User Comments:
A millionaire in pauper's guise, 29 May 2003
Author:
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre (Borroloola@aol.com) from Minffordd, North Wales
The most interesting thing about '$20 a Week' (that's how the title
appears
in the opening credits) is the interaction between George Arliss and
Ronald
Colman as father and son. But most of their scenes are played
separately.
Muriel Hart is a spoilt society girl who adopts a little boy as her son
for
all the wrong reasons. Much like a child who accepts a live duckling as a
toy for Easter, then abandons it after the novelty wears off, Muriel soon
tires of her bratty stepson Arthur. Her equally spoilt older brother
William
Hart (apparently not concerned that he has the same name as a cowboy
actor)
decides to one-up his sister. Muriel adopted a son, so William will adopt
a
father! After a chance meeting with a well-spoken but apparently
impoverished old man named John Reeves, William decides to adopt this man
as
his own (and Muriel's) stepfather.
Actually, John Reeves is quite wealthy. In the first scene of this movie,
we
see him in his Park Avenue mansion arguing with his son Chester (Ronald
Colman) over the value of money. To provide his point, the elder Reeves
decides to put aside his wealth and go out into the world ... living on
no
more than $20 a week, without disclosing his identity nor drawing upon
his
wealth. (In 1924, $20 a week was a feasible budget.) To spite his son and
amuse himself, John Reeves decides to become the 'stepfather' of the
Harts,
for the princely sum of $20 a week. Implausible events occur, with An
Important Lesson at the end.
This movie isn't remotely plausible, but it's enjoyable anyway and Arliss
has a rare chance to show his skill at comedy. But this is a gentle
comedy
of manners, not a laughfest. I was impressed with Ivan Sampson and Walter
Howe. Taylor Holmes is best-known for the older roles he played in the
1940s; it's interesting to see him here as a younger man. The
tousle-haired
little boy who plays Muriel's stepson should be drawn and quartered. I'll
rate this movie 5 out of 10.
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