Good Sam (1948)

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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!

This film was a box office flop when it debuted in 1948 and part of the reason was that the chemistry between Ann Sheridan and Gary Cooper was just not there.This picture was the typical holiday feel good movie in the attempt of "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," (1936) or "Miracle on 34th Street." (1947). The theme of the film is the basic good qualities of people and how you have to take a chance on them. Of course, the Gary Cooper character goes overboard as the do-good person; he sacrifices almost everything for good quality people at the expense of his own family.Ann Sheridan is impressive here going between her laughter at her do-good husband and anger when things don't go their way. The end of the film reminded me somewhat of the classic- "It's A Wonderful Life," (1946) where everyone rallies around our protagonist at a time when things couldn't appear to be bleaker. This film is basically the fulfillment of the American dream by doing good to your neighbor. It fails to reach its height because after a while you get tired of Cooper's constant good deeds and his drunken scene near the end gives us a necessary break from all this and shows the human frailty.

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!

This movie is a satire on the 'Capraesque' genre. It is a satire on Altruism, in the spirit of 'if you don't like the fruit, take a good look at the tree'. Most politically-correct people feel like strangling the hero people he reminds them of themselves. The ending is spoiled, however, by a desire by the Hollywood politically-correct bosses to attenuate the logical consequences to be drawn from the script. In the end, all the hero's "good deeds" are rewarded. There is much evidence that Gary Cooper intended this film to be a satire; his making of 'The Fountainhead' the following year, an extreme right-wing ideological film that was spoiled by king Vidor's misunderstanding of its philosophical contents and his testimonies at the McCarthy enquiry at around that time. Try to see that film with new eyes, at it were.