Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageRhubarb (1951)
Director: Arthur Lubin
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
An eccentric millionaire (Lockhart), soured by his daughter's lack of affection, leaves his empire - including a baseball team - to a stray cat called Rhubarb, appointing the team's publicity manager (Milland) as the cat's guardian. A nice opening sequence has Lockhart watching gleefully as the disrespectful stray drives the VIP members of an exclusive golf club crazy by stealing balls from under their noses. After that it's downhill all the way as Milland fights off escalating problems: the disgruntled daughter (Elsie Holmes) tries to discredit Rhubarb in court as an impostor, then to have him eliminated; Milland's wedding has to be postponed several times because his fiancée (Sterling) seems to be allergic to Rhubarb; and worried bookies kidnap the cat when the baseball team, convinced he is a good luck charm, unexpectedly starts winning. Laboriously written, directed and acted (apart from Lockhart and the splendid cat), the comedy obstinately refuses to fizz.Author: TM
Cast & crew
Director: Arthur Lubin
Producer: William Perlberg, George Seaton
Cast: Ray Milland, Jan Sterling, Gene Lockhart, William Frawley, Elsie Holmes, Taylor Holmes, Donald MacBride full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 95 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now