User Reviews

Oh, where to begin with "Good Sam" (1948). It is widely agreed, that the film broke Leo McCarey's 10+ year streak of masterful films. McCarey, who directed and produced the film while also contributing to the story, would never truly recover from this blow, and his subsequent filmography includes three debated entries and one successful re-make of an old McCarey classic. "Good Sam" is therefore an easy film to glance over, as it returned its maker back amidst the mortals. It is also unlike most American comedies of the time, which may have been the reason why the same critics who loved "Make Way for Tomorrow" (1937) and "Going My Way" (1944) did not warm up to the way similar themes are tossed around in "Sam".

Gary Cooper plays Sam Clayton, a clean-cut, post-war family man loved by his community. Sam is the kindest man you could find, always willing to help anybody in distress as best he can. In another Cooper film, a character like this would be viewed as the ideal that we should all emulate, but McCarey is here to show the other side. Sam's constant helping of others grows to be a strain on his family, who are unable to lead a normal life because of it. He borrows people money while his own family lacks the money to buy a proper house for themselves. He is constantly finding new "characters" who benefit from his good nature, much to the suffering of Sam's wife Lu, played by Ann Sheridan.

I think "Good Sam" is a fantastic premise, as the central dilemma is something that all people will - and should! - sometimes have to consider. Helping others is important, it is a central aspect of what defines us as human. But empathy is only good when the behavior of others mirrors it, otherwise a good man can end up being used. I like the fact that the film does not play all its cards immediately, but gives us different view points. Considering that the film is trying both to be funny and to be moving and frustrating, it reached these goals with me. I laughed, I was moved, and I definitely was frustrated...

Where does it fall flat then? It is hard to pinpoint really. The film starts off very comedic. Ann Sheridan gives a wonderful performance as the housewife pushed to the edge, and Cooper's buffoonish behavior and general inability to read his lady is certainly a fitting catalyst for Sheridan's wrath. The characters are well-established as they both get laughs and serve as each other's straight men. But as the film went on, I started to feel that the comedic nature of the main dilemma does not fit to the everyday realism of the narrative. McCarey has taken delightfully comedic characters and inserted them to a very serious film. And it is the mismatch of it all that breaks the experience. There is both serious comedy and funny melodrama here, and someday someone will call this a forgotten masterpiece, but for me the whole is shaky even if the parts work.

There is also individual elements that clash, the worst of which being the inclusion of a suicide subplot that gets treated as if killing yourself is not a big deal in the slightest. The woman in question (Joan Lorring) attempts to kill herself because she fell in love with a treacherous married man, and the film lets Sheridan shame her, while simultaneously suggesting, that the cure for this woman is to find a nice, unmarried man and get married. How very psychological indeed. Lorring also gives the film's worst performance, as she is way too polished for a suicidal woman.

"Good Sam" also resembles better films, and feels therefore worse than it is. Billy Wilder's "The Apartment" (1960) is a more famous serious comedy about a guy who gets taken advantage of, also including a more believable suicide-attempt narrative, treated with respect to the sore subject matter. Yet the film that "Good Sam" will bring to mind for most is Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), another tale about an every-man who is always helping others but can't catch a break for himself. McCarey's film also finds its protagonist in a bar, on Christmas. Compared to George Bailey, Sam Clayton looks very two dimensional.

Even with all the negative sides addressed, "Good Sam" is easily worth a watch. McCarey is one of the all time greats and lack of perfection is not a crime. His film carries serious merit and is very ambitious, and although I mentioned two similar films, it actually does stand out from a crowd with its style and subject.

It took three years for Leo McCarey to get back to the screen after directing Bing Crosby in that double barreled triumph of Going My Way and The Bells of St.Mary's. Sad to say, Good Sam didn't quite live up to the standards of those two films. Leo took no Oscar nominations home for this one.

Gary Cooper is a fine upstanding citizen with wife Ann Sheridan and two small kids and a mooching live-in brother-in-law played by Dick Ross. He's an impulsive do gooder, an easy touch for a sob story and a handout. He drives poor Ann to distraction. A sermon by minister Ray Collins at the beginning of the film on the virtues of charity put Cooper's generosity into overdrive.

It's a nice film, maybe a bit too unbelievable. I can't believe that Ann Sheridan hadn't taken Coop in tow by this point of her marriage. Two noted baseball immortals, Babe Ruth and Dizzy Dean, had in common the fact that they both married strong willed women who took charge of the finances lest their hubbys give it all away.

Still I did like the message of the film which is delivered by Harry Hayden who has a small role as a banker. Coop's generosity not only with cash, but co-signing loans for various people has put him as a credit risk. When he needs the money he can't get a loan from the bank. But later on Hayden comes over to the house and tells Sheridan that he changed his mind and approved the loan for their new house. Character and decency should count for something. It was a very similar message to one that was delivered in a far better film, The Best Years of Our Lives when Fredric March as a veteran who returns to his job as a bank loan officer, approves a loan to a veteran on the strength of his character.

Character and decency should count, but Coop's pants pockets still needed a lock put on them.

In this comedy-drama from Leo McCarey, Gary Cooper plays Sam, seemingly the one guy in the world who takes the Christian tenet of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you seriously. And for his efforts, he is constantly being taken advantage of to the point that his wife, the sassy Ann Sheridan, is ready to take the kids and leave him. Sly writing relieves some of the sappiness, and Cooper has such a solid male presence that he doesn't seem terminally wimpy despite the fact that others use him like a doormat. Finally, after Sam threatens to abandon his Good Samaritan philosophy, all his selfless deeds pay off, and his family comes together in a warm, homespun conclusion. To those who say this isn't worthy of Capra, well, I love Capra, but McCarey has a body of work that any director would be proud of.

Leo McCarey's Good Sam, the story of a suburban good guy who can't say no to his friends and neighbors, should have been a masterpiece. It has many of the same ingredients as It's a Wonderful Life, and was directed and co-written by a man who was at his best Frank Capra's equal. McCarey directed the best Marx Brothers picture, Duck Soup, plus the splendid Ruggles Of Red Gap, the heartbreaking Make Way For Tomorrow, the enormously popular (if overlong) Going My Way, and its sequel, The Bells Of St. Mary's. He was even in a partnership with Capra, to produce films independently, but lost his touch after the war. Good Sam shows McCarey's brilliance with actors, all of whom (Gary Cooper, Ann Sheridan, Ray Collins, William Frawley) are excellent, but the script is convoluted and the story, an inspired idea, is, as told, hard to follow. It's worth watching, for McCarey's directorial "touches", which are wonderful, but the film is plodding and episodic, and seems to go on forever.

Sam Clayton (Gary Cooper) is going the extra mile to be a good Samaritan. His wife Lu (Ann Sheridan) is starting to get annoyed. He loans his car to the Butlers which keeps getting worst. He's letting her no-good brother Claude to live with them. He keeps helping no matter what it costs him and it rarely goes well.

Critics are a little too hard on this film. It's a fun light-hearted take on the feel-good sentimentalism of the era. Certainly, Cooper is deadening his performance. He's almost playing it as a clueless rube but his character knows more than he's letting on. On the other hand, I love Sheridan's performance. She never lets her character fall out of love with him despite her conflicting feelings. The bus is a fun setup and I love the woman rushing into the store. The 'It's a Wonderful Life' ending is a bit tacked on. I would be more happy with the brother and Shirley Mae as the emotional climax and ending. In a way, that's the most important gift Sam ever gives. That's the emotional heart because it's probably more important to Lu. The story makes the house more important by placing it at the end.

This movie is less than two hours long. I would have sworn it was almost three. It drags something awful. How could the same director who had just previously made "Going My Way" and the less inspired but still enjoyable "Bells of St. Mary's" have allowed his actors to deliver such leaden performances?

And who approved this script??? There isn't an ounce of humor in it. Gary Cooper's character is not nice so much as just plain dull and stupid. It's as if he wears a sign that says "Kick me" on his back and really means it.

Ann Sheridan's character, who should be the center of reason here, is presented as materialistic, more interested in shoes and dresses than her family. It makes it harder for us to sympathize with her.

Everything here falls flat. What previous reviewers who found this funny found to laugh at I honestly cannot guess.

If you want to watch a Leo McCarey films, there are some great ones to pick from. But avoid this. And if you do start it, don't tell yourself "It has to get better." It never does.

I recently had the opportunity to see this film after about 30 years and I think I enjoyed it more this time! What a wonderful film! This should be on the list of 'must sees' for any Gary Copper fan. The talented Cooper was able to play anything from a western to the wonderful, good hearted Sam. This is a light hearted look at the consequences that can occur when you extend yourself once too often. I never laughed so much at the comical situations that good ol' Sam gets himself into. The dead pan Ann Sheridan was the perfect choice for Sam's wife. She was really an untapped source as an actress, very underrated! If you have the chance to see this delightful film, please do, you won't be sorry!

What a let-down this film was. I can see why it was such a big flop when it was released. Leo McCarey was a great director and his two films prior to this, Going My Way and Bells of St. Mary's, are bona fide classics. Not to mention his great comedies from the 1930s. So the movie is competently filmed as it should be, but it's still terrible. It has two amazing lead actors (only one of which delivers here). But the story is the pits.

The plot is that Gary Cooper plays a family man who never says no to anyone. He will give the shirt off his back and let his family go hungry to help a complete stranger. Right off the bat we have a problem because there is no way possible I can see myself rooting for such a character with obviously skewed priorities. The writing is bad but the acting by Cooper isn't up to snuff either. We've all seen Cooper play down-to-earth good and decent guys before. His performances are usually grounded in a likable persona that makes him relatable. Here, he plays a character who cares more about helping strangers than his own family! His poor wife, wonderfully played by Ann Sheridan, put up with more than any reasonable person would. It was so infuriating watching Cooper's character be such a doormat. The only person he seemed able to say no to was his wife! The film tries to reconcile it all in the end with some of the people Cooper has helped out paying him back. This completely belies the entire fractured point of the film. It's clear the writers didn't even believe in their own premise. The problem with Sam is not that he helps people who don't pay him back. The problem is that he puts the welfare of others over his own loved ones. Whatever happened to "charity begins at home?" Ugh this is such a frustrating film to watch. I couldn't help but wonder at the end about Sheridan's character's future. She will have a life of perpetual debt and unhappiness because of this man and probably die of a stroke at 40. Sam, meanwhile, will become homeless and probably starve to death because every time he's got a crumb of food he'll give it away due to his obvious mental illness.

When you get right down to it, this is a depressing movie. The romance is non-existent as there is no chemistry between the leads. This is partly due to Cooper's lackluster effort, I'm sure. Plus it's really hard to root for a couple when you are actually hoping the wife divorces the worthless husband. There is no comedy here, either. There wasn't one funny moment in the whole film. I'll give it a 4 because of the competent production values and because of the star power involved, which I'm sure will help some swallow this pill of a movie.

I love this movie, it has such a wonderful message! I first saw it while I was living in Kansas City; one of the local television stations broadcast it during the holidays. I taped it because I loved it so much. Unfortunately that tape didn't survive multiple moves, so I was glad to see that it was available on VHS. However, I think this version on VHS tape has a scene missing; I remember that in the version on television there was a scene half way through the movie where Chloe, Lu's maid plays football in the front yard with the rest of the family. It was hilarious and a lot of fun! The VHS version I bought didn't have that. I wonder if anyone knows what may have happened there. All in all, it is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I always have to see it around the holidays. I hope you all enjoy it.

Sam Clayton (Gary Cooper) is Mr. Niceguy. He goes out of his way to help people. He is ever-vigilant for ways to make life easier for his fellow man. He is willing to sacrifice for friend or neighbor. Consequently, everyone thinks he is a great guy. Well, not everyone. His wife is constantly the "victim" of his sacrifices. She personally experiences the difference between being charitable and being a soft touch. And the bus driver who is on a schedule resents the way Sam holds him up for the lady half a block away who is loping toward the bus stop.

Sam's wife Lu (Ann Sheridan) is the real saint in the family. Though she begs him to restrain his altruism, she tolerates his rampant generosity with endless patience.

The story is about Sam's intersection with the world, and how he gives and takes, but mostly gives. Some might say it all balances out. Others might see Sam as a victim rather than a benefactor. The holiday season is a good time to debate the issue, as society focuses on the spirit of giving.

The film offers various takes on Sam's generosity. One of the most interesting comes from a drunk he meets in a bar. When Sam extends his usual beneficence to the man, the besotted inebriate accuses Sam of bolstering his own ego. This just confuses Sam, because he merely acts in accordance with his inner impetus.

Sam's effect on the community sets up a natural comparison with "It's a Wonderful Life". There is even a scenario involving the local bank. You can see the film as a satire of the Capraesque view of the world, or not. Perhaps it even allows both points of view. It ends rather unusually. However you choose to view the film, it sets up an interesting dialogue, even if it is only within yourself.

Cooper satisfies in his portrayal of Sam. But Sheridan glows onscreen and gives the film its funniest moments.

This spoof was kind of tedious and one joke. I was cheering for something bad to happen to Sam and his freeloaders. Louise Beavers being in on the family dysfunction with Ann Sheridan was amusing. But Gary Cooper as Sam simply put his wife and family dead last. His wife was not a partner, she was a house slave he took for granted and never consulted as an equal. The neighbors kids came before his children. Some might think this is a satire on Christian charity. It was actually a joke movie about a man's compulsion to sacrifice his family's wants and needs to satisfy others....any needy soul will do. All without considering them. If there wasn't one he'd probably dig one up to sacrifice for. Why? What was at the heart of his compulsion? I know it was a comedy but his compulsion had to hold some credibility. While I was watching this movie I boiled at the prospect of being married to a guy like Sam.

There is a lot of talent involved in this movie. They all perform as expected. the problem lies with the script, which was corny, dull and repetitive for the forties, and would have been also in the 30s, even in the 20s!! When released,it flopped, and no wonder.Ann Sheridan always said the reason was the lack of chemistry between her and Gary Cooper, but the real reason for me, a great fan of both of them is the script. It is monotonous and seems to go on forever.... The production values are all first rate: cast, sets and direction are first class A pity those responsible did not see what the result would be, in time. A pity for all concerned, including us, the audience .

I don't understand the bad reviews. People with a sense of humor will love this gem. I am 72 years young and I love this movie. Ann Sheridan has a true sense of humor with a contagious laugh. Forget the bad reviews, just watch this Gary Cooper flick with a sense of humor.

Leslie Halliwell didn't like this film either. He called it Capraesque, and it seems quite obvious that that is the effect the filmmakers were going for.

Frank Capra certainly had a special touch. It wasn't always infallible, mind you, but he could do wonders with some pretty soppy material. Maybe it's good to have an example of what happens when you go Capraesque without Capra.

Gary Cooper is a Good Samaritan so generous that he consistently gets himself into dire straits. The idea isn't bad, but the execution... Cooper's character goes way past selflessness and on into suckerdom. (Suckerhood?) He's so virtuous, he's neither believable nor sympathetic. I've seen this film twice in the past couple of decades, and both times the impulse to reach out and throttle him was difficult to suppress. He's infuriating to watch. An actual person like this would be a menace to his family and friends. He simply begs to be walked all over.

Ann Sheridan is Coop's wife. What a waste. The following year, 1949, she was paid back in spades for her generosity in suffering through this one by co-starring in the uproarious "I Was a Male War Bride" with Cary Grant.

Capra fans will recognize Todd Karns immediately. He played Harry Bailey, Jimmy Stewart's younger brother, in "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946). It's because of films like that one that you can find a word like "Capraesque" in the dictionary.

This is a classic James Stewart movie. You can just hear George Bailey saying, "How can you ever have too much faith in people?" as his reason for continuing to loan money to his friends and neighbors. In fact, Good Sam is very similar to It's a Wonderful Life, but without the visit of Clarence the angel. It even ends at Christmastime!

With two leads I don't normally like, it's quite something that I liked this movie. It's one of my favorite Ann Sheridan performances. My heart went out to her situation and how she always made the most of it. In fact, there's a scene where something terrible happens and she bursts into uncontrollable laughter! She plays the long-suffering wife of Gary Cooper, a man who takes Good Samaritan to the next level. He's constantly loaning money to people, friends or not, at the expense of his own bank account and family comfort. Ann's been longing for a home of her own, and while she constantly tries to scrimp and save (with the exception of getting a job herself or firing her maid, Louise Beavers) her husband gives their house fund away. The two main troubles are that his patrons never pay him back, and that he genuinely believes he's doing the right thing. He just can't stop. He believes in the goodness of human nature, and neither his wife nor his pastor, Ray Collins, can talk sense into him.

Rent this one if you like the James Stewart Christmas classic. Jimmy would have been better in this movie, but Gary's not that bad. He and Ann have great chemistry together, and you can really feel their partnership in their marriage. Plus, any movie set during the holidays has an extra heartwarming factor to it.

With two top actors, Gary Cooper and Ann Sheridan, and one of the best directors of his day, Leo McCarey, you have the formula for a great film. Unfortunately, "Good Sam" is NOT a great movie...nor is it even a good one. In fact, it's one of the biggest wastes of talent due to a painfully bad script with a painfully unfunny premise. In fact, I found it painful to sit and watch this film.

Gary Cooper plays Sam (Good Sam--Good Samaritan...get it?!). Sam is just too nice to be true and makes Ned Flanders (from "The Simpsons") seem like Hitler by comparison! This is because Sam is so generous, so nice and so trusting that everyone in town takes advantage of him. However, in the process, his own family keeps getting the short end of things and his ultra-patient wife eventually has enough. And, after seeing Cooper play such a simpering guy, your probably have had enough by then as well! The bottom line is that NO ONE is that nice as well as that thoughtless when it comes to their family. The story just comes off as contrived and ridiculous.

Incidentally, this movie was a big box office loser when it debuted, so it's not just my opinion that it's a bad film--America and film critics at the time also thought it was pretty bad!

One joke movie, the jest being that altruist Sam never met a schnorer he didn't like, whose endless variations on it become stale after about 30 min and downright dull after an hour, which is when I bailed. Some of Ken Englund's dialogue produces a chuckle but the dearth of physical humor is hard to understand from the director of "The Awful Truth" who cut his comedy teeth on Hal Roach two reelers. Plus Coop is even stiffer than usual and Anne Sheridan is given virtually nothing risible as the long suffering wife other than a couple sarcastic rejoinders. Give it a C.

"Some people in the world don't deserve your help," opines Ray Collins as a pastor giving Gary Cooper advice.

And indeed, some films in the world don't deserve an audience. This has got to be the nadir of Cooper's career as a lovable comic hero. He's a do-gooder who literally takes the shirt off his back to help others, with little given back in return.

Ann Sheridan is the wife who stands by her man through a whole series of contrived circumstances wherein Cooper uses poor judgment in helping the needy to the point where he and Sheridan can't even buy the house she wants so badly to move into. Thanks to the hapless script, a change of heart overcomes a banker who comes to their aid--in true Frank Capra style--for a tacked on happy ending.

The film can best be described with one word--it's a "misfire." Sheridan at least gives it her all, but Cooper walks through the role as though he doesn't believe a minute of it. Nor, by the final reel, does this viewer. Ray Collins, Joan Lorring and Louise Beaver are underused in supporting roles.

Not worth your time.

Trivia note: It's hard to believe this film was selected to play at Radio City Music Hall for its New York opening on the strength of the fact that Leo McCarey's "Going My Way" and "Bells of St. Mary's" had both played successfully at the Hall. This was viewed as a critical disappointment and it's easy to see why.

Despite a preachy ( literally ) beginning to endorse helping others this terribly boring film makes almost every move to put oneself first. Gary Cooper wants to help others but his wife played by Ann Sheridan gets irritated by his intentions to do good, despite the fact that some people do take advantage of being helped. Scene after scene wants to prove that Sheridan is right and although this is supposed to be a humorous film it did not raise a smile out of me. In short this film is as reactionary as it comes, and even the preacher who proposes helping others comes round to Sheridan's viewpoint. Leo McCarey directed and quite frankly I have not seen one film of his that I liked. He also wrote the script and the advocacy of selfishness was no doubt sincerely felt.

Have you ever gone to a friend's house for dinner, and when conversation slows down they trot out the kid to play piano? But the kid struggles to get the tempo of the song right?

That's how the lines are delivered in this movie. For instance, if you haven't fallen asleep by the time the garage mechanic shows up at the family's breakfast table, there are actual jokes being delivered. But none of them land on the beat. Lines are delivered as if they're reading off a telemprompter, like in daytime soap acting. And then nobody tightened up the timing in editing.

But it's more than just the dialogue. It almost feels as though the film is being run through the projector at.about 16 frames per second. Coop acts geriatrically slow. There's no way he's married to a live wire like Ann Sheridan. Their birth certificates say he's 15 years older but the way they move it looks more like 25. Those two pre-schoolers might as well be his grandchildren.

Why even bother to address how much of an easy touch Cooper is. He's such a shmuck that viewers will pass right over sympathy on the way to disdain in record time. By the end, you'll be cheering for Sheridan to get busy with the grocery delivery kid. At least, that's the much better movie I imagined in my own mind.

Along with the James Stewart film, made at the same time, "Magic Town," "Good Sam" belongs to a sub-genre of movies that should be known as "Frank Capra films without the vaunted 'Capra touch.'"

I hadn't seen "Good Sam" in several decades. I remembered it as leaden, tedious and unimaginative, utterly devoid of the humor, whimsy and social commentary that became the hallmark of Frank Capra's films, which this can only have aspired to being. After viewing it again I now have to add that it should have been a profound embarrassment to everyone associated with it.

The film's full of talented actors, its director was responsible for wonderful films ranging from "Duck Soup," to "Going My Way" to "An Affair to Remember," but I have seldom seen a film made by skilled, accomplished people that hits so many wrong notes.

I have had this film recorded for quite some time ( 9 months) and finally got around to watching it. Why so long? I figured I would not like it, and I was not wrong. Why did I watch? It is a Cooper film I had not seen before. I have to say this is one of Gary Cooper's worst performances A poster put it perfectly: Worse then any of his westerns. As a Cooper fan,I can say he needs action or a leading lady that can match up well with him ( Colbert, Stanwyck, Lombard and Jean Arthur are ones who come to mind ( especially Stanwyck)). Here has absolutely no chemistry with his leading lady Ann Sheridan. I can say there are only four films of his where he offered up a bad performance: Love In The Afternoon, Return To Paradise, One Sunday Afternoon and this film. Even in films that were not good like Alice In Wonderland and. Saratoga Trunk Cooper was still good not here.2/10 stars.