live with his mean aunt, Demetria Riffle.

The version of this story with which I'm familiar is a South American folk tale called "Aunty Misery." There are differences, one of the major ones being length, but the motifs are there: magic tree, Death being tricked, no death in the world for a period of time. I've always liked the trickster tale and was excited to see this movie existed. I think a lot more could have been done with it though. I really liked the wheelchair-bound Lionel Barrymore despite some textbook "overdoin' it" throughout. His performance is touching, and he's got good rapport with the kid. And I thought Cedric Harwicke as a suave, fedora-topped Mr. Brink/Death was great, a unique take on the Grim Reaper. Even the kid, the oddly-named Bobs Watson as the oddly-named "Pud," was tolerable even tough it's evident he graduated with top honors from the Shirley Temple School of Obnoxious Child Acting. Speaking of children, this certainly was a lot for young Pud to endure. He loses his parents, his grandmother, and his dog; he injures himself after a fall; and then his grandfather/BFF starts talking about how he's going to die. Yeesh. Typical of a 1930s production, this is gaggingly sentimental, especially the ridiculously precious ending. This movie's pretty good, but so much more could have been done with this idea. It's ripe for a remakin'! What's Henry Fonda doing?