User reviews

This is not really an 'haha' type of comedy, its more a movie that has a fun and silly (in a good way) feeling all over it. The events in the movie are fun and so are the quirky characters that are in the movie.

Basically the story is a fun and simple one. Rich guy played by Errol Flynn, out of a conservative uptight family, has for the first time in his real fun when he runs of with the girl Mona (Joan Blondell). Along their trip the couple meets some quirky characters and get into some silly situations. It seems to me that the movie its story was inspired by the Greek Odyssey.

Errol Flynn is of course perfect as 'the perfect specimen'. I was a little bit worried about his comical talent but he pulls of rather well in this movie. All of the other actors are also fine professional comedy actors who all help to make this movie a fun, simple and non-serious one to watch.

A fun movie, that is very well worth watching.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

I have to agree with the other review on the page...The Perfect Specimen is a far better screwball comedy than it's been given credit for. In fact, it's head and shoulders above Flynn's next screwball comedy, 1938's Four's A Crowd.

It helped that Flynn and Joan Blondell were pals off-screen, because they show a very comfortable and breezy rapport with each other on-screen. Flynn shows a light and pleasant acting touch in this, especially when compared to his ham-handed performances in Four's A Crowd or Footsteps In The Dark.

It's too bad this isn't available on video, because I think both Flynn fans and non-Flynn fans will discover a small treasure.

Gerald Wicks is being groomed by his dictatorial millionaire grandmother to be a responsible pater familias in total seclusion from the world, "a lily in a hothouse", he calls it. Then one day Mona, a tough-as-nails female reporter, comes crashing through the gates and before long Gerald takes off on his own to seek out his newfound friend and they set out to explore life together.

Admittedly, this is a very small film, and one that doesn't quite know how to hold itself together. The script is filled with loose ends and blind alleys, and a lot of the dialogue must have seemed dated even in 1937. Having said that, this movie boasts Joan Blondell and a very young Errol Flynn, and their easy banter is delightful. She never photographed this well ever again, and Flynn ... well, suffice it to say that the director makes the most of all his chances to have his strapping young star-to-be stripped to the waist, beefcake galore!

AND the movie has a handful of wonderfully quirky bit parts, not many of them exactly organically interwoven in the whole, but they are never less than entertaining.

The Perfect Specimen (Michael Curtiz, 1937) is a fun Warner Bros comedy, with Errol Flynn cast against type as the eponymous figure: a sheltered heir to a small fortune, imprisoned within the ivory towers of his grandmother's estate. One day sassy chick Joan Blondell smashes through the fence and drives off with his heart. Not literally, of course, that wouldn't play so well to a mainstream audience. The film is episodic and slight, but unapologetically so, with some amusing set pieces that include Flynn's roadside punch up with hopeless pugilist Allen Jenkins. The ever-likable Jenkins (later the voice of Top Cat's Officer Dibble) is just one of a heap of well-known character actors turning up here, along with Hugh Herbert, May Robson, Harry Davenport and Edward Everett Horton – stealing the film hands down as a pathetically subservient, nervy personal secretary. There's the odd concession to high culture, with a recurring reference to Cervantes' Don Quixote, but mostly this is standard screwball stuff, utilising the considerable charm of its impressive cast.

I find most of Errol Flynn's minor films, well...minor. But this one is an exception. The premise seems one-joke gimmicky: Flynn has been raised by his grandmother to be perfect in every way, except that he lacks any experience of life, being kept a prisoner on her estate until Joan Blondell breaks through the fence surrounding the estate with her car, (a recurring, unsubtle motif). She convinces him to escape and see what life is like and he eventually does so, leading to a series of amusing misadventures reminiscent of 'It Happened One Night'. As reviewer 'SimonJack' points out, both films are based on magazine article by the same author, Samuel Hopkins Adams. If felt this to be as good but the I've always felt that 'it Happened' was a little over-rated, at least by the Oscars. Both films are amiable and fun and worth watching.

Flynn does a good job of playing the good-natured innocent. The flimsy premise comes not to even matter that much as he becomes just a guy trying to become independent from his grandmother and who has fallen for Blondell. This is one of Joan's best roles. In other films I've seen, she's the wise-cracking girlfriend of the hero or heroine. Here she's a romantic lead not at all dependent on zingers. The emotions of a woman falling in love but unsure she wants to join that family play well over her face. The film is full of Warner's wonderful character actors who, as a group, probably contributed as much to their films as their stars did.

The Perfect Specimen marked Errol Flynn's first foray into comedy and while amusing in spots does not work as well as Four's A Crowd or Footsteps In The Dark. In fact the film almost borders on the weird.

This film is a strange combination of Mr. Deeds Goes To Town and Being There. Errol Flynn has been raised by his tyrannical old grandmother May Robson on the confines of their vast estate which bears some resemblance to stately Wayne Manor. He's been raised like a hot house geranium, given the best education the world could offer, but has not had any human contact.

The premise isn't as strange as it sounds because after the Lindbergh kidnapping there was concern in the ranks of the rich and famous throughout the land. May Robson seems to have anticipated this because she's raised the 20 something Flynn like this away from the world for years before.

Flynn like Sellers in Being There has stayed on the grounds all his life, but he's not autistic. Still certain facts of life have been omitted from his education and given Flynn's reputation which he hadn't achieved when The Perfect Specimen they make viewing of the film a bit strange. Not the fault of Warner Brothers, who knew in 1937 that Errol Flynn would become synonymous with sexual prowess.

Anyway the same way Jean Arthur another reporter came crashing in on Gary Cooper's life, so does reporter Joan Blondell on the estate where her brother happens to be a gardener. Tyrannical old May Robson has even got a suitable wife picked out in Beverly Roberts whose a cousin, but Beverly likes the gardener Dick Foran.

When Flynn decides to go out in the world he borrows Foran's car who tells no one. His absence causes a panic in Robson who launches a nationwide manhunt for Flynn. Meanwhile he and Blondell are having a great old time on the road where his education about nearly everything else but social relations comes in handy.

The Perfect Specimen also boasts such folks as Edward Everett Horton, Allen Jenkins, Hugh Herbert, and Harry Davenport all in roles that are suitable to their type. Just their mention conjures up certain images and they perform right to image. The Flynn and Blondell team however was never asked for a repeat performance, they never really quite mesh.

The Perfect Specimen is amusing in a few places, but Flynn and Blondell were better showcased in a lot better films.

Fortunately for us, Carole Lombard, Marion Hopkins, Miriam Hopkins and Olivia de Havilland all turned down this role opposite Errol Flynn. None of those could possibly be a tenth as endearing, as funny, as utterly lovely or as perfect as Joan Blondell. She indeed is the perfect specimen.

Comedy was neither Errol Flynn's or Michael Curtiz's natural home but Joan Blondell could make the silliest story come to life. This is indeed the silliest story but Joan's magic makes this work and almost believable. It doesn't need to be completely believable because for that hour and a half all these characters seem like people you can believe in. It's got such a cosy, cuddly warmth about it, you can't help but enjoy it. And apart from the heretics who don't accept that Joan Blondell was the world's sexiest, loveliest woman whose smile could turn your legs to jelly, you'll love the fact that she'd never been more sweet and gorgeous than in this.

Half way through however your heart sinks as Hugh Herbert shows up. For once however you needn't hurl your dinner at the screen or rip your eyes out in despair - he's actually quite amusing (yes, seriously!) You don't often see him alongside Warner's other irritant, Edward Everett Horton but this unlikely, unholy combination actually works.

Despite my peculiarly weird obsession with Joan Blondell, this is actually a pretty decent thirties comedy. There were an awful lot of awful ones - some, I have to admit starring my beloved herself - she certainly did some rubbish so I didn't just like this because of it's a Joan Blondell film. It's real charming, escapist fun. Errol Flynn, despite some reviews isn't too bad and is as likeable as always. It's not especially funny but it will make you happy.

From director Michael Curtiz that uses the Warner Brothers stock company of contract players to great effect.

Wealthy and domineering Leona Wicks (May Robson) runs a tyrannical household, and nothing is more important to her than her grandson and heir Gerald (Errol Flynn). He's been raised in seclusion on her palatial estate and tutored in every subject imaginable since infancy in order to make him into "the perfect specimen", a man more than capable of taking over the family's interest when the time comes. However, his sheltered upbringing has made him bored and restless, and when the beautiful Mona Carter (Joan Blondell) comes literally crashing through the gate, he takes her advice to journey out into the world and see what's out there, an odyssey they take together which leads to love, naturally.

Flynn and Blondell make a great couple, with his easy physical grace and put-on naivete meshing well with Blondell's earthy sense and beauty. I also liked Jenkins and Moore as another that they literally bump into and form an unlikely friendship with. The movie lost a point or two from me, though, as soon as Hugh Herbert showed up and started to be "funny". Robson is good at playing cantankerous old ladies, but she nearly crosses the line from humorous to insufferable. Still, this was a very fun comedy, one that should be better known, and one that could easily be remade to some success in any era.

A very light hearted fun movie . I enjoyed Flynn's performance . He should have done more comedy , ala Cary Grant , he was very good at it . I really think that someone should put it on video for other's enjoyment . There are a lot of Errol Flynn fans out there and I know many of them would like to be able to see this comedy again .

"The Perfect Specimen" is a rare late-1930s comedy with Joan Blondell that didn't have the Warner Brothers starlet billed first. That's because a much bigger box office draw was in the male lead - Errol Flynn. Although Flynn's persona in most of the adventure and swashbuckler films he made had a touch of humor about him, the golden era matinee idol wasn't known for comedy. The notable exception was "Never Say Goodbye" of 1946. This film and one other are fairly good.

The story is about as improbable as any that one can imagine. Flynn's Gerald Wicks has been raised in seclusion by his eccentric wealthy grandmother to keep him from being tainted (or poisoned) by the ways of the world. The film is based on a magazine story by Samuel Hopkins Adams. He also wrote a magazine story that was the basis for "It Happened One Night."

Joan Blondell's Mona Carter crashes through a fence on the Wicks estate in order to meet the reclusive "hunk" whom she sees from a distance. That leads to untold adventure. But, contrary to what one might expect of someone who's led the life of a monk since childhood, Gerald is savvy about many things, especially how things work. That's because although he was sheltered from the physical contact with the world outside, he did study it in detail as part of his education.

Even with that, though, one must question how he took so quickly and naturally to driving - when he gets behind the wheel of Mona's car. Besides the humor of the encounters they have, the fine supporting cast add their own touches of comedy. Edward Everett Horton is Arthur Grattan, Hugh Herbert is Killigrew Shaw and Harry Davenport is Professor Carl Carter, Mona's father. May Robson plays the stern, crabby and sometimes funny grandmother, Mrs. Leona Wicks.

This is a fun, light comedy with a little action that many may enjoy. Here are some favorite lines. One can guess about the demise of the rooster.

Carl Carter, "You know, Mona's rather absent-minded. I often have to remind her to remember to tell me something that I'd forgotten."

Mrs. Wicks, "Grattan?" Arthur Grattan, "Yes, Mrs. Wicks." Mrs. Wicks, "I heard a rooster crow at half past six this morning". Mr. Grattan, "Oh, dear, dear." Mrs. Wicks, "Find out who's responsible and dismiss him." Mr. Grattan, "Dismiss rooster... yes, Mrs. Wicks."

Mrs. Leona Wicks, "Grattan?" Arthur Grattan: "Yes, Mrs. Wicks?" Mrs. Wicks, "How long have you been my secretary?" Mr. Grattan, "Oh, for 20 years now, Mrs. Wicks." Mrs. Wicks, "And for 20 years I haven't had a decent night's sleep." Grattan, "Oh, just a coincidence, I hope." Mrs. Wicks, "I hope so."

This film might have its critics, but for me it's always a delight to see good-natured humour given a chance to shine in the hands of great actors. Errol Flynn was one of the most underrated comedians of any age. He was always prepared to send himself up as easily as anyone else and few others could have carried this film off especially playing opposite the crackerjack Joan Blondell. Add May Robson, Allen Jenkins and Edward Everett Horton and you've got a great little film that would make anyone forget about the world's woes for a hour or three. Not to be missed by any joker with a heart and most people without one. Give in to a bit of fun now and again and remember that life is all meat and potatoes.

Errol Flynn (Gerald) is the perfect specimen. Unfortunately, he has become this way due to his over-bearing grandma May Robson who shields him from the world and ensures he has a daily physical and educational schedule. He must remain on the grounds of the Estate and has been betrothed to Beverly Roberts (Alicia), a partnership arranged by bossy, fussy grandma. Enter Joan Blondell (Mona/Tilly) who offers him an opportunity to discover the outside world. He takes it and plans change.

This is meant to be a comedy, so things pan out conveniently and everyone ends up with who they actually want to be with. It's peppered with comedy characters but unfortunately this doesn't work. The comedy is forced and not funny. Personal secretary Edward Everett Horton (Mr Grattan) isn't really given any funny lines to deliver whilst May Robson shouts her way through the proceedings. Shouting isn't funny and is used to mask a lack of humour. Stand-up comedians use this technique today. And it's still not funny. We also have Hugh Herbert (Killigrew) turn up as a wealthy divorced man who offers Flynn and Blondell companionship. OMG - please stop with the silly mannerisms. So, despite being a comedy, it is the comedy characters that drag this film into the tedious category.

Added to the lack of comedy, the story just isn't interesting. It contains a couple of bland incidents that kills off any good storyline.

I'm afraid the combined result of poor storyline and unfunny comedy characters leave the audience praying for the film to end. It goes without saying that this film seems longer than it actually is.

May Robson has spent a million dollars educating grandson Erroll Flynn to be the perfect specimen of manhood, and has engaged him to Beverly Roberts. Miss Roberts, though, likes engineer Dick Foran, who has gone to work as a gardener on Miss Robson's vast, fenced-in estate under a fake name. His sister, Joan Blondell, comes to visit him and crashes through a fence. And has spent some time slanging Flynn to his face. Then she leaves. Flynn pursues her.

It's a surprisingly ramshackle comedy directed by Michael Curtiz, in which Flynn meets a large number of eccentrics, from garage owner Granville Bates, who wishes to spend his time on his inventions, to poet Hugh Herbert. Meanwhile, Miss Robson believes he has been kidnapped, and has instituted a massive manhunt, frustrated by a lack of a photo of Flynn. Meanwhile, Flynn grows enamored of the freedom of living outside his grandmother's hothouse, using the great variety of skills he has been trained in, and falling in love with Miss Blondell.

The impulse seems to have been to create a 20th Century version of Tom Jones, with Flynn undergoing a bildungsroman during his wanderjahr. While there are plenty of fine comic actors to offer their patented techniques, including Edward Everett Horton, Allen Jenkins, and the quite funny Dennie Moore, the laughs aren't as frequent as they might be, and Flynn is a bit of a sopping sponge until the inevitable denouement, distantly helpful and unwilling to defend himself against a cruel and misguided grandmother/world. At almost a hundred minutes to complete its dual purposes -- make the audience laugh and mature Flynn -- it succeeds only in being pleasantly and amiably flabby.

What a pity The Perfect Specimen can't be released on DVD because of copyright issues, because it is a delightful romantic comedy directed by the great Michael Curtiz. Joan Blondell was at the height of her beauty and stardom but was being wasted on silly movies with predictable, boring male leads (Dick Powell, Pat O'Brien, etc.). Alongside young and exuberant Errol Flynn she is in her element and both have exceptional performances.

The movie is a breath of fresh air. The story is light and has no big twists, and it's just a treat to see Blodell and Flynn. Anyone who can find a copy of this film, or watch it on TCM should do so. It's guaranteed fun.

It doesn't take any imagination to understand why Errol Flynn was cast as the title character in The Perfect Specimen. The premise of this light comedy is akin to Twins: a physically perfect man is reared and instructed in a controlled environment, given proper nutrition and the best academic lessons. When he gets a taste of the outside world, of course, all that work is thrown out the window!

It's tough to picture Errol Flynn feeling incomplete without a lady's affections, and it's even tougher to picture irritating reporter Joan Blondell as the woman tormenting him. However, that's the storyline. I found the same fault with this movie as I do with all others of its type: why can't the perfect specimen be happy in his perfect surroundings? Why does he (or she, in other movies) always prefer rolling around in the muck to a well-ordered, calm life? Still, if you don't mind that lesson, you can check this one out. It always puts me in a good mood to watch an Errol Flynn movie, and a sub-par one is better than nothing!

May Robson is getting her grandson a total education and molding him into "The Perfect Specimen," with knowledge in all subjects and how to do everything a man should. The title will of course lead many female viewers to think of the obvious - great looks and a great bod. But who inhabits all these qualities and attributes?! Errol Flynn, of course, who has never been more perfectly coiffed. Many of the 1930s female viewers were probably not surprised and very heartily agreed. But here Errol is somewhat bummed that he is kept against his will, during this course of learning, and not able to break free and live and be wild and crazy. That is, until he meets Joan Blondell, who crashes in through the fence to meet him. Then they have numerous escapades together. Anyone who likes the stars will enjoy the film, but moments into this, one can tell this won't be as good as other films of its ilk. It boasts an impressive and colorful supporting cast with May Robson, Edward Everett Hobson, Dick Foran, Allen Jenkins and Hugh Herbert. But here May's character is ingratiating and loud and the others, while usually good, don't add much pizazz to this. But Hugh Herbert who is introduced midway into the film does interject some life and speaks in rhyme. The film does get better as Errol and Joan go on the run and get more romantic and quiet moments together. "The Perfect Specimen" has not been seen or shown on TV in years due to legal issues, but, if you're determined to get yourself "The Perfect Specimen," a dvr copy can bought off of eBay for a minimal cost. This little undemanding film is a very pleasant and feel-good experience but tries too hard in the very beginning to grab your attention and therefore its humor feels contrived and outlandish but the leads' chemistry and good looks can get under your skin and make you ignore all the flaws. Flaws!! What flaws?! With Errol Flynn as "The Perfect Specimen," what more do you need?