User Reviews

You'll want to see "A Holy Terror" if you're a Humphrey Bogart fan, but it would be incorrect to consider this a Bogey film. George O'Brien stars and portrays Anthony Woodbury, the socialite son of a father who legally changed his name twenty five years ago, and at the same time had William Drew (James Kirkwood) placed under surveillance. Adverse to publicity and never allowing a photo, Thomas Woodbury/John Bard (Robert Warwick) is seen only briefly on screen when he is shown going for a hidden weapon as Drew arrives at his estate home to force a confrontation. When Tony learns of his father's hidden past, he's determined to learn more about William Drew and the circumstances of his father's death.

The film's most interesting scene occurs when aviator Tony literally crash lands his plane into the home of Miss Jerry Foster (Sally Eilers). She begins a cat and mouse relationship with Anthony, who begins using the name Bard once he reaches Wyoming.

The plot of the movie gets muddied when William Drew asks his ranch foreman Steve Nash (Bogart) to bring Bard to the ranch unharmed. Nash has an underhanded side, and involves his partner Butch Morgan (Stanley Fields) in the endeavor. Since Anthony wants to meet with Drew, and Drew is paying Nash a thousand dollars to bring Anthony to him, there's no reason for Morgan to pistol whip Bard and carry out the request like a kidnapping. Obviously done as a dramatic element for the film, the tactic doesn't make much sense, other than to provide a reason for Anthony to arrange his escape in a dramatic ride on horseback, with a rather effective looking leap over Devil's Gulch that the baddies won't risk attempting.

The astute viewer can figure out the payoff - William Drew and John Bard were once in love with the same woman, who married Bard. But Anthony's father was really William Drew, and on that note the film ends rather abruptly.

"A Holy Terror" clocks in at just fifty three minutes, and that's probably a saving grace. The performances are rather stilted with not much more than the characters going through their motions. Bogart's turn as a bad guy is of some interest, building on the con man turn in his prior picture "The Bad Sister". It would be five more years before he gets his hands on a real meaty role as the villain Duke Mantee in "The Petrified Forest".

This modern set Western is interesting for one element. The presence of future superstar Humphrey Bogart in one of his very first films will entice people to watch it, and then they'll move back to the classics of his like "Casablanca" and "The African Queen". Bogart's a vindictive ranch hand who discovers that newcomer George O'Brien is a suspect in the murder of his father and seeks to convince the local law that he's guilty.

Of course, O'Brien doesn't have the best entrance into the small community where Bogart resides, literally flying his airplane into the bathroom of young Sally Eilers who is in the middle of taking a shower. That's the only comical moments in this fortunately short Fox programmer that is not benefited by the absence of the newest technology discovered after the creation of sound in motion pictures. Ridiculous plot twists at the end involving wealthy Robert Warwick are extremely eye-rolling, leaving this film with a conclusion hitting a sour note.

The relevance of the title is anybody's guess; but slickly directed by Irving Cummings and fluidly shot on location by veteran cameraman George Schneiderman (who with leading man George O'Brien had worked on John Ford's 'The Iron Horse' in 1924), 'A Holy Terror' ambles along agreeably until an abrupt and surprising ending that anticipates 'The Empire Strikes Back'.

That this is a pre-Coder is signalled by the scene in which hero George O'Brien crashes his plane into Sally Eilers' bathroom while she's in the shower. James Kirkwood brings his usual gravitas to the role of the film's villain, and not surprisingly proves to be a far from run of the mill baddie.

But the reason this film is remembered today is the presence of Humphrey Bogart in a ten gallon hat as Kirkwood's principal henchman, fourth in the cast list and far more relaxed in front of the camera and more like his later sardonic self than he is in most of his other early talkie roles; he and third-billed Rita La Roy as the 'other' woman with boyishly short hair make a far more interesting couple than the nominal leads.

A Holy Terror should be a must see for Humphrey Bogart ( Steve Nash) and Western fans ( and I am both). The good news is you can find it on Youtube, the bad news is it is missing a couple of minutes. Here is something interesting: George O'Brien (Tony) was a well established Western Actor ( even was in John Ford's 1924 silent epic 'The Iron Horse'), but except the scene where Tony crashes his plane into Jerry's (Sally Ellers) bathroom), the entire movie is dominated by Bogart. Unlike a lot of early movies of film stars, the Bogart bad guy character that people know and love is on full display here. Which is a reason why A Holy Terror is actually his best or second best western ( depending on if you consider The Treasure of the Sierra Madre a western ( and I do) so I rate it second). Spoilers ahead: As you might expect, Tony and Jerry ( who Steve liked) end up together, but because the film ends very abruptly, you do not know for sure what happens to Bogart at the end. But you have to assume he gets his. I really enjoyed every minute of the movie, but the missing 5 minutes ( which included O'Brien trying to ride a difficult horse ( which you can tell he mastered because he rode him the rest of the film)), is certainly a negative. Which is why I give it a 9/10 instead of a 10/10.