Dangerous Holiday (1937) User Reviews

A Happy Programmer

[boblipton · 6/10 · 14 February 2019]

13-year-old Ronald Sinclair is a violin prodigy. His records brings in $2000 a week, his concerts sell out, and he's being paid a quarter of a million dollars to appear in a movie. Of course, he has expenses. His stepmother takes 30%, his aunts take another 30% and his agent gets 10%. After paying the government its 30%, he can do whatever he likes with what's left. It's a good thing he has no free time. So he goes on a walk. Along the way he meets some nice people like pleasant hood Big Boy Williams and courting couple Lynne Roberts and William Bakewell. No one knows who he is and his leeches.... I mean his concerned family thinks he has been kidnapped.

It's a fine little comedy directed by Nick Barrows, and Master Sinclair gives an amiable performance, while the professionals around him -- including Hedda Hopper, Franklin Pangborn (as a hotel clerk, naturally) and Grady Sutton offer their support.

Sinclair was born in New Zealand in 1924. appeared in about ten movies through 1942. He served in the US Army during the Second World War. After that, he stayed in the movies as an editor, working through 1992, specializing in dialogue editing. He was married to one woman from 1961 through his death in 1992, proving that some people's lives have nice second acts.

Amiable time-passer.

[BrettErikJohnson · 4/10 · 9 March 2012]

Ronnie Kimball is a child prodigy when it comes to playing the violin. He enjoys it but his relatives and agent want to overwork him and exploit his talents while making a hefty percentage of his earnings. Also, his aunts don't want him swimming or playing football with his friends because he might get hurt. Frustrated by this, Ronnie takes off on his own for a bit and ends up on a 'dangerous holiday'.

Ronald Sinclair is one of the most happy-go-lucky kids I've ever seen in a film. He always has a welcoming smile and doesn't seem to let anything bother him, even when he gets mixed up with a gang of criminals. Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams does a nice turn playing Duke, the "bad guy" with a soft spot.

All in all, "Dangerous Holiday" is nothing more than a trifle. However, at 58 minutes, this film rolls along quickly and provides a pleasant diversion for about an hour.

With a bit better writing, this could have been a lot better.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 6 August 2012]

This B-movie stars Ronald Sinclair--a 13 year-old violin prodigy from New Zealand. This ability helped him get into films, but later in life he earned a living as a film editor for Roger Corman.

The film begins with a bunch of slimy and selfish family members fighting for custody of this boy. It never seems that any of them care about him but just are concerned with how they can exploit his musical talents for their own financial gain. Sadly, the boy lives a rather dull existence as a result. He cannot play with other kids or have fun--lest he injure his hands. He cannot do anything really other than eat and practice. Eventually the boy gets tired of it and runs away--and has a grand adventure. By the end, the very selfish people have somehow learned their lesson (how, I have no idea!) and all is right with the world.

The biggest problem with the film isn't Sinclair--he's pretty likable for a child actor. The problem is that too many of the characters are simple and one-dimensional--particularly his horrid family members. That's what makes their transformations at the end of the film so utterly ridiculous, as they'd spent every second of the film before that taking complete advantage of the kid and caring nothing about him. A few other characters are also pretty poorly written and the film could have really benefited from less stereotypical characters--people instead of caricatures of people. Not terrible but not a film I expect you to see. After all, I wasted my time watching it--so why should you?!