Come and Get It

Released Nov 6, 1936

1h 39m

Drama

List

91%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

69%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

In 1880s Wisconsin, ambitious lumberjack Barney Glasgow (Edward Arnold) loves saloon girl Lotta (Frances Farmer) but spurns her and marries to advance his career. While Lotta marries his friend (Walter Brennan) and has a daughter, Barney becomes a lumber bigwig by ruthless deforestation. Years later, the late Lotta's daughter, also named Lotta and played by the same actress, becomes the object of affection of both Barney, hoping to recapture the love he lost, and his son, Richard (Joel McCrea).

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Richard Brody

New Yorker

Hawks transformed Edna Ferber's historical novel into a sprawling adventure of hard-driving masculine will and a tragedy of its erotic limits.

Oct 28, 2013

Full Review

Frank S. Nugent

New York Times

Although there is nothing new in the theme, it has been simply and powerfully expressed by a number of admirable performances, and it has been played against an interesting background.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 25, 2006

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

The first part of the film, the best, is unmistakably Hawks.

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Ann Ross

Maclean's Magazine

Edna Ferber's novel about Wisconsin's lumbering days, in a fine screen adaptation.

Oct 2, 2019

Full Review

Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Stinging look at how big business exploits and destroys Nature.

Jul 7, 2010

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Frances Farmer as the hardened beer-hall tart is beguilingly stylized

Sep 5, 2009

Full Review

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j F

Wonderful acting, Arnold was fantastic. And a romantic story line that gets all twisted out of shape in a good way!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

COME AND GET IT has a very strange cast. Having the reliable and talented supporting actor, Edward Arnold, in the lead is strange--especially since this rotund and rather doughy guy is cast as, believe it or not, a lumberjack when the film begins! Seeing him supposedly fight and beat up tough guys seemed pretty funny--especially since Arnold looked as if he'd have had a hard time beating up Frances Farmer--let alone burly lumbermen!! Additionally, having him play a very flawed hero who has a penchant for a very young lady (Frances Farmer) make it an unusual film. The film begins with Arnold being made the foreman of a logging company. However, his ambition is huge and he immediately has his sights set on running the entire company. So, to do so he agrees to marry the boss' daughter even though he could care less about her. Additionally, he'd just fallen in love with a spunky saloon singer (Frances Farmer--in a dual role). Regardless, his ambition is primary and he dumps farmer on his pal, played by Walter Brennan (who received an Oscar for his performance as a nice Swedish guy). Years pass. You see that Arnold's wife is a bit of a cold fish, though they did have some kids and they now own the company. Arnold just happens to visit his old pal Brennan and finds that through the magic of Hollywood clichés, Brennan's daughter (played by Farmer again) is the spitting image of her deceased mother. Arnold is an old lecher and takes her under his wing--with the intention of recreating the relationship he'd had with her mother. When his oldest son (Joel McCrea) finds out, he goes to confront the lady but falls for her instead. Naturally, this sets the son and hard-driven father against each other. Considering that this is based on an Edna Ferber novel, it isn't surprising that the film is about a man building an empire as well as infidelity--recurring themes I've noticed in several of her other films that were filmed during the era (such as CIMARRON, GIANT, SHOWBOAT and SO BIG). As a result, the film has a big and rather sweeping quality about it but is also a study of a hard-driven man who is deeply flawed. Overall, the movie is exactly what you'd expect from such a film--good acting, big scope and a lot of romantic tension. Nothing extraordinary here, but it's enjoyable and competently made. I can't, however, understand how Brennan got an Oscar, as this was far from one of his best performances.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

so the one actress playing two characters was interesting, now I see how she was trying to differentiate the older one with some artifice. It frankly felt pretty racy for its period. It actually held up well.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Pretty good film and interesting story which, surprisingly, did not have a schmaltzy happy ending unlike other films released during that time period. Frances Farmer plays Lotta who Arnold's Barnett Glasgow falls in love with, however, he decides to marry someone else to further his career instead. His friend Swan marries Lotta instead and has a child also called Lotta (also played by Farmer). When Glasgow meets younger Lotta, older Lotta has died and he falls in love either younger Lotta leading to many confrontations. The direction of the film was seamless even though Hawks was replaced by Wyler near the end of production and the editing (especially during the bad fight scene) was pretty impressive and deserved the Best Editing award over Anthony Adverse. Walter Brennan won the first Oscar for his role; which I thought was cartoonish and over the top, but I have not seen the other nominees so maybe he deserved it. The acting, overall, was fine; Arnold laughed and smiled at everything was a bit much and McCrea shouting at Farmer "Well why don't you stop crying and do something?!" made me life because of how unexpected and odd the line and delivery was. So, a pretty enjoyable film with an expected ending.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

steve d

I don't want any of it.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

david l

Come and Get It is slow and overly melodramatic, unfortunately losing a bit its great ecological message in the process in favor of all the regular melodrama, but its familial elements worked and the same goes for the dialogue and character interactions. It's a superbly acted film across the board with Walter Brennan himself stealing the show in his Oscar-winning performance.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Howard Hawks

Director

William Wyler

Director

Edward Arnold

Barney Glasgow

Frances Farmer

Lotta Morgan

Joel McCrea

Richard Glasgow

Walter Brennan

Swan Bostrom

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Synopsis

In 1880s Wisconsin, ambitious lumberjack Barney Glasgow (Edward Arnold) loves saloon girl Lotta (Frances Farmer) but spurns her and marries to advance his career. While Lotta marries his friend (Walter Brennan) and has a daughter, Barney becomes a lumber bigwig by ruthless deforestation. Years later, the late Lotta's daughter, also named Lotta and played by the same actress, becomes the object of affection of both Barney, hoping to recapture the love he lost, and his son, Richard (Joel McCrea).

Director: Howard Hawks, William Wyler
Screenwriter: Jane Murfin, Jules Furthman
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: Howard Productions
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 6, 1936, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 13, 2020
Runtime: 1h 39m

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