For some reason, every movie I've seen so far with acclaimed child actor Freddie Bartholomew has also included Mickey Rooney. The last time I saw them together, the plot of the film had them be friends. Here, Rooney is part of an institution that has a strong dislike of Freddie, but through determination (as well as making some serious mistakes), Freddie is able to eventually be accepted among them. Lord Jeff begins with (predictably enough) Bartholomew playing an arrogant, high class Brit who is also an orphan. Behind closed doors, Geoffrey Braemer is secretly the assistant of two crooks named Jim and Doris (George Zucco and Gale Sondergaard respectively). While the three of them at are a jewelry store, Geoffrey pretends to pass out next to a display case, allowing Jim to snatch an extremely valuable necklace known throughout the whole UK. Jim makes off with the necklace, but Geoffrey's ruse as an aristocrat is soon detected and he's sent to a merchant marine school to get disciplined. He's told that if he continues to misbehave he'll be sent to a reformatory. Upon arriving, Geoffrey meets Albert Baker, a short kid who looks up to him (no pun intended) as well as Terry O'Mulvaney (Mickey Rooney). Terry is, for lack of a better term, a teacher's pet. He's tasked with looking after Geoffrey and the other novices, but Geoffrey doesn't like being coddled and already displays much nautical knowledge when Terry questions him about things. He then attempts to bribe him, but Terry rats him out to the head of the school, Captain Briggs (Charles Coburn). Geoffrey refuses to adjust to his new environment, considering it beneath his intelligence. He gets into more trouble when the school attends a party, at which Doris is an entertainer. Geoffrey takes advantage of the excitement and runs away. Although Albert promised not to tell anyone where Geoffrey went, Terry finds out soon. After tracking him down, they fight and an exhausted Geoffrey is hauled back to the school. Terry brings him back to the dorms very early in the morning and climbs through a window, catching the attention of a guard. Briggs summons Terry, demanding to know why he was not in his bed until 5 o'clock in the morning. Terry decides to cover up Geoffrey's decision to attempt running away and keeps his mouth shut. Briggs punishes Terry for not cooperating by taking away his honor roll status, devastating him since only honor students get to take a journey on the Queen Mary; Britain's most modern and imposing cruise ship. Stripped of his prestige, Terry leaves Briggs' office. Meanwhile, the other kids refuse to have anything to do with Geoffrey since he simply doesn't want to admit he was wrong. Eventually, all the other kids ignoring him on purpose starts to wear on Geoffrey's mind, so he decides to turn himself in. He goes to talk with Briggs, saying that Terry being out of bed was his fault, not Terry's. Geoffrey knows attempting escape is a serious offence and could mean reform school, but he wants to see Terry get his ship voyage back. Briggs clears Terry's name, but doesn't tell anyone it was Geoffrey who defended him. As the date of the journey draws closer, Geoffrey is visited by Doris once again, visibly a changed person. He doesn't want to go back to being a degenerate and leaves Doris to her own life. Doris and Jim plan to get revenge on Geoffrey by planting the stolen necklace from earlier in his coat pocket. During a ceremony, Geoffrey, Terry, Albert and 2 other lucky boys are selected to be sailors on the Queen Mary, but Briggs finds the necklace in Geoffrey's coat soon after. Geoffrey is forced to explain himself, and he says he had no idea it was in there. Knowing he is being set up, he tells Briggs he is turning his back on his past criminal ways and is instead going to be loyal to the new friends he's made, as these people believe in him. The day of the voyage arrives, and the other 4 kids are on the Queen Mary ready to set sail. Geoffrey is being detained and not allowed to join them, but Terry spots Doris and Jim on the ship and lets people know they are criminals. Jim and Doris are arrested, the necklace is returned to its rightful place, and Geoffrey (now proven innocent) is allowed to join his friends on the ocean. Having never even heard of this film before yesterday, I wouldn't have been surprised if it was barely average, but Lord Jeff was quite a good movie. Rooney was a great actor no matter what thing he was starring in, and even as a teenager, he demonstrates this. If you didn't know any better, you'd get the impression the Irish accent he has throughout this whole film is the actual way he talks. The rivalry (and eventual friendship) between him and Freddie is the high point of the plot. Just to be clear, this movie isn't amazing, but for something with only a handful of reviews on here, I'd say it turned out better than I was expecting. In more ways than one, Lord Jeff shows how great actors can make even plain movies an indelible experience.
Review of Lord Jeff
