Good Sam Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Good Sam Blu-ray Movie Review

Lousy film.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 16, 2014

Our modern day Oracle of Delphi, one Judith Sheindlin (known popularly as Judge Judy), often upbraids contestants (well, that’s what they are, essentially) on her show that “no good deed goes unpunished”. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine a 1940s version of this venerable sage offering much the same advice to the character of Samuel R. Clayton (Gary Cooper), the titular Good Sam of Leo McCarey’s little remembered film from 1948. Supposedly a heart tugging comedy-drama built around salvation at Christmastime a la the somewhat tonally similar It's a Wonderful Life, Good Sam is instead a fitfully entertaining but ultimately kind of annoying film where Sam runs around do-gooding to no avail, usually reaping nothing but trouble for his efforts. Looking on in horror is his wife, Lu (Ann Sheridan), who traverses an emotional arc from frustration to near apoplexy as her husband does everything from loan his car to neighbors, save an employee from suicide, and give the Claytons’ down payment for a new house to a young couple struggling to shore up their business. This is funny? Putting aside any perceived lack in the actual comedy here, Good Sam isn’t ever particularly moving, either, due mostly to the fact that Sam just seems genetically incapable of doing anything other than giving, giving, giving, no matter how much the recipient seems to be worthy. There’s something noble to giving to needy people who are truly destitute and (usually, anyway) appreciative. There’s something downright stupid about giving to greedy good for nothings who seem to think it’s their right to be provided for by someone else’s largesse.

Lousy film.

Good Sam came right smack dab in between one of McCarey’s best remembered films, The Bells of St. Mary's (his follow-up to his multi- Oscar winning Going My Way), and what many consider to be the nadir of his career, the 1952 anti-commie opus My Son John, a film whose inherent strangeness is only magnified by the fact that star Robert Walker died during production, leaving McCarey to “punt” (including utilizing footage culled from Strangers on a Train). McCarey was never one not to wear his political and/or religious beliefs quite clearly on his sleeve, and that tendency is slathered all over Good Sam from the first minute, when the Clayton family listens semi-attentively in church to a sermon delivered by Reverend Daniels (Ray Collins, considerably kindlier than he was as Lieutenant Tragg on television’s Perry Mason). Reverend Daniels asserts that The Golden Rule really would work fantastically well if only there were enough decent people around to really abide by it. And that’s the none too subtle crux on which a lot of Good Sam hinges.

Sam takes that message completely (and perhaps even zealously) to heart, starting from the minute he, his wife and two kids return home to find their neighbors struggling with a broken down car. Without giving it a second thought, Sam offers the family the use of his car, much to the consternation of Sam’s wife. Lu’s annoyance only grows when the neighbors insist that Sam call a mechanic to repair the car and feed their dog while they’re gone. Obviously, these are not “deserving” people in any traditional sense, but it’s McCarey’s way of priming the audience to believe that what goes around, comes around—if you have enough patience. (Strangely, this thesis is only with regard to Sam’s benevolence; none of the boors in the film ever really get much of a comeuppance.)

The plot continues to meander through unforeseen consequences stemming from Sam’s loan of the family car, while also introducing even less auspicious material for a putative comedy. Sam works at the local department store, where he attempts to caution clerk Shirley Mae (Joan Lorring), only to get sucked into her life’s melodramas (which ultimately escalate to an attempted suicide—hilarious!). (Note the cameo from Ruth Roman, playing Ruthie, in the first department store sequence.) Sam also has to deal with a freeloading brother-in-law (Dick Ross), in a plot that ultimately dovetails with Shirley Mae’s, and the repercussions that stem from his unauthorized loan to a young couple.

Cooper’s inherent affability suits the role of Sam about as well as could be hoped for, but this film is ultimately the sort of thing where some audience members are going to be frothing at the mouth over the character’s inability to distinguish altruism from idiocy. Through it all, the usually glamorous Ann Sheridan is forced to parade around in a bizarre set of headwear while doing little more than glaring inconsolably at her screen husband as he engages in one shenanigan after another.

The film tries to work up a sentimental froth as it ambles toward an expected happy ending, but there’s been so little real involvement with the characters through the film that the resolutions (and they come in droves) hardly matter. McCarey wants us to believe that good people like Good Sam will ultimately always prevail, but when they’re stuck in a film as turgid as this one is, it’s hard to believe in much more than the title card announcing “the end”.

Good Sam Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Good Sam is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. This is one of the more problematic catalog titles of this vintage we've seen from Olive, mostly due to inconsistencies which seem to stem from multiple source elements. When this transfer is at its best, it could easily be worthy of a 3.0 or even a 3.5 score, but those moments are repeatedly done in by hugely variable clarity and contrast issues that seem to pop up out of nowhere. At several moments, it appears that selected scenes have been optically zoomed or at the very least sourced from some ancient 16mm print (see screenshot 16 for just one example). These moments typically offer really fuzzy imagery and rather poor, muddy contrast. There's also the more expected amount of wear and tear, though there are some weird anomalies here as well. Pay attention for example during Shirley Mae's first scene at the music listening station in the department store (yes, department stores used to feature such things), and on a couple of frames you'll see a matrix of dots that look like someone was starting a game of tic tac toe. While this follows the Olive tradition of no digital interference, in this case there's a noticeable variation in grain structure (and even size) that may distract the more ardent videophile.

Good Sam Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Good Sam's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track fares considerably better than the video component of this Blu-ray, though it, too, has some age related issues at times. There's a slightly shrill upper range to this track that is mostly evident during the opening music and some underscore. Dialogue is generally cleanly presented.

Good Sam Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with most Olive Films catalog releases, there are no supplements offered on this Blu-ray disc.

Good Sam Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Good Sam proves that the cinematic road to hell is paved with good intentions, or at least the reputations of A-list stars and a then very hot writer-director. The film is largely a shambles, neither very funny nor very moving. Instead, Good Sam is a mostly grating experience, one that's further exacerbated by one of the more problematic video presentations we've seen from Olive.