But it is Mr. Barrymore who so scandalously accents a preposterous affair that it becomes amusing as a lampoon on itself.

Barrymore grooves .as the eccentric inventor most effectively, playing the character more or less straight, with only a slight touch of farcical treatment.

In John Barrymore's hands this Professor Gibbs becomes a gay caricature of an aged and cranky but clever scientist.

It's amusing for a while. But it grows tedious.