AllMovie

Neither John Ford nor his cinematographer, Joseph August, seem to be much at home in a drawing room comedy such as The Brat, a contractual obligation for both. With no place to go, August's constantly moving camera only confuses matters and Ford can only do so much with the trite "Tennis anyone?" material. Sally O'Neil, who had survived the transition to sound, but only barely, makes a last-ditch effort to hold on to a quickly vanishing popularity and she seems at times overly coy. A good supporting cast that includes several of the "Irish characters" so beloved by Ford makes this old-fashioned hokum at least somewhat bearable.