The Great Rupert (1950)

Directed by Irving Pichel; produced by George Pal

The Amendola family - Papa (Jimmy Durante), Mama (Queenie Smith) and daughter Rosalinda (Terry Moore) - a former Vaudeville act unemployed for some months, manage to find a rundown garage to rent until they get back on their feet. Unbeknownst to them, they share their quarters with a squirrel named Rupert, whose circus-performer owner (Jimmy Conlin) had to let him go due to circumstances similar to the Amendolas’. But Rupert unwittingly may be the literal answer to his new neighbours’ prayers.

The Great Rupert had an promising premise - a cleverly-trained performing squirrel inadvertently solving human problems - but then submerged it in a run-of-the-mill plot about a family’s rise from rags to riches. The movie’s failure is due to the latter aspect, and not the former, being its focus.

Instead of Rupert, Jimmy Durante takes centre-stage. Certainly, being a fan of old movies, comedies included, I can testify that many, indeed the majority, of old movies don’t date badly. Comedy, however, probably has the most to fear from changing tastes, yet the work of Sturges, Capra, Lloyd, Keaton and, of course, Chaplin - along with a multitude of others - rise beyond any one era. Some comedy does not. I have not watched a lot of Durante, so The Great Rupert may simply be a bad example of an otherwise worthy talent.

It might be the writing that is to blame, though the sub-plot, featuring a romance between Rosalinda and her landlord’s son (Tom Drake), is mildly involving; ironic, when forced romantic side-stories are usually the weakest part of any comedy. When Durante is on the screen, though, the humour is lame; the sort of jokes that one must laugh at because they’re told by one’s girlfriend’s father. To be fair, a great many comics - especially those with successful stand-up routines - come a cropper when forced to work with other writers’ material. This has been often the case on television.

There are features of the film that are interesting, at least: Rupert goes through his antics in a combination of real-life squirrel action and stop-motion photography. It puzzled me initially, seeing George Pal’s name as the producer, how his particular talents would fit in to this film. Granted, Pal produced and directed a variety of very good films, including The War of the Worlds, The Naked Jungle, When Worlds Collide and 7 Faces of Dr Lao. But he had his start in stop-action animation and, sure enough, here it is again, in The Great Rupert. Both Pal and the director appear as extras in scenes.

The Amendolas discover new wealth and use it not just for their own material comfort, but to help others. A charity to which they give a thousand dollars is one which provides shoes for European children; this was a real and specific need after the Second World War. Also, they invest in local businesses; most of these have proprietors with non-English names, and one has an eastern European accent. The message, subtly given, is that with just a little help, immigrants will make successes of themselves and their communities; a commendable message, but no more than of incidental entertainment in a comedy.

Despite its title, The Great Rupert misses the mark by making the story about humans - and humans who don’t even know of Rupert’s existence - instead of putting the squirrel at the centre, and having various human stories revolve around him. The result is a bland, largely unfunny, comedy.