George Washington Slept Here (1942)

George Washington Slept Here - 1942

Our next film is 1942's laugh-filled "George Washington Slept Here", starring Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan.  A husband and wife trade city life for country living when they buy a dilapidated old house.  They run into trouble after trouble in a hilarious set of circumstances that includes falling through floors, farm animals in the house, tadpoles in the tea, mooching relatives, and an unruly nephew.

The film's supporting cast includes Charles Coburn, Percy Kilbride, Hattie McDaniel, William Tracy, Joyce Reynolds, Lee Patrick, John Emery, Douglas Croft, Harvey Stephens, Franklin Pangborn, and Terry.

Bill and Connie Fuller live in a New York City apartment with her younger sister and their dog.  When the dog chews up a carpet, the manager demands payment.  Feeling the heat of the moment, Connie decides to move out.

It comes as a complete shock to Bill when she hasn't told him and prospective renters come in while he's shaving.  After Connie tells him, Bill tells her that he's tired of moving and would like to find an apartment more permanent.

A while later, Bill and Connie go house hunting.  He sits in the passenger seat of the car looking for apartments in the want-ads.  She's driving to a destination she already has in mind.  Bill goes along with it for her sake and takes a nap while she drives.

When Bill awakes, he finds Connie has brought him to a run-down house in the country, a place he doesn't at all want to be.  Connie extols the virtues of the house, while Bill continues to disparage it, not even wanting to set foot inside.

Bill's worst suspicions are confirmed when he steps right through the boards on the front porch.

Connie tries to tell Bill the history of the house, how it was rumored that George Washington stayed there.  "Just think, Bill, George Washington slept here.  George Washington!" she says excitedly.  Looking around, Bill replies, "Martha wasn't a very good housekeeper, was she?"

Bill looks around a bit and keeps running into mishaps.  The hired man on the property tells him to be careful upstairs.  The floor is weak.

He even falls through the floor right into the kitchen.  When Connie tells him she's already bought the house, he's furious.  When she tells him not to be mad, she only wanted something to hold onto, Bill says, "I could spit from here to Mount Vernon!"  Where Connie sees only possibilities, Bill can see nothing but debt.

Even outside Bill runs into problems.  He falls right into an abandoned well shaft.  Mr. Kimber, the hired man, tells the Fullers there is no running water to the property.  He also tells them about the gravel they'll need.  Bill can mentally see the money flying out of their bank account.

Once they start moving, Bill runs into more problems.  The neighbor owns the rights to the roadway to their house and refuses to let him pass.  Bill must find an alternate route to get to his house.

He's got to cut across fields, hills, and even dodge a herd of cows!

Also, a horse finds its way into the house by way of a hole in the kitchen wall.  The maid says she won't cook in there with a horse!

A local antique shop owner helps Connie find out more about the property.  Although there is nothing between them, Bill suspects Connie is having an affair and is pretty rude to Mr. Douglas.

On top of all this, a huge rainstorm comes and they find out just how bad their roof is.  They also meet a couple of actors who come in for shelter from the storm.  Connie's younger sister is fascinated with them, and she later joins the local community theater.

Eventually, Connie's nephew Raymond comes to live with them.  Apparently, he's making the rounds of family as no one can control him.  He even admits to trying to kill his father once.  "They stopped me just in time," he says.  "I was only a kid then."

Bill and Connie also run out of money for their project, which is a shame as it is starting to look very good.  They don't know what they're going to do.  Mortgage payments are due, and they still have no water.

As if that isn't enough, Connie's rich, spoiled uncle Stanley comes to visit on his annual rotation through family members' homes.  Thinking they've got quite a bit of money coming to them once he dies, Connie and Bill go out of their way to make sure his every whim is provided for.

With help from antiquer Mr. Douglas, Connie and Bill find out that they are the ones who actually own the road rights.  They go over to their neighbor's house and tell him as much.  The neighbor doesn't seem to care.  He tells them that unless they can come up with $5,000 in a few days, the bank will foreclose on them and he will buy the property.

They go to Uncle Stanley for the money, but he admits to them he hasn't got a dime.  He just pretends he's rich so that everyone will give him the best of everything.  He feels badly and wants to help them.

After trying everything they know how, Bill and Connie accept their situation and start to enjoy the time they have left in the house.

Uncle Stanley gets an idea on how to stall for time.  He gets Raymond to go over and get the neighbor to follow him home.  Raymond throws a bunch of mud in his face to accomplish this.

Once the neighbor is at the Fuller residence, Uncle Bill tries to get his plan into action.  Unfortunately, it backfires, and the neighbor is more ready than ever to have the bank foreclose so he can sweep in and buy it up.

Just at the right moment, the dog starts chewing on an old boot and uncovers something hidden inside.

It just so happens that it is a letter from George Washington, proving that he did indeed stay at the farm.  Bill and Connie are thrilled and plan to use the money from the sale of the letter to make the mortgage payments and save their home.

After this good news, some bad news arrives.  A 17-year plague of locusts comes and infiltrates the property, leaving nothing left of the ground cover outside.  They even eat through Bill and Mr. Kimber's clothes!

Bill and Connie still plan to make a go of it though.  As they stand outside, the ground gives way and they fall into a usable well.  The Fullers finally have water!

Cast rundown:

   Jack Benny..............................Bill Fuller

   Ann Sheridan...........................Connie Fuller

   Charles Coburn........................Stanley J. Menninger

   Percy Kilbride...........................Mr. Kimber

   Hattie McDaniel........................Hester

   William Tracy............................Steve Eldridge

   Joyce Reynolds.........................Madge

   Lee Patrick...............................Rena Leslie

   John Emery..............................Clayton Evans

   Douglas Croft...........................Raymond

   Harvey Stephens.......................Jeff Douglas

   Franklin Pangborn.....................Mr. Gibney

   Terry.......................................Romy

And that's it for George Washington Slept Here.  The original script had the husband buying the house, while the wife did not want to move to the country.  Once Jack Benny came on board, it was changed around.  Also, Olivia de Havilland was the lead first associated with the film.  It's good to see Terry (Toto from The Wizard of Oz) in this movie as well.

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