On Borrowed Time (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Harold S. BucquetRelease Date(s)
1939 (December 16, 2025)Studio(s)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Warner Archive Collection)- Film/Program Grade: B
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B
Review
Death has been personified in movies through the years. Whether fearsome, like the pasty-faced specter in The Seventh Seal and the scarlet-shrouded figure in The Masque of the Red Death, or gentle, like Prince Sirki of Death Takes a Holiday the goal is the same—to usher the living into eternity. In On Borrowed Time, Death takes the form of a soft-spoken gentleman.
A young couple out driving stop to give a stranger a ride. He introduces himself as Mr. Brink (Sir Cedric Hardwicke). Soon after, the couple dies in a terrible accident and their young son Pud (Bobs Watson) is left in the care of his elderly grandparents, Julian “Gramps” Northrup (Lionel Barrymore) and Nellie “Granny” Northrup (Beulah Bondi). When Pud’s Aunt Demetria (Eily Malyon) learns that the couple had a sizable life insurance policy, she angles to adopt the boy. Gramps, however, recognizes that the scheming Demetria cares more for the insurance money than for the boy and determines to stop her.
Gramps and Pud’s affection for each other is evident in their amusing conversations. They’re quite the pair, with the boy even adopting some of Gramps’ less genteel habits. Barrymore’s expressions when Demetria is around indicate his antipathy for her and he’s not above making his distaste for her apparent.
Sitting under his apple tree, Gramps is visited by Mr. Brink, who tells Gramps it’s time to go with him to the “land where the woodbine twineth.” Through some clever trickery, Gramps traps Mr. Brink in the branches of the tree. From then on, no living things die except those who touch the tree.
Barrymore creates a touching portrayal of an old man whose unselfish desire for some borrowed time to protect his grandson allows him to outwit Death. Cantankerous, opinionated, gruff, and inseparable from Pud, Gramps is wheelchair-bound for the entire film except for one brief scene. Barrymore nonetheless commands his every screen moment with passion and vigor. Frank Morgan was the original choice for Gramps but Barrymore seems perfect casting, combining warmth for family with a habit of speaking his mind even when it ruffles feathers. He has a lot of dialogue and delivers it with a range of emotions that include anger, affection, suspicion, kindliness, quick thinking, and sadness.
Hardwicke makes Mr. Brink look like a pleasant businessman whose job is to guide selected people, usually the elderly and suffering, on a pleasant stroll from this world to the next. When he materializes before Granny as her heart is giving out, he makes sure that her fear abates. Hardwicke perfectly conveys a reassuring presence. Everyone will join Mr. Brink one day, and he will offer comfort.
Bondi, who often played older women, portrays Granny as frail, accepting of her husband’s flaws, and loving family unconditionally. In a film dominated by Barrymore, she adds unexpected touches that show she’s more than dutiful wife. Demetria, a role meant for Margaret Hamilton (who was busy playing the Wicked Witch of the West in another picture that year), is the villain of the film and it’s hard not to hiss her. Malyon adeptly captures Demetria’s greed, insensitivity, and impatience.
Based on a play by Paul Osborn, On Borrowed Time may strike a particularly sensitive note with those who have lost loved ones. Death isn’t the villain but an inevitable part of life’s cycle. The characters could have come off as caricatures but the actors make them authentic and the story plays out with humor, suspense and pathos to an ending that some will call happy, others sad. It leads the viewer to wonder whether Gramps outwitted Death or Death outwitted Gramps.
On Borrowed Time was shot by director of photography Joseph Ruttenberg on 35mm film with spherical lenses and presented in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.37:1. Quality and contrast on the new Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection are excellent with deep, velvety blacks and a pleasant grayscale. Details, such as decor in the Northrup home, the apple tree, clothing patterns, and tears on Pud’s face are well delineated. Bright light and a country-like road represent a pathway to the great beyond.
The Blu-ray features English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. English SDH subtitles are an option. Dialogue, all important in a film based on a stage play, is clear and distinct. Barrymore speaks in a blustery manner while Bondi’s speech suggests frailty. Sound effects include apples falling from the tree, car engines, and ambient household noises. Franz Waxman’s score avoids overt sentimentality for the most part, though his music for the final scene seems designed to elicit tears.
Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release from the Warner Archive Collection include the following:
- Screen Guild Theater (29:55)
- Great Scenes From Great Plays (25:53)
- Wanted No Master (8:03)
- Fitzpatrick Traveltalks: A Day on Treasure Island (9:55)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:47)
Screen Guild Theater – This broadcast is a radio adaptation of Paul Osborn’s On Borrowed Time, originally aired on April 1, 1946. The cast includes Lionel Barrymore (Gramps), Agnes Moorehead (Granny) and Vincent Price (Mr. Brink).
Great Scenes From Great Plays – Narrated by Walter Hampton and presented by the Armed Forces Radio Service, this adaptation of On Borrowed Time, first aired on October 29, 1948, stars Boris Karloff.
Wanted No Master – In this black & white MGM cartoon, Count Screwloose and J.R. the Wonder Dog share a house. Screwloose hogs all the pancakes at breakfast so to get even, J.R. pastes a picture of a pretty woman over the photo of an ugly hag advertising for a husband. Screwloose answers the ad and soon finds himself pursued by the desperate spinster. The dog regrets his chicanery when the Screwloose family, including all the kids, moves in. Voice talent is provided by Mel Blanc, Pinto Colvig and Kent Rogers.
Fitzpatrick Traveltalks – Narrated by James A. Fitzpatrick, this Technicolor short is called A Day on Treasure Island shows scenes of a one-time sandbar in San Francisco that was transformed into the “World’s Fair of the West.”
On Borrowed Time is a touching fantasy that regards death as a comfort in certain circumstances. With its homespun characters, the film presents alternatives to death—constant pain and suffering. The tale of an old man cleverly postponing the inevitability of death to protect his beloved grandchild leads to a lesson that Mr. Brink permits the grandfather to learn for himself. The story is sentimental with more than a tinge of nostalgia and might seem overly manipulative, but the expert cast and gentle humor make a difficult subject accessible.
- Dennis Seuling