Never Too Late to Mend (1937)

★★★★ · A Victorian Classic · nenslo · 2012-11-16

Tod Slaughter made a career of reviving Victorian Melodrama and he loved nothing more than to ham it up as the atrocious villain. Most of his career was spent on the stage, presenting classic thrillers of olden days, and a number of his favorites were produced as films. This is based on the play written by Charles Reade based on his highly influential novel It Is Never Too Late Too Mend. Reade, a contemporary of and somewhat outshone by Dickens, was a social novelist and his works dealt strongly with issues such as banking, unionism, feminism and, as here, prison reform. His novel and the…

★★★★ · Not horrible · Kodachrome · 2012-08-30

I generally don't enjoy period movies but I was bored and found this. Well made and played. Had I been in the same situation, I would prefer the gallows to the prison. Killing a wicked 'Justice of the Peace' might well be worth the cost in that situation. The mad laugh was a bit overplayed at the end, but 'Justice' was served. I do enjoy seeing the baddies enjoy their just deserts.