Humphrey Bogart Online
home| films| images| bogie & bacall| nautical man| radio star| collectables| special appearances| forum| books| doco's| chess| downloads| stage| shop| links
The Great O'Malley
Bogie as John Phillips and Frieda Inescort as his wife
with Pat O'Brien as Officer James Aloysius O'Malley.
Bogie, Frieda Inesccort and Pat O'Brien.		 Heartwarming great depression era drama about an insensitive 'by the book' young cop (Pat O'Brien as James Aloysius O'Malley) who's excessive passion and lack of heart in enforcing petty city ordinances leads to a financially struggling family man (Bogie as John Phillips) losing his new job and committing a crime of desperation which lands him in jail.

O'Malley's Captain (Donald Crisp as Captain Cromwell) realizes he is not suited to the job and to the overzealous officer's horror demotes him to a school crossing guard position, stating as he does so that "this will either make or break him."

During his school crossing duties O'Malley befriends a little semi crippled girl (played by Sybil Jason) who softens his wooden heart. But unbeknownst to O'Malley the little girl, Barbara Phillips, is the child of John Phillips, the man he drove to desperation and jail.
The story develops from here as we see the humanizing of O'Malley in his relationship with the little girl, and the complications ensuing from his ignorance of her parentage.

Overall a very enjoyable little film with lots of emotional appeal and some good humourous scenes mixed throughout. Bogie's part is relatively small but very important in the overall context of the story, and he gives a good performance as the average man driven to desperation.

Other performances of note are Ann Sheridan as schoolteacher Judy Nolan, who introduces a gentle romantic aspect to the plot, her feelings for O'Malley veering from romantic affection one moment to emotional repulsion the next. We also have a good performance from Mary Gordon as O'Malley's mother and Hobart Cavanaugh as journalist Pinky Holden, who delights in lambasting O'Malley in the press for his over the top applications of the law. We also get small but good roles from Frank Sheridan as the O'Malley family's priest, Frieda Inescort as Mrs. Phillips and Frank Reicher as the benevolent Dr. Larson.
Shot in Black & White. 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio.

Not released on home video but can be seen on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) as of the time of writing this review.