Jackass Mail (1942)

just watch it!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Absolutely Fantastic

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

First, there was Dietrich singing "See What the Boys in the Backroom Will Have" in "Destry Rides Again", now there's Miss Marjorie Main leading a chorus in "The Girls of the Golden West". Probably the oddest looking leader of saloon singers ever on screen, Main is also one of the funniest. As the rough and tough woman who pretty much runs the small town she lives in, she is determined to get the railroad to come through their town to build it up. This is where drunken horsethief Wallace Beery comes into play. Having just gotten out of a hanging in another town with the help of bartender J. Carroll Naish, Beery encounters Main as she delivers the mail with the help of her handy donkey (hense, the title.) Other gangsters are out to rob Main who carries gold bullion, and while he wants to get his hands on it himself, it is Beery who ends up as her protector. When he accidentally kills the bandit father of young Darryl Hickman, Beery finds himself responsible for the kid, and they develop a friendly relationship. But secrets like this never stay secret, and Hickman is very upset to learn the truth.The film is told through flashback as a little boy learns the story of one of his ancestors which shows Beery and Main as a statue in the town square. Hickman is a likable kid, and Naish offers some laughs as the Mexican bartender. But with Main and Beery along, it's apparent who will end up with the acting honors, and the two have great screen chemistry. It's different than Beery did with earlier partner, the blowsy Marie Dressler, but just as memorable.

Wallace Beery played the same basic role in countless movies from the 1930s through much of the 1940s. In each, he was a somewhat amoral galoot who had a soft spot for kids--and ultimately gains redemption by the end of the movie. Back in the 30s, he made quite a few successful films of this sort with Jackie Cooper (such as "Treasure Island") and in the 40s with Margaret O'Brien ("Bad Bascomb") and in this film with young Darryl Hickman. From what I have read (such as Cooper's autobiography), Beery actually hated kids and was a hard-drinking guy with a temper like a badger with a toothache! But the public didn't know this and adored this formula. Because of this, "Jackass Mail" certainly is NOT original, but it still is pleasant viewing.The film begins with Beery playing a horse thief with a strong desire to steal gold shipments. He soon meets up with another crooked guy (J. Carrol Naish) and together both of them try to be dishonest, but their better natures and luck conspire to keep them honest. Along the way, Beery (naturally) inherits a kid and soon begins a weird relationship with Marjorie Main--one where he initially wants to use her to get to the gold shipments but he eventually ends up falling for her. It's all a lot of fluff--but very enjoyable fluff. Well done but formula all the way. with no surprises...none.

After Wallace Beery did The Champ with Jackie Cooper and after he did Min And Bill with Marie Dressler, MGM made a concerted effort to team him with old women and kids. In Jackass Mail he gets to work with both. Beery is cast as his usual reprobate character an outlaw in this case with J. Carrol Naish as a sidekick. In trying to rob a mule freight line that's ramrodded by Marjorie Main he gets fooled when another pair of outlaws, Dick Curtis and William Haade pull the job. Beery keeps trying to return to his crooked ways, but circumstances and Main keep him on the straight and narrowSubstituting for Jackie Cooper is young Darryl Hickman and Beery has to live a lie the way John Wayne did with Lee Aaker in Hondo after he kills Haade who is Hickman's father.After Marie Dressler died, Beery was teamed with a succession of character women like Marjorie Main. Jackass Mail is a great example of the chemistry the two had with each other. And his scenes with Darryl Hickman are poignant as well, probably the best in the film.

This is the second or the Beery's mule pictures in the early 1940's. I enjoyed it. Not because it's a great western - it's not. It's simple B fair. But what it is seems to transcend the normal B schlock and it's mostly due to Beery and Main. If you don't disect it - you'll love it!