MOVIE OF THE DAY: "COUNSELLOR-AT-LAW" (1933)

Your honor, I state under oath that Counsellor-At-Law is Universal Pictures' greatest 1930s non-horror release. It's also one of the best pre-code pictures, with an interesting story, snappy dialogue spoken at breakneck speed, a camera that never stops moving, and a dozen or so fascinating supporting actors, all under the able direction of director William Wyler. And it offers what is likely John Barrymore's greatest screen performance as well. So why doesn't it make any "Best Of" lists? 

Cora is shocked to discover that her husband's
mother isn't Protestant.

Did I say "interesting story"? Actually, there are several running currently in Counsellor-At-Law, but only two create most of the drama. George Simon, of the 5th Avenue law firm Simon & Tedesco, discovers that he's being considered for disbarment for having helped create an alibi for a client many years earlier -- a client who has since gone on to be a good citizen and family man. Simon's wife, Cora, a  member of the "Newport 400", is more concerned about her social standing than her husband's potential career-ending dilemma. 

The only time Barrymore gave a woman the
fisheye.

Simon, you see, is not only Jewish but surrounds himself, and takes up the cases of, people from the old neighborhood -- other Jews, Italians, Irish -- as well as handling well-paying scandalous divorces which his snooty wife finds distasteful. Cora's "good friend" Roy Darwin -- who has borrowed $2,000 from Simon -- is more than happy to, er, fill in for her increasingly-"ungentlemanly" husband. Only Simon's loyal, lovestruck secretary Rexy Gordon appears to have Simon's best interests at heart -- and will ultimately to save his life.

I'd hire him -- if I could afford it.

Anyone associating John Barrymore exclusively with Shakespeare and
flamboyant costume dramas will be knocked out by Counsellor-At-Law. Despite taking a suspension of disbelief the length of the Mackinac Bridge to accept him as Jewish -- it's amusing on many levels when he refers to his younger brother as a gonnif -- Barrymore is nothing less than brilliant. Nervously drumming his fingers on his desk, binging on chocolate candies three at a time, pacing the halls like a nervous racehorse, barking out orders at 150-mph, his portrayal of George Simon must have been literally breathtaking. (As in Night Flight in the same year, a lifetime of heavy cigarette smoking had made his voice deeper than the Mariana Trench.) Thank the movie gods that Paul Muni, who originated the role on Broadway a year earlier, refused to repeat it on film.

While supporting players including Bebe Daniels as Rexy and Isabel Jewell's  hilarious singsong phone operator/receptionist are entertaining, only Vincent Sherman, as the stereotypical Jewish radical Harry Becker, gives Barrymore a run for his money. Becker, whose mother is an old family of friend of Simon's, had been beat up by the cops and arrested for giving a pro-Communist speech at Union Square.

"What else is Union Square good for besides 
commie speeches?"

Instead of being grateful for Simon offering to take up his case without charge, Becker lays into him, hitting every Communist bullet point: "How did you get where you are? I'll tell you. By betraying your own class, that's how. By climbing on the backs of the working class, that's how. Getting in right with bourgeois politicians and crooked corporations, that feed on the blood and the sweat of the workers... A cheap prostitute, that's what you are. You and your cars and your country estate and your kept parasite of a wife!" 

Wow. Again, this is not a speech modern audiences expect from a nearly century-old movie. Becker even has to be restrained from beating up Simon's bratty, entitled step-children (who, frankly, deserve a smack upside the head.)

"How do I keep all these characters straight?"

With its multitudes of  storylines and characters, Counsellor-At-Law nevertheless gallops along at a brisk 82 minutes. As with many Universal movies of its time that don't star Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi, it doesn't turn up very often even on TCM. Perhaps as with The Sin of Nora Man, a forthcoming Blu-ray release will help Counsellor-At-Law take its place as one of the best pre-codes and a superb showcase for John Barrymore. If not... well, there oughta be a law.

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To read about The Sin of Nora Moran, click here.

To read about Night Flight, click here.