User Reviews

This is a well made, well done production with Wallace Beery with an all too familiar storyline that he was routinely doing in his career at this time. He was a drifter coming back to town and checking in on his family and slowly trying to ingratiate back into their lives by turning back on his demons by being a more positive person. His ex-wife was Janet Beecher but there was no chemistry between them, which made it easier to believe they did not like each other but hard to imagine that he would want to get back together to make their 'family' whole again. There was an all too familiar storyline in trying to impress his son and win back his love and respect (of course, many plot twists try to prevent and hinder them from reconciling). It still is an interesting watch if you have not seen and request TCM if you can for them to view.

Thiss plodding drama has Wallace Beery as an alcoholic near do well who steps up to the plate to protect his family when his son (Eric Linden) steals stocks from the family and sells them to a ruthless businessman. Beery is afraid this will send his wife (Janet Beecher) over the edge, having witnessed her heartbreak at his drinking problem, and takes drastic steps to get the money that the family lost. It's an unconvincing melodrama with Beery spending the first half in a constant state of intoxication, getting a parrot drunk from bootlegger hooch, as well as the family maid Una Merkel), then following his son Linden to New York where he catches him with a hard-boiled chorus girl (Judith Barrett). Beery's sudden act of heroism also impacts daughter Betty Furness, going through her own romantic intrigue.

A lot happens within the 67 minutes of this MGM programmer that features a few memorable bit performances, among them Ted Healy, George Sidney and future wicked witch Margaret Hamilton playing McWade's housekeeper. The musical number thrown in for Barrett is garish and frenetically staged, and not at all in the typical quality that MGM put out at any time during its golden age. While the bulk of the writing is meant to show off Beery and Beecher, it is actually Merkel who comes off the best. Overall, the film is depressing and convoluted and the messiest of census. The only thing that gets soak here is the script which seems to be missing the meat to hold the plot together.

I suspect rights issues prevent current broadcasts of THE GOOD OLD SOAK or it being made available on home video. What a pity, since arguably this motion picture contains one of Beery's very best performances.

Around 1930, MGM began to perfect the Beery persona it sold audiences when he played an incorrigible lout in MIN AND BILL. He refined this portrayal in later pictures during the decade like AH WILDERNESS! (1935).

It was a rather simple formula. First, have Beery swagger through most of the picture, spouting as many truisms as he does nonsense. Have him annoy everyone else on screen with him, and have him make more than his share of his mistakes. Then have everyone (including the audience) forgive him, because aw shucks he really didn't mean no harm honey, and he was still good as gold deep down. In short, Wallace Beery was usually cast as a lovable lug, and he had the patent on that.

As part of this winning formula, he was often paired with a strong-willed woman who wasn't afraid to poke fun of his follies and call him out when he did wrong. These women were typically played by Marie Dressler and Marjorie Main. In this picture, such duty is assigned to Janet Beecher. She and Beery may not have electrifying chemistry, but there is a sense of comfort and knowingness in the relationship between them that is depicted on screen.

Beery and Beecher are joined by Eric Linden and Betty Furness playing their grown kids. And rounding out the cast we have some excellent character actors like Una Merkel, Robert McWade, Margaret Hamilton and George Sidney.

The gist of the plot concerns itself with Beery being a little too fond of booze, during Prohibition. The story is set in the not-so-distant past, since there is mention of Roosevelt running for presidential office and his promise to end Prohibition. But for now, hooch is illegal. It doesn't stop Beery from sneaking some of it into the house which he shares with the maid (Merkel). Due to his continuous drinking, the family doesn't really take him seriously. Later when some stock certificates go missing, Beecher fears the worst-- that Beery took them and cashed them in to pay off gambling debts.

The truth is that their son (Linden) took the stock and sold it, because he had debts of his own and was facing jail time. This is when we reach the part of the story that is meant to make the audience root for Beery, because despite all his impropriety, he takes the blame to spare his son from prison. As Beery suddenly morphs into a protective father out to do right by his clan, he concocts a scheme to get even with a cousin that was in the theft of the stock certificates. This scheme will bring money in that will more than make up for their recent losses, and will make Beecher see him in a whole new light.

The best aspect of the film is the dialogue, written by A. E. Thomas, based on a Broadway play from the 1920s by Don Marquis. There is a lot of homespun wisdom in what the characters say, despite their over-the-top contrived circumstances. I found this picture very enjoyable, as it revealed just how wonderful Beery can be when he believes in the character he's playing and is determined to impart some important lessons for viewers.