On Borrowed Time (1939)

Julian Northrup (Lionel Barrymore), the argumentative and crippled grandfather and caretaker for Pud, is in a custody battle with his deceased wife’s unpleasant sister (Eily Malyon), but he has run out of time. Death has come for him, but with a surprisingly simple trick, he manages to trap the agent of death, Mr. Brink (Cedric Hardwicke) in a tree. With him there, no one on Earth can die.

No doubt most people of my generation would think of On Borrowed Time as a lengthened Twilight Zone episode, particularly as there are two episodes with numerous similarities. But that isn’t to this films detriment. Anything but. It is a morality tale, with its quirky characters drawn larger than life that sails along. It is funny here and there, but the storyline is carried out with solemnity, and the theme, of not only accepting death, but embracing it, is heartfelt.

Those of an earlier generation are likely to connect it to other “film-blancs” such as Death Takes a Holiday and Here Comes Mr. Jordan, where the afterlife is awash in fluffy clouds and basic forces of the universe are anthropomorphized. Like multiple others in this group, On Borrowed Time is based on a play, and feels like it. The scope is small. We rarely are shown anything beyond Julian’s house and yard. While we are warned of the consequences of a world without death, we do not see them. Everything is shown through the eyes of Julian and a few acquaintances. The film is dialog driven, though I cannot say how closely it matches the lines in the play except that the swearing has been removed for our protection.

Lionel Barrymore dominates every moment, so how much you enjoy the picture will depend on how you feel about his idiosyncratic brand of acting. Barrymore always played Barrymore, which works well if the part fits him. This one does. Julian is caring and witty but also unreasonable and cruel. He’s not a simple man, nor one that is easy to like, and least without some reservations, all of which works in the films favor.

The rest of the cast is superb, particularly Cedric Hardwicke (The Ghoul, The Invisible Man Returns, The Ghost of Frankenstein) and Henry Travers (The Invisible Man, It’s a Wonderful Life). The exception is the child, but that can’t be blamed on the actor as the character is annoying and unrealistic, merging the characteristics of a five-year-old with those of a ten-year-old.

The ending is unexpected, and would no doubt be changed for the worse in a modern remake. They also might change the vaguely explained “experimenting” that the doctor does with animals in order to see if death has been stopped—and I might be in favor of such a change.