This Side of Heaven

Compelling hokum. Lionel Barrymore, in a variation of his trod-upon tycoon from "Dinner at Eight," plays the doting, selfless head of an insensitive, selfish family. Wife Fay Bainter, having just sold a novel to the movies, is on a spending spree before heading to Hollywood; son Tom Brown has his heart set on joining a college fraternity; elder daughter Mae Clark is torn between two lovers; dithery sister Mary Carlisle has thoughts of eloping with her nitwit boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Barrymore is facing scandal and prison on a trumped-up embezzlement charge, a crisis he withholds from his self-absorbed brood. Will the family rally to his side before he ends it all in suicide?

The film is so cunningly constructed that we squirm in suspense in spite of our conviction that all must end well. It's the kind of skillful schmaltz that leaves you feeling at once satisfied and foolish. With Una Merkel as a knuckleheaded maid, saving Louise Beavers and Hattie MacDaniel the indignity of demeaning themselves.