Papa's Delicate Condition (1963) Reviews

• Rainbows He's Inclined To Pursue

  bkoganbing2009-04-09

  I remember seeing Papa's Delicate Condition with cousins in a drive-in theater back when it was first released. I hadn't seen it since until recently and was pleasantly surprised at how well I remembered it and remembered it for being good. The film is based on the memoirs of silent screen star Corinne Griffith of her childhood in Texarkana, Texas where her father is a railroad executive. Papa is Jackie Gleason and his delicate condition is a tendency to be overly generous and impulsive when drinking. Alcohol is supposed to loosen one's inhibitions and his Gleason's case, it loosens his wallet as well. All this is driving his wife Glynis Johns to the point of despair. The film is a Music Man type look at turn of the last century America and it makes good use of period music, especially Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey. However one new song was written for Papa's Delicate Condition from Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn, Call Me Irresponsible. Gleason sings that one after Glynis has taken daughters Laurel Goodwin and Linda Bruhl away and gone to live with her father, Charlie Ruggles. The Great One is pretty much in his cups and to the accompaniment of a music box sings the sad refrain. The song gained for Papa's Delicate Condition it's one Oscar for Best Song. On record the standard version is by Frank Sinatra who enjoyed a big hit record with it in 1963. I'm not sure what director George Marshall's reason was for casting one of the great imbibers of the last century as a dipsomaniac, but you won't find a trace of the braggadocious Ralph Kramden in Gleason's performance. It's an effective and gentler side of Jackie Gleason that was not seen often enough.

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• Gleason near the peak of his form

  OldPolitico2005-02-14

  The first thing that ought to be pointed out is that this film is based on a book by Corrine Griffith (the little girl Corrie in the film) about her childhood in turn of the century Texas. Her father was a hard-drinking railroad executive who tried to make up for long absences and other failings as a husband and father by occasionally giving rather outlandish gifts to his wife and daughters. Jackie Gleason, who had an undistinguished screen career in a range of roles in the Forties and a great success in comedy on television beginning in the Fifties, appears here near the peak of his form as a dramatic actor. This side of his talent is almost forgotten today, but it included his role as Minnesota Fats (for which he won Best Supporting Actor) in The Hustler, as well as very creditable star turns in Gigot and Soldier In The Rain. In Papa's Delicate Condition we have Gleason playing a complex role that ranges from the breezy banter and physical comedy familiar from his work on The Life of Riley, The Honeymooners and The American Scene Magazine, to great pathos. No stranger to the pitfalls of "demon rum" in his own life, Gleason is masterful in his portrayal of a man deeply in love with his wife and children and yet seemingly doomed by his dipsomania to disappoint them. Gleason, a very successful composer and band leader who couldn't read music, also sings the title song Call Me Irresponsible which furnishes a wonderful portrait of his character - "Say I'm unreliable, but it's undeniably true, I'm irresponsibly mad for you."

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• Screwball pathos

  missy_baxter2001-06-26

  This turn-of-the-century period piece defines a genre all its own: screwball pathos. Jackie is larger-than-life, outrageous, sings the Academy-award-winning Best Song ("Call Me Irresponsible") in self-deprecatory pathos, and is generally an irresponsible but frustratingly lovable alcoholic of a husband to Glynis Johns. Johns is marvelous as the wife at the end of her rope who really doesn't want to let go, but feels like she must for the good of her children. The result is not entirely successful, and elicits some consternation from me as a modern woman, but I know that's the wrong perspective. It's certainly memorable, and moves reasonably well, so it's worth a look if you haven't seen it.

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• He's in the family way, or possibly in the way of his family.

  mark.waltz2013-05-28

  Eccentric Jackie Gleason utilizes alcohol, not only for "medicinal" purposes, but to express his desire to be kind to his fellow man. Equally as big hearted as he is in size, Gleason, somewhat an embarrassment to his wife and oldest daughter, is truly a hero to his youngest daughter, throwing love on her like frosting on top of a birthday cake. A mixture of flamboyant comedy and pathos, this is a period slice of life of one man's life, Gleason really a male version of Mame Dennis, and as far from Ralph Kramden as possible. Having won the hearts of a few people who managed to see past the pretentiousness of the artistic "Gigot" (where he was a mute), Gleason really is father of the year, and citizen of the year, as he shows his uppity family members how they can't live without his bigger-than-life love, even winning over his uppity father-in-law (Charlie Ruggles, cast against type) in the process. Watch how he deals with the humorless store owner Charles Lane who discriminates against his clerk, a new father, and struggles to give his younger daughter her dream by purchasing an entire circus just so she can ride on a horse and cart in the town parade. Gleason in real life may have been a difficult star personality to deal with, but with many of his film performances, he was able to show a huge heart that beat underneath "the great one" bravado. Linda Bruhl also scores as the younger daughter who really could have written a book and called it "I Remember Papa". As for Gleason's obvious alcoholism, his light-hearted demeanor while intoxicated may offend those who see drinking as an evil (especially when involving children), and even if you don't, you do pray that at least he will try and curb his drinking. There's a cute scene between Brul and Glynis Johns (as the loving but stern mother) where mama tries to get a recording of "When Will You Come Home Bill Bailey?" out of her reach, but Bruhl simply and honestly shows her how that doesn't work. An honest confection of early 20th Century small town Texas (featuring a garishly purple house), this will offer you smiles, laughs and tears, and not necessarily in that order.

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• An Entertaining Film Overall!

  Syl2013-04-23

  Jackie Gleason should have earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in playing Jack Griffith, a railroad businessman, who ends up buying a drugstore and circus. In this film, Gleason is irresistible in the role. He played a larger than life man devoted to his wife and daughters especially the youngest one, Corrie. His wife is equally played by a powerhouse named Glynis Johns. She holds her own against her husband's impulsive actions. Jack would do anything for his family including a raffle scam to paint a purple house white to uplift his wife's spirits. He doesn't appear to let up. He's got quite a sense of witty humor where he knows how to have a good time, make friends, and have the adoration of his youngest daughter, Corrie. When she wants a pony, Jack buys the entire circus. The supporting cast is equally impressive and strong. The writing could have been better though. Jackie Gleason's performance in singing "Call Me Irresponsible" is heartbreaking after his wife and daughters leave him. What's a man to do but bring the circus to the family.

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