"The Devil Is a Sissy" (1936) is a prototypical 1930s MGM comedy-drama, but with one difference: the main characters are kids. And not just any kids, but three of the most successful child stars in history: Freddie Bartholomew, Mickey Rooney, and Jackie Cooper.
"The Devil Is a Sissy" begins with Bartholomew arriving in New York, then spends the next twenty minutes on Rooney's character, whose father is about to be "electrified." Much of the rest is about Rooney's quest, aided by Bartholomew and Cooper, to get a gravestone for his dad.
Bartholomew is ostensibly the main character, and the film's structure is provided by the stuff about his adjusting to his new life and school, ingratiating himself with the gang, and so forth. Typical kid stuff. But as in a lot of 1930s MGM fare, with some heavier elements, too.
Bartholomew, Rooney, and Cooper make a great ensemble, and you can see why they were so successful. There's something almost preternaturally ingenuous about Bartholomew. He quit acting as an adult, not unlike Shirley Temple. But like her he had *it* in a way few child stars have.
"The Devil Is a Sissy" was directed by MGM stalwart W. S. Van Dyke (of the "Thin Man" series) and the three stars are backed by an able supporting cast, including Ian Hunter as Bartholomew's father, Gene Lockhart as Cooper's, and Jonathan Hale as a sympathetic judge.
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