Turn Back the Clock

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Trailer—Turn Back the Clock

Turn Back the Clock

An extraordinarily-well written screenplay by Ben Hecht and Edgar Selwyn stands up surprisingly well over the years. Selwyn directs this little seen drama with good, but not great, results. The unusual plot leads the viewer to speculate what he or she would do if given the opportunities that unfold. As has been remarked by other reviewers, Frank Capra would have been very comfortable with the project. The major theme is to remind depression-era movie audiences that money does not lead to happiness and they are probably better off the way that they are. It would have been nice to see this film with come better leading actors, about all one can say is that they get the lines out and give life support to the drama. Cinematography is extremely good as you would expect from Harold Rosson. This could have been a very much better film with a better cast. One has to wonder why it has not been thought of for a remake? Highly recommended.

Unusual little drama penned by Ben Hecht and director Edgar Selwyn about a tobacco store proprietor who is reunited with an old classmate who is now a wealthy industrialist and married to the store owner's first love. The store owner wishes he had his life to do over again, and gets his wish. After being hit by a car, he wakes up 20 years younger, 20 years ago. He then begins to pursue his old flame and make money, as his memory about all future events is intact. But he soon finds money cannot buy happiness, a perfect theme for Depression-era audiences. If the movie weren't so florid, it might easily be mistaken for a very early Twilight Zone episode. Lee Tracy and Mae Clarke are the leads. This is a cleverly written time travel movie, even if it turns out to be all a cautionary dream.

A unique film of the "if I had it all to do over" variety, Turn Back The Clock gives Lee Tracy a chance to show the full range of his talents as an average Joe who wants a second chance at life and gets it. Director Edgar Selwyn and screenwriter Ben Hecht delivered a small masterpiece in 1933 that might seem familiar now to later generations. Everyone from Frank Capra to Rod Serling has used the same theme successfully - the lesson to be learned: you can't change the past without consequences, so maybe its better just to be happy with what you have. TCM has this one in its vault, so see it if you're a Tracy fan. You won't be disappointed. Excellent performances by Mae Clarke and Peggy Shannon as well. Funny and dramatic with some of the delightful over the top stuff you'd expect from an early Thirties film, but fast and insightful at the same time. Oh, and an uncredited guest bit with The Three Stooges as wedding singers!

This is the type of fantasy Frank Capra put his stamp on just a few years later. It stars Lee Tracy as a working-class guy who begins to regret his humble life after meeting up with old friends who have become wealthy; he gets his chance to go back in time and live his life over again. Premise has since been used time and again, but here it's given a surprisingly fresh and clear-eyed take. Tracy is the only acting liability among the performers(he's too broad for a subtle picture like this one). It's well-paced, amusing, shies away from mushy sentimentality, and features The Three Stooges--unbilled in a cameo as wedding singers!