Product Description

Studio: Gotham (dba Alpha) Release Date: 04/27/2004

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #173611 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-04-27
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 58 minutes

Customer Reviews

Silent Stars in a Poverty Row Talkie
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY is a fairly interesting little drama from 1933 from "poverty row" studio, Invincible Pictures. This low-budger effort stars a number of fairly well-known names from the silent era, Lew Cody, Aileen Pringle, Sally O'Neil, Marceline Day, and Claire McDowell.

Cody stars as a middle-aged doctor whose highly successful practice consists mainly of coddling rich hypochrondriacs, though he does charity work on the side. When a poor woman dies in his office waiting to be seen, Cody takes it upon himself to be the ward of her teenaged daughter (O'Neil) which mainly consists of mainly paying for her pricey boarding school while he is away for several years in Europe working on a distingushed research project. Upon his return three years later, he is startled to find the young girl has grown into a young woman now eighteen and upset to find her engaged to a young man (Edward Morgan) he knows has a skeleton in his closet. Also anxious is Cody's longtime fiancee Aileen Pringle, who suspects his feelings for the young woman might be more than paternal.

Although a "pre-code", it's not particularly racy other than it's rather audacious plot of a guardian having latent feelings toward his ward. The movie is slightly frank in that Morgan has had sexual relations with Pauline Garon but it's left to the viewer to decide if she is pregnant and will have his illegitimate child, is pregnant and will have an abortion, or has caught a disease from him.

The film print has many defects and the predictable scratches and repaired broken film bits that jump the film on occasion, picture quality is generally good but far from excellent. The cover photos of Cody and O'Neil seem from other productions (a much earlier one from Cody) but the other photos on the sleeve are from the film.

Lew Cody (1884-1934) at this stage in his life is not quite a matinee idol, rather plump and resembling a cross between Gale Gordon and the older Walt Disney, he would pass away only one year later at age 49. Sally O'Neil (1908-1968) was a tiny little actress who specialized in child-women, even with her petiteness she's a bit too old to be credible as the 14-year-old in the beginning and her face appears to have been quite a white makeup to make her seem younger, she is however very appealing as the gentle young girl whose courteous yet somber voice neverthless vividly conveys an early life of defeat. Aileen Pringle (1895-1989) has little to do despite her second billing as Cody's somewhat pretentious and controlling, yet not unfeeling, fiancee. This little soap opera doesn't start too well but it does get better as it progresses, and it should be of some interest to those who enjoy poverty row productions of the 1930's and seeing silent stars in talkies.

average early `30s lightweight drama--with Sally O'Neil stealing the show
By Appointment Only is a pre-code film from 1933 that tells a good story despite a handful of flaws. The print and sound could be better; and some good quality footage must have been left on the cutting room floor. Although the dialog works well most of the time there were one or two times when I thought some cutting had clearly been done; one or two conversations seem cut off abruptly. The acting isn't too convincing--except for Sally O'Neil who plays Judy and Edward Morgan as Richard Manners. On the other hand, the plot moves along at a very good pace. The cinematography shines and the choreography is good.

When the action starts, we see a very busy medical practice run by Dr. Michael Travers (Lew Cody) who caters to ladies with fears about illnesses that they really don't have. Dr. Travers does have some legitimately ill patients; and he does find time to do research and help the poor regardless of their ability to ever pay him.

One afternoon Mrs. Mary Carroll (Claire McDowell) arrives without an appointment to see Dr. Travers; she's one of the few patients he'll have that day who are actually sick. Because she doesn't have an appointment, Mary Carroll must wait four hours to see Dr. Travers. Just when he'll finally see her, Mrs. Carroll falls over and dies on the spot from cardiac failure. Dr. Travers is riddled with guilt and when he meets Mary's 14 year old daughter Judy (Sally O'Neil), Travers feels so sorry for the kid that he throws her a little birthday party; he even finances her time at boarding school. Meanwhile, Dr. Travers' lady friend Diane Manners (Aileen Pringle) may be stuffy at times, but she does think highly of Michael Travers for helping Judy in addition to doing all his prestigious work and research.

A little over three years go by and Michael Travers returns to America after a three year lecture circuit in Europe. By coincidence, Judy's also graduating from school; and when Michael sees Judy he begins to have amorous feelings for her. This causes immediate trouble, however, because Judy is already engaged to Diane's younger brother Richard (who they fondly refer to as D***). Tension rises as Michael Travers and Richard compete for Judy's affections; and there's even more tension between Diane and Michael Travers as Diane realizes she may be losing her middle aged fiancé to Judy, a much younger woman.

How will this all work out? After all, Judy says she would never do anything to hurt her "Uncle Michael." Will she stay away from Diane's younger brother as Michael really wants her to do? Will she rebel and marry Richard very quickly? What about Diane--how does she handle the problem of competing with Judy for Michael's affection? Watch the movie and find out!

The DVD doesn't come with any extras; but I suppose that a very old film from a small movie studio wouldn't come with much in the way of bonus features, especially with the low price of this DVD as of the time I am writing this.

By Appointment Only is a film that does indeed tell a good story. The quality of the print and the sound could be better; it definitely needs a restoration. Most of the acting wasn't that great, either. Nevertheless, it will hold your attention as the plot moves along quickly; and classic movie fans will want to have this in their collections.