James Flavin

James William Flavin, Jr. (May 14, 1906 – April 23, 1976) was an American character actor whose career lasted for nearly half a century.

Life and career

Flavin was the son of a hotel waiter of Canadian-English extraction and a mother, Katherine, whose father was an Anglo-Irish immigrant. Thus, Flavin, well known in Hollywood as an "Irish" type, was—ironically—only one-quarter Irish. He was born and reared in Portland, Maine, a fact that may have enriched his later working relationship with director John Ford, also a Portland native.

He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point but, contrary to some sources, did not graduate. Instead he dropped out and returned to Portland and drove a taxi. Then as now, summer stock companies flocked to Maine each year, and in 1929 Flavin was asked to fill in for an actor. He did well with the part and the company manager offered him $150 per week to accompany the troupe back to New York. Flavin accepted and by the spring of 1930 was living in a rooming house at 108 W. 87th Street in Manhattan. Flavin didn't manage to crack Broadway at this time; his Broadway debut would not occur for another 39 years, in the 1971 revival of The Front Page, in which he played Murphy and briefly took over the lead role of Walter Burns from Robert Ryan.

My Pal Gus

My Pal Gus is a 1952 comedy-drama film which follows Gus (George Winslow) who is the young son of divorced industrialist Dave Jennings (Richard Widmark). Unable to cope with Gus' mischievous streak, Jennings places the boy in a day-care center. Gus' teacher Lydia Marble (Joanne Dru) manages to curb the boy's prankishness, and along the way falls in love with Jennings. Enter the villainess of the piece: Jennings' ex-wife Joyce (Audrey Totter), who claims that the divorce is invalid and demands a huge sum from Jennings, lest she claim custody of Gus.

Plot

Dave Jennings is so focused on his Los Angeles-based business that he neglects his precocious five-year-old son Gus, who is constantly creating havoc in order to get his father's attention. After Gus's latest escapade is cleaned up and paid for, Dave orders his long-suffering secretary, Ivy Tolliver, to find a new nurse for Gus, then leaves on a business trip. Upon his return, Dave learns that Ivy has placed Gus in the Playtime School, and that he must meet with the teacher, Lydia Marble, to enroll Gus formally. Rushed as usual, Dave tells the attractive Lydia that he will pay whatever it takes to keep Gus in line, but when Lydia explains that parents are required to participate in their child's education at Playtime, Dave indignantly states that he knows all he needs to about Gus. Dave is amazed by how well Gus responds to Lydia's instructions, however, after he smacks a schoolmate. Believing that Gus can benefit from Lydia's tutelage, Dave agrees to keep him at Playtime. As the next three weeks pass, Gus becomes contented and well-behaved, but on Dave's scheduled parent participation day, the businessman instead sends a truckload of toys to the school. Lydia returns the toys with a note admonishing Dave that as a substitute for his attention, the toys are not enough, and when Dave comes to the school to protest, Lydia assumes that he is there to help.