Paddy the Next Best Thing (1933) Poster

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5/10
Tired
boblipton6 September 2022
Tea planter Warner Baxter shows up in Ireland, getting ready to ask Margaret Lindsay to marry him. Walter Connolly, is about to have everything repossessed by creditors, so persuades her to do so, although she loves local lad Harvey Stephens. On the way to ask, however, Baxter rescues Janet Gaynor, whose sailboat has been swamped in the bay.

We know how this is going to turn out, but there are all those loose ends to tie up, mostly by arranging for Connolly to croak, and allowing Baxter, with apparently an infinite fortune, to settle all matters. There's the inevitable third-act bafflement when Miss Gaynor decides she hates Baxter, but we can be certain this will be handwaved away by the end.

In short, it's typical, sentimental piffle, and while everyone performs their roles well -- Connolly, as always, is excellent -- this was from the weakest period of Fox, and they were allowing their leads to carry the movie instead of giving them good writing or a strong director. Miss Gaynor's roles would show an upswing the following year, but she would not survive the merger with Zanuck's 20th Century Productions.
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Janet overdoes adorable, again
marcslope26 March 2009
Something of a follow-up to the 1931 "Daddy Long Legs," which also had Janet Gaynor as a waif eventually won by the much, much older Warner Baxter, this one has her as Walter Connolly's spunky Irish daughter, whose older sister (nicely played by Margaret Lindsay) is about to marry Baxter for his money and thus retire Connolly's debts, though she loves Harvey Stephens, who is in fact infinitely more appealing than Warner Baxter. I've never understood Baxter's appeal, and Gaynor is pretty hard to take here, too, overdoing as she so often did at Fox her "love me, I'm an adorable little girl" persona. She doesn't even attempt an Irish accent, nor can we tell whether Baxter is supposed to be American, English, Irish, or Canadian. Connolly is wonderful, though, and the Irish atmosphere is winsome and convincing--if that's not Galway location shooting, it's the best imitation I've ever seen. It's pleasant enough, with more pacing than the early Fox talkies usually displayed, but not particularly worth seeking out.
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3/10
Little Miss Fix It deserves a major paddling.
mark.waltz20 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This sappy yet unlikable bit of blarney features Janet Gaynorat the end of her popularity before leaving Fox studios, and the vehicle she is giving here explains why she was falling out of favor as the depression was at its height. She's the title character, the younger daughter of ailing Irish businessman Walter Connelly (the one shining light of this film) who is in debt and hoping that oldest daughter Margaret Lindsay will marry wealthy American Warner Baxter. Gaynor meets him on his way to meet Lindsay and falls in love with him. Knowing that her sister is really in love with Harvey Stephens, Gaynor schemes to win Baxter for herself.

Labeled as a comedy, I couldn't find one light bit of humor, and I certainly wasn't crazy about either sister here. Baxter doesn't give a performance as much as play himself, and Gaynor and Lindsay don't even seem to be related. But the sentimental drama surrounding the cuddly Connolly is what makes the film barely passable, and had he not been in it as long as he was, I would have ranked this lower. It's obvious that Gaynor only did this for contractual obligations at Fox because her heart does not seem to be in making her character win any sympathy.

The good sets do represent the Irish coastline, and the supporting characters in smaller parts are believable. But the film overall is dull and cloying, and it's a good thing she would have a big success for years later with the original "A Star is Born", otherwise Gaynor would be a footnote in Hollywood history today. Lindsey went to better things at Warner Brothers, and Baxter would go on to be a memorable "Crime Doctor", but this film is obviously obscure for a reason, one of Fox's genuine mutts.
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