Customer Reviews

The Male Animal

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Male Animal is a movie that has you think about such serious issues as censorship and what it means to be a man, yet it doesn't sacrifice any laughs. Henry Fonda is perfectly cast as the professor who must learn whether he is man enough, and he is well supported by a beautiful Olivia deHavilland and a cast of good character actors. Not enough attention has been given to this movie over the years, and it deserves to be re-discovered. A great movie!

First, I'm dismayed to see such a pitifully few(5)reviews for this great American classic (demonstrating that hardly anyone knows about this must see movie) and second, that it hasn't yet been transferred to DVD.

It's social importance aside this is a first rate production featuring none-other-than Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland, Eugene Pallette, Jack Carson, Joan Leslie, Herbert Anderson(TV's Dennis the Meance's Dad), Don De Fore(TV's Hazel's Mr.B)and Hattie McDaniel. This is as good as it gets and all you could ask for from Warner Bros. in 1942. Turner-Time/Warner deserve a big kick in the rear for letting this very important classic slip away into anonymity.

It's homecoming week and everyone's getting ready for the big game. Everyone except English teacher Fonda and undergrad Anderson. They find the rising tide of testosterone is causing them to lose a grip on their women. This is coming at a time when the boys are most in need of the girl's support. All the old boosters are coming back to town to add to the complications. Along with these sexual rifts are a number of politcal values in question and what constitutes a real American and what is the America way of life.

The James Thurber script and Elliott Nugent direction accomplishes this in a very non-heavyhanded way. It's kept amazingly light and funny considering the weight of the material. It seems to be a light and very funny romp that in the end has a huge message to Americans about the American Way and what we must do to perserve it.

I know it's not on DVD but check out the price of the VHS. I implore you to see this movie. On even the shallowest level it's very entertaining and on the deepest level it's one of the biggest messages to ever come out of Hollywood. It's not what you expect from a movie made in 1942 but unfortunately, you're even less likely to see such an important message in such an entertaining way in the movies of today.

This movie achieves much without much instigation. A professor wants to read a letter in a classroom. There isn't much more to it than that. Yet, events quickly unfold that make this event into so much more. The movie marvelously pits Collegiate Intellect against Collegiate Business, something which stands true today as much as it did when the movie was made. Then toss in the side-by-side story of this professor and his relationship with his wife.

This film has intelligence, a bit of comedy and manages to deal with a significant issue of censorship in such a nonchalant, but very effective manner. The cast is great, the script solid. This film must be watched.

At a time when patriotism is more and more being defined as unqustioning support of administration policy, THE MALE ANIMAL offers a timely reminder of what Americanism truly is. I once heard a college president describe what education should be as "a window on the world, and a window is something you can look through from either side." This film provides a gentle reminder of the value of that insight. I still cheer at the end--every time I watch it.

This a truly great film. I enjoy is immensly. It's funny romantic, and very moving at parts. Henry Fonda, is great as the English teacher husband and his wife, played by Olivia D'Havilland is so beautiful and charming. Jack Carson is funny and charming as well. He's a greta ctor. This is a must see movie, very decent, and one of a kind. I'd recommend it to anyone. It's one you can never get tire of it. Each time of viewing is like the first time. The plot and story is never dull and always makes sence.

This smart comedy has to do with a visit paid by an old friend of the childhood to a professor, happily married until that...

But with a wife of the sidereal beauty of Olivia de Havilland, who can be absolutely innocent?

Engaging movie all the way through!

This is the kind of socially-relevant James Thurber comedy Hollywood has all but forgotten how to make. Fonda and everyone are great, with a surprisingly nice job by Jack Carson. If you're a sports nut you won't care for the hilarious, all-too-true digs at college sports -- but the central theme of censorship still hits the mark, even if the movie is almost 60 years old. It's a dandy, lively story as well. And if you have an ounce of real American patriotism left (the more heartfelt kind, not the soppy apple-pie variety), you might even cheer at the end.

The innocence and straight forward holsom theme and action of this film make it one of my lifetime favorites. When something is bothering me, I like to play non-stressful movies and this is one of them. It'll be boring to thrill seekers, but that's the point isn't it?