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| Six Of A Kind - 1934 |
Coming up next is 1934's "Six Of A Kind", a story of a couple who embark on their second honeymoon. As they travel by car from the East Coast of the USA to Hollywood, they encounter one catastrophe after the other. The first trouble begins before they even leave their hometown!
The film's cast includes Charles Ruggles, Mary Boland, W.C. Fields, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Alison Skipworth, and Irving Bacon.
Married for twenty years, Pinky and Flora Whinney are excited about their upcoming second honeymoon. They plan on driving from their home on the East Coast to Hollywood. The entire trip will take two weeks, enabling them to spend 24 hours in Tinseltown.
Flora surprises Pinky by having an advertisement placed in the newspaper. She wants another couple to drive with them so that they can save on expenses. Pinky isn't at all thrilled with the idea.
The people that answer the ad aren't exactly a traveler's dream. George and Gracie have some interesting conversations. When Gracie tells George that she's got a niece with three feet, he tells her that she's probably got an aunt that sees with her mouth. "Yeah, I have," replies Gracie. "She sees if the soup is hot."
Unbeknownst to Pinky, his suitcase is swapped by an embezzler at the bank where he works. Concealed within the suitcase is $50,000. The embezzler plans on making a switch once the Whinneys are out of town. Pinky has told everyone where they are going and exactly how they are going to get there.
The trouble is, the embezzler didn't count on George and Gracie, who insist on taking over the planning of the entire trip, including the route. They even bring Gracie's dog, Rang Tang Tang!
The first hiccup comes when Pinky and Flora find out that their traveling companions aren't married. No hotel will rent a room to them unless everything is on the up and up. So, the guys have to bunk together, and so do the girls. Pinky and Flora are heartbroken that their trip is going this way.
A near disaster occurs when Flora poses for a photograph that Gracie is taking. Gracie keeps telling her to move backwards, unaware that a large canyon is behind Flora. Well, Flora falls onto a tree branch and has to be hoisted up. Things don't go well at first with the rescue.
Flora is able to get back up safely. However, Rang Tang Tang comes up and pushes George right over the edge and onto the same tree branch.
When asking for directions in Nevada, the group is held up by a pair of thieves, who take all of their money and jewelry but neglect to look in the suitcases.
As they pull into the next town, bad things keep happening. A flat tire is about par for the course on this trip.
Mrs. Rumford, the owner of the hotel they stop at, isn't happy that they have no money. Pinky sends a telegram to his bank asking them to wire some money. However, they have been frantically trying to locate him and the $50,000 he has in the suitcase. Now they know where he is, and the race is on. Will the authorities or the embezzler get to him first?
Mrs. Rumford insists on keeping a suitcase as collateral for the rooms. She asks the local sheriff to be with her when she opens it for inspection. "Are you busy?" she asks. "I'm about as busy as a pickpocket at a nudist colony," he says sarcastically.
They are shocked when they discover all the cash inside the suitcase. "Why should a man carry fifty thousand dollars cash in a suitcase?" asks Mrs. Rumford. "Just to tempt honest people," comes the sheriff's reply.
Inside the suitcase are also a bunch of letters written between the embezzler and his girlfriend...things that make it look that Pinky is indeed a scheming embezzler who can't wait to be rid of his wife.
Everything turns out for the best. The embezzler is caught, and the Whinneys are granted an additional thirty days on which to enjoy their honeymoon.
Cast rundown:
Charles Ruggles...............................J. Pinkham Whinney
Mary Boland....................................Flora Whinney
W.C. Fields......................................Sheriff John Hoxley
George Burns..................................George Edwards
Gracie Allen.....................................Gracie Devore
Alison Skipworth..............................Mrs. K. Rumford
Irving Bacon....................................Hotel Desk Clerk
And that's it for Six Of A Kind. This is a completely fun film. Short too! (63 minutes) It's also enjoyable if you find the comedic stylings of Burns and Allen to your liking. There's also a hilarious billiards sketch featuring W.C. Fields, in which he tells how he got the nickname "Honest John".
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