John Barrymore, while by no means a bad actor, was a shameless ham, overplaying every role whether it be straight or comic. It is therefore refreshing to see him in Counsellor at Law for once delivering a performance that is restrained and realistic, and probably the best of his career.
It's no surprise then that the director of Counsellor at Law was William Wyler, perhaps the most skilled and respected director of actors in Hollywood history. No less a personage than Laurence Olivier credited Wyler with teaching him how to act for the screen. I can imagine Wyler reining in the over-expressive Barrymore, exhausting him with repeated takes and cutting his performance down to size. But Barrymore is not the only one to be affected by the Wyler touch. Bebe Daniels, who normally played women who were if not villainous than at least a bit dodgy, is the best I have ever seen her as Barrymore's warm-hearted secretary. Even supporting players Doris Kenyon and Clara Langsner, who play Barrymore's wife and mother respectively, turn in incredibly deep performances. Then there's Vincent Sherman, who later became a director himself. His character is a stereotype, and his impassioned speech is the stuff of melodrama, but he almost manages to make the part convincing.
As well as coaxing such great performances, Wyler always put a lot of thought into how he should film the actors to benefit the story. Sometimes this meant violating cinematic conventions, and Wyler was lucky to have made his earliest features with Universal and Sam Goldwyn, two of the more leftfield studios at the time. Counsellor at Law has a lot of bit parts which we have to acknowledge, but not focus on, such as the clients who come and go in the first ten minutes. As often as possible Wyler shoots them with their backs to the camera so we don't dwell upon them. Conversely, he encourages us to take note of significant characters, for example placing Malka Kornstein conspicuously in the background in an early scene before she has properly entered the story. It's worth noting that this was the first time Wyler worked with his long time editor Daniel Mandell, who must have fully respected Wyler's unconventional shooting patterns.
Elmer Rice's play from which the film is adapted works a lot on changing pace. The opening scenes are snappy and bustling, zipping from room to room and one character to the next. Gradually the pace slows and the scenes start to crystalize which, coming after the business and light comedy of the first half, give the important moments more impact. Wyler acknowledges and compliments this pacing, keeping the camera constantly moving in the earlier scenes, and keeping it close to the action. As things slow down his camera keeps still and often hangs back. Unfortunately some of the camera moves are a little shaky, and some of them are not entirely necessary - Wyler's later pictures would be far more subtle in this respect.
Counsellor at Law is mainly worth seeing for Barrymore's understated performance, but there is plenty more going on. The story is not outstanding, but it is well told. And Wyler's direction, while it still had a long way to go to the standard he would eventually reach in Best Years of Our Lives or The Heiress is nevertheless bold and daring, and here teases the drama out of the comedy.
