After his parents die in a car accident, a young boy goes to live with his grandparents. When the grandmother also dies, the boy's shrewish aunt tries to gain custody of him so she can get her hands on the money his parents left him. As the grandfather fights to keep the boy, Death comes calling for him. But Gramps has a trick up his sleeve and manages to trap Death up a tree (!), thus preventing him from claiming any lives.In many ways, the movie does feel like a filmed play (it is based on one). But the story is so involving and the cast so extraordinary that things stay lively and interesting throughout the picture. Lionel Barrymore, an expert at making crotchety lovable, is in rare form here. The boy is played by Bobs Watson, a child actor who specialized in being cute and crying on cue. Some of you may remember him from being hit by a car in Boys Town. His scenes with Barrymore are all golden. Cedric Hardwicke plays Death, named here Mr. Brink (get it?). Hardwicke always brought class to every film he was in and this is no exception. Fine support from Beulah Bondi as the loving grandmother and Eily Malyon as the meddlesome aunt. The rest of the cast includes greats like Henry Travers, Grant Mitchell, Nat Pendleton, and Una Merkel. Despite the bizarreness of the story (and maybe because of it), this is a very entertaining picture. It has several fun twists and a leisurely pace and pleasant tone that belies its rather dark subject matter. I guess whether you call it dark or not is part of the movie's message. It's a fantastic fable where death is (literally) around every corner. A curious mix of heartwarming and heartbreaking, this is a one of a kind film.

This is quite an impressive little film dating from 1939. Set in a small-town there are quite a few stereotypes here, but not bad ones. You've got Lionel Barrymore as the grandfather of Bobs Watson, raising the boy after both parents died in a car accident. You've got the wonderful Beulah Bondi as the grandmother, and way older than her years here...even more so than in most of her films. And, you've got death -- Sir Cedric Hardwicke -- not unlike the role in "Death Takes A Holiday" or "Meet Joe Black".One day Death comes for Gramps, who orders Death off the property, not knowing who he is. So, Death takes Granny. But Gramps has also made a wish that anyone who climbs in his apple tree will be stuck up there until he wishes him down...and that's where Death finds himself.Meanwhile, Bobs Watson's aunt has designs on the money left him by his parents, and Gramps must fend off the aunt's efforts to adopt Watson.Death is now stuck in a tree and can't take anyone...even those who are suffering. So, how does Death get down from the tree? And who dies? And is it bad? There really is lots to think about here in what was actually a rather minor film. I guess if there's anything a little annoying in the film it's Bobs Watson. He's a good little actor, but a little Bobs Watson goes a long way...especially for well over 90 minutes.Nevertheless, this film is worth watching. As I said, lots to think about, and Lionel Barrymore is simply fascinating to watch, here though he was so crippled that they had to fake his walking in the scenes at the very end of the movie. There are some swell performances by supporting actors as well -- Henry Travers (as always) and Una Merkel, particularly.Well worth watching, although the pace could have been slightly quicker.

When I first saw the film in 1981, I felt that I had just watched a classic. Enough has been written here to describe the plot line so I skip ahead to some of the reasons why this film was overlooked when it was released and why it continues to be overlooked today. First of all, it came out in 1939 which is probably the greatest year in Hollywood history. Such huge color releases like Wizard of OZ and Gone With The Wind made some smaller black and white films less appealing. The USA was still fighting the economic hangover from the great depression and the movie going public was spending it's money on more upbeat fare like Gunga Din and not on a movie that deals with death as it's main theme. And this leads to why, for me, the movie was really overlooked. It dealt with death and perhaps the world's political and economic condition doomed this movie to it's relative obscurity.

When I first watched this movie, I was expecting Lionel to be a mean old man, but he wasn't. He was a nice old man who loved his wife, his grandson, and hated Death.I loved Death, though. Not to be mean, but he was so clever! I also loved how they captured him in the tree and wouldn't let him down. Anyone who touched the tree would die. Other than that, death just didn't exist. Brilliant. Of course, they had to let him down--eventually.THE ENDING:Death kills all of them (their time has come--that sort of thing--nothing vile). They go walking off. The movie goes off. MY REACTION:I'm crying. I didn't know that this movie was made in 1939! A great film. A must see!