Come and Get It

A lumber tycoon (Edward Arnold) abandons a saloon girl (Frances Farmer) then rivals his son (Joel McCrea) for her daughter (Frances Farmer).

Come and Get It was Samuel Goldwyn’s big screen adaptation of Edna Ferber’s famed novel. Unfortunately, Goldwyn was something of a stickler for the source material and replaced original director Howard Hawks with William Wyler when Hawks attempted to diverge from the novel during the film’s later half.

For his part, Hawks says everything but the final 10 minutes or so is his, but that’s probably his ego talking. The truth is the film’s first half is very good, and vintage Hawks, while the second half… well, not so much.

Edward Arnold is a very underrated actor who packs a lot of charisma into his considerable frame, and he’s great as the lead, Barney Glasgow, a self-made lumber baron who abandons the love of his life for power and riches. Opposite him, Hawks mainstay Walter Brennan is surprisingly effective as Arnold’s Swedish best friend.

But it’s Frances Farmer who steals the film, especially in the first half where she’s the ideal Hawks girl, tough, sexy and whip-smart. Her later role, playing her own daughter, is less so, but it’s here that Wyler’s melodramatic touch becomes more apparent, and why Hawks likely sought to divert a bit from the novel.

Unfortunately, Come and Get It is an almost good film that can’t escape a weak third act that drains all the life and energy out of the picture. While the closing scene is great, Wyler lacks Hawks’ sensibilities and we stop relating to Arnold’s character. What began as an epic look at one man’s rise to power, and the sacrifices he made to achieve it, devolves into an overwrought love-triangle. A real shame, considering how good that first half plays.