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Constance Dowling and Chester Morris in Blind Spot (1947)

Mary Astor, Herbert Marshall, and Virginia Bruce in Woman Against Woman (1938)

Edward G. Robinson and Jean Parker in Black Tuesday (1954)

Joan Blondell, Wallace Ford, and Guy Kibbee in Central Park (1932)

Mary Astor, Edward Everett Horton, Patricia Ellis, Guy Kibbee, Adolphe Menjou, and Genevieve Tobin in Easy to Love (1934)

Susan Hayward and Robert Preston in Tulsa (1949)

George Sanders and Lynn Bari in The Falcon Takes Over (1942)

Hugh Herbert, Hobart Cavanaugh, Patricia Ellis, Warren Hull, and Frank McDonald in Love Begins at 20 (1936)

Guy Kibbee and Aline MacMahon in Big Hearted Herbert (1934)

I never saw a college man yet who was worth his salt - freshman year or any other year!

Aren't you being a bit severe on colleges, Mr. Kalness?

"Colleges"? We don't have 'em any more. Big athletic institutions. Football teams. Baseball teams. Crews, swimmers, hockey players. Tiddlywinks teams for all I know. Careening around the country to get their pictures in the paper!

Junior Durkin, Guy Kibbee, and Aline MacMahon in Big Hearted Herbert (1934)

Patricia Ellis and Phillip Reed in Big Hearted Herbert (1934)

Aline MacMahon

Guy Kibbee

Patricia Ellis

Lillie Hayward

Ben Markson

Sophie Kerr

A grumpy father disapproves of his daughter&apos;s Harvard-educated fiancé. After he ruins their engagement dinner, his wife plans revenge when he brings business clients home.

William Keighley

Big Hearted Herbert

Pleasant Film, Not Quite a Home Run

Does Guy Kibbee, a popular 1930&apos;s character actor, have what it takes to carry the lead role in an entire movie? This film gives us the answer: No. But it&apos;s fun watching him try.

Kibbee plays the sarcastically-named Big Hearted Herbert, a blowhard who scares neither his family nor his daughter&apos;s fiancé with his incessant yelling and complaining. In most movies, Kibbee provides comic relief as a blustery background character, which is usually great. But his non-stop bellowing throughout an entire film is too much of a good thing, particularly because Kibbee&apos;s one-note acting style doesn&apos;t display at any sweet or lovable side of his personality. Only the eye-rolling and put-downs of the other cast members hint that Big Hearted Herbert is really a softy. It&apos;s kind of like watching Jackie Gleason play Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners, except that the richer and more successful Big Hearted Herbert is a way less sympathetic character, and the more talented Gleason was able to demonstrate occasional warmth.

But despite this, the film is actually fun to watch. The cast does a great job of dragging Big Hearted Herbert into reluctantly accepting the lifestyles of his son and daughter. Apparently Herbert hates lawyers, which is a problem, because his daughter wants to marry one. (Imagine how many issues Big Hearted Herbert would have in the 21st century, when his daughter would want to become one!) And his son doesn&apos;t want to go into the family business that Herbert worked so hard to build. It&apos;s all mostly handled in a lighthearted way, except toward the end, when Big Hearted Herbert&apos;s wife has to threaten some drastic action to drag Herbert into developing a more enlightened viewpoint.

So spend an hour with this movie, have a very pleasant time, and gain a better understanding of why the talented Mr. Kibbee was relegated to minor parts for most of his career.

Does Guy Kibbee, a popular 1930's character actor, have what it takes to carry the lead role in an entire movie? This film gives us the answer: No. But it's fun watching him try.

Kibbee plays the sarcastically-named Big Hearted Herbert, a blowhard who scares neither his family nor his daughter's fiancé with his incessant yelling and complaining. In most movies, Kibbee provides comic relief as a blustery background character, which is usually great. But his non-stop bellowing throughout an entire film is too much of a good thing, particularly because Kibbee's one-note acting style doesn't display at any sweet or lovable side of his personality. Only the eye-rolling and put-downs of the other cast members hint that Big Hearted Herbert is really a softy. It's kind of like watching Jackie Gleason play Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners, except that the richer and more successful Big Hearted Herbert is a way less sympathetic character, and the more talented Gleason was able to demonstrate occasional warmth.

But despite this, the film is actually fun to watch. The cast does a great job of dragging Big Hearted Herbert into reluctantly accepting the lifestyles of his son and daughter. Apparently Herbert hates lawyers, which is a problem, because his daughter wants to marry one. (Imagine how many issues Big Hearted Herbert would have in the 21st century, when his daughter would want to become one!) And his son doesn't want to go into the family business that Herbert worked so hard to build. It's all mostly handled in a lighthearted way, except toward the end, when Big Hearted Herbert's wife has to threaten some drastic action to drag Herbert into developing a more enlightened viewpoint.

So spend an hour with this movie, have a very pleasant time, and gain a better understanding of why the talented Mr. Kibbee was relegated to minor parts for most of his career.

A grumpy father disapproves of his daughter's Harvard-educated fiancé. After he ruins their engagement dinner, his wife plans revenge when he brings business clients home.

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