Insert "Life Is the Greatest Adventure" Platitude Here
Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to my readers! While I don't have any Christmas-specific movies in honor of the day, I did the next best thing and picked a movie that has a somewhat similar vibe of giving and being kind to your fellow man. So with that in mind, here's my review of The Amazing Adventure.
Before I learned that the name of this movie was The Amazing Adventure, I was talked into watching it when I was told it starred Cary Grant before he was Cary Grant. That is to say, it was a B movie and Cary Grant was on his way up in the studio system, so he was still developing his persona. After I watched it, I can say that explanation I just described fits the overall feel of the movie; competently executed and Grant’s charm is on full display, but it’s not quite as polished as the A movies were.
Despite the title sounding like it should belong to a pulpy exploration movie, it’s actually a much more down-to-earth tale. Ernest Bliss (Grant) is a wealthy man who’s recently found himself in a funk. When he goes to the highly recommended doctor Sir James Alroyd (Peter Gawthorne) for help, Alroyd prescribes going off for a year and working without touching his (Bliss’) fortune, though since Alroyd prescribes this to all his rich clients and they never take him up on it, he’s a bit snotty to Bliss. Bliss takes this as both an insult and a challenge, and decides to take Alroyd’s advice, even making a bet out of it (he’ll pay 10,000 pounds to Alroyd’s practice if he loses, while Alroyd needs to shake Bliss’ hand and give him a sincere apology if he wins). We then proceed to follow Bliss’ trials and tribulations in making a living, with several semi-connected incidents happening along the way. This includes helping a struggling stove company, developing a relationship with the secretary (Mary Brian) of said company, and accidentally discovering trouble brewing with his finances. I’ll let you guess if he wins the bet, or if all this successfully cures what ails him.
Overall, the best way to describe this movie is “pleasant”. It’s only an hour long, so the scenes come and go without overstaying their welcome and with just enough setup that you understand what’s going on. While the various scenarios are blatantly unrealistic, they’re also carried off with verve and creativity, so we’re willing and able to suspend our disbelief. Really, I think the hardest thing modern audiences will have accepting is that Bliss can live for weeks if not months on five pounds. Inflation and the passage of time strikes again.
There really isn’t much more to say on the matter. It’s a short, fun little movie that’ll entertain you and then most likely be remembered fondly if not clearly. It’s nothing special, but it’s still a positive experience, which makes me inclined to consider it good. Not a classic, but good for what it is, and that’s just fine for a B movie.
Before I learned that the name of this movie was The Amazing Adventure, I was talked into watching it when I was told it starred Cary Grant before he was Cary Grant. That is to say, it was a B movie and Cary Grant was on his way up in the studio system, so he was still developing his persona. After I watched it, I can say that explanation I just described fits the overall feel of the movie; competently executed and Grant’s charm is on full display, but it’s not quite as polished as the A movies were.
Despite the title sounding like it should belong to a pulpy exploration movie, it’s actually a much more down-to-earth tale. Ernest Bliss (Grant) is a wealthy man who’s recently found himself in a funk. When he goes to the highly recommended doctor Sir James Alroyd (Peter Gawthorne) for help, Alroyd prescribes going off for a year and working without touching his (Bliss’) fortune, though since Alroyd prescribes this to all his rich clients and they never take him up on it, he’s a bit snotty to Bliss. Bliss takes this as both an insult and a challenge, and decides to take Alroyd’s advice, even making a bet out of it (he’ll pay 10,000 pounds to Alroyd’s practice if he loses, while Alroyd needs to shake Bliss’ hand and give him a sincere apology if he wins). We then proceed to follow Bliss’ trials and tribulations in making a living, with several semi-connected incidents happening along the way. This includes helping a struggling stove company, developing a relationship with the secretary (Mary Brian) of said company, and accidentally discovering trouble brewing with his finances. I’ll let you guess if he wins the bet, or if all this successfully cures what ails him.
Overall, the best way to describe this movie is “pleasant”. It’s only an hour long, so the scenes come and go without overstaying their welcome and with just enough setup that you understand what’s going on. While the various scenarios are blatantly unrealistic, they’re also carried off with verve and creativity, so we’re willing and able to suspend our disbelief. Really, I think the hardest thing modern audiences will have accepting is that Bliss can live for weeks if not months on five pounds. Inflation and the passage of time strikes again.
There really isn’t much more to say on the matter. It’s a short, fun little movie that’ll entertain you and then most likely be remembered fondly if not clearly. It’s nothing special, but it’s still a positive experience, which makes me inclined to consider it good. Not a classic, but good for what it is, and that’s just fine for a B movie.