Chester Morris (Bob Sangster), Lewis Stone ("Doc"), Walter Brennan (Gus), Sidney Toler (dentist), Robert Livingston (Frank), Dorothy Tree (Blackie), Irene Hervey (Molly), Jean Kirchner (baby), Joseph Marievsky (Pedro), Willard Robertson (Rev. McLane), Roger Imhof (sheriff), John Sheehan (Ed), Victor Potel (Buck), Helen Brown (Mrs Marshall), Virginia Brissac (Mrs McLane), Harvey Clark (Marcus Treen).Director: RICHARD BOLESLAWSKI. Screenplay: Edward E. Paramore Jr, Manuel Seff, Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Based on the 1913 novel by Peter B. Kyne. Photography: Joseph Ruttenberg. Editor: Frank Sullivan. Music: Dr William Axt. Costumes: Dolly Tree. Producer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz.Copyright 4 March 1936 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. New York opening at the Rialto: 8 March 1936. U.S. release: 7 March 1936. Australian release: 10 June 1936. 82 minutes. TV title: MIRACLE IN THE SAND.NOTES: An "A" production, shooting from 27 November 1935 to 3 January 1936. Mankiewicz's debut as a producer.Other versions of the popular Kyne novel are: Broncho Billy and the Baby (1909), Marked Men (1919), Hell's Heroes (1929), 3 Godfathers (1948), and The Godchild (1974). COMMENT: Every version has its admirers, but this well-produced enactment of Kyne's parable-like novel, with its witty script, stylish direction, atmospheric music score, superb photography and excellent acting, is a credit to all concerned.

Here's a true diamond in the rough - consider all the John Wayne westerns made for Lone Star Pictures from 1933 to 1935 and not one of them matches "Three Godfathers" for story quality, character development and the strength of it's acting. Each of the outlaws who earn 'godfather' status by virtue of their roles in the story do an exceptional job in portraying their characters. For most viewers, it's easy enough to identify with Doc Underwood (Lewis Stone) as the well read and philosophical bank robber, along with Walter Brennan's Gus Barton, a codger with a heart of gold underneath a veneer of dust. The real low down no account skunk of the bunch though is Bob Sangster, ably portrayed by Chester Morris. It would be easy enough to dislike Sangster based simply on his role as the lead villain, and that's even before you see how he manhandles the baby in a couple of scenes. You know, that had to be a tough little toddler; kind of makes you feel like he could have taken on the old rattler himself.You don't really need the Christmas connection in the story to make the whole thing work, but that was kind of a neat touch as it all plays out. I was impressed that the film makers thought enough about the theme to hang a 'Merry Christmas' sign in the New Jerusalem saloon, and have Sangster deny Santa Claus as he shoots banker Frank Benson (Robert Livingston) during the bank robbery.Say, was Walter Brennan ever young? This might be the earliest film I've ever seen him in, and he looked like he could have been Grandpa McCoy here if he had to. I got a kick out of the way he handled the asparagus after playing out the gimmick of using a different name with everyone he met. His best exchanges occurred during his conversations with Doc Underwood, and I was surprised to hear him call Doc a 'lunger' due to the fact that he coughed a lot. Speaking of which, this might be the earliest film in which a link between smoking too many cigarettes and poor health might actually have been made. Just another curiosity the film has to offer. You know what scene really hooked me? You have Doc going through the motions of writing a proper will for Gus in case he doesn't make it, but later in the story it actually turns out to be a message for Bob. I've never seen as good a hook in a picture from the Thirties, and it really made me appreciate the way the writers handled the characters.I know John Wayne played the lead role in the 1948 re-make of this story, one I haven't seen yet but intend to. I see most reviewers in this forum prefer this earlier version, and based on what I've read, I probably will to. The film offers real characters in intense situations and allows its principles to wax philosophical about life and death and other matters in between. Rare even today, but considering the era, this film is a genuine treat.Say, how about this for an odd coincidence. Villain Bob's floozie bar fly girlfriend was named Blackie, and beginning in 1941, Chester Morris gained prominence for a character he began to portray in more than a dozen films - as detective Boston Blackie!

Though Chester Morris and Lewis Stone aren't exactly names identified with westerns, together with Walter Brennan they do a very nice job in bringing this earlier and harsher version of the story of Three Godfathers, outlaws who give an infant a chance at life.Rather than the Three Godfathers from John Ford's later and more famous version, a trio of happy go lucky outlaws who rob a bank and get a posse after them, these are a much tougher group who drift into New Jerusalem one at a time. Morris is from there and hasn't got pleasant memories of the place. He's the one who wants to rob the bank and give a little payback to the town, especially to bank manager Robert Livingston who's going to marry Irene Hervey, Morris's former sweetheart.Of course out on the desert the trio finds a dying woman with an infant and Brennan and Stone want to help, but Morris very reluctantly goes along. Let's just say that they meet a much meaner end than John Ford gave them in his version.I do love the chemistry between Stone and Brennan, the college graduate who carries Shakespeare and Schopenhauer in his saddlebags and the illiterate nabob. Stone does not however demean Brennan at all and my favorite scene is him singing Boola Boola in the desert which Morris identifies for Brennan as Stone's old school song.Richard Boleslavski does not give us the sweeping desert vistas of John Ford's Monument Valley, but this Three Godfathers has a class and dignity all its own. I wish it was broadcast more often.

Warning: Spoilers for two versions below: This film was a revelation.Ford's 1948 Technicolor version, scripted by Laurence Stallings and Frank S. Nugent, while action-filled and pretty, is a lesser film which pulls its punches, pushes its performances, and is shot through with sentimentality. Ford's mellower mood is certainly understandable, as he opens his film with a visual dedication to his recently-deceased friend Harry Carey, Sr., a veteran of Ford's films who had starred in a silent version of this tale; and the film is Harry Jr.'s first role for Ford.Edward E. Paramore Jr. and Manuel Seff's 1936 script, directed by Richard Boleslawski, is tougher minded, which makes its antihero's change of heart truly moving. Unlike John Wayne's likable, harmless Bob Hightower, Chester Morris's Bob Sangster is a cold, dangerous brute who still manages to redeem himself, giving up his life to save a stranger's baby. Wayne's character, by contrast, gives up only a year of his life, in jail.There's the remarkably dark, unnerving moment after Stone and Brennan depart the story, when Morris prepares to abandon the squalling infant on the desert. He yells for the kid to shut up. The baby keeps wailing offscreen, so Morris turns back, aims his pistol and fires. The crying immediately stops. Then the camera reveals that Morris has just shot a rattlesnake that was endangering the child. An unforgettable scene for any era, especially the heavily censored 1930s. This, and Morris's wrenching sacrifice at the climax, are far more powerful than anything Ford attempts in his "3 Godfathers."