Six Of A Kind (1934)

 

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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The Bank Dick (1940)

 

The Bank Dick - 1940

After a long holiday weekend in the USA, 1940's "The Bank Dick" brings us back to our regularly scheduled program.  This film features a man who enjoys spending most of his time down at the local saloon.  His life changes one fateful day he ends up directing a motion picture, catching a crook, getting a job, and eventually becoming quite wealthy.

The film's cast includes W.C. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Evelyn Del Rio, Jessie Ralph, Franklin Pangborn, Shemp Howard, Grady Sutton, Russell Hicks, and Margaret Seddon.

Egbert Sousé (accent grave over the "e") isn't much liked by his family.  His wife, mother-in-law, and daughters are ashamed at the fact that he spends most of his time smoking and drinking down at the local saloon.

And he and his youngest daughter Elsie are constantly bickering.  This includes hurling things at each other that would certainly cause a lot of harm!

Egbert does indeed like drinking down at his favorite bar.  And it is there that he makes some useful contacts.

While talking with a movie producer, Sousé is tapped to step in and direct a movie that is shooting locally.  The former director is in no condition to take on the direction of the picture.  Sousé's family is shocked when they see him in the director's chair.

He changes the premise of the film from an English drawing room drama to a circus scene.  Noticing the size difference in the leading actors, Sousé asks an assistant, "Is she standing in a hole?"  His daughter also wants to be in the picture and when he doesn't put her in, she is quick to make her displeasure known.  "Godfrey Daniel!  Mother of pearl!" he exclaims before walking off the set in search of some liquid libation.

Meanwhile, the bank where his future son-in-law, Og, works is robbed.  The robbers get away with $25,000 dollars.  Unknowingly, and with the help of a wobbly bench, Sousé captures one of the crooks and recovers the money.  Naturally, he embellishes the story to the delight of the onlookers.

As a "reward", Sousé is offered a job as the bank security officer, and it's hilarious to watch as he rehearses drawing his gun.

While at his favorite bar one day, Sousé meets a man who wants to unload some worthless stocks and bonds in a hurry.  Sousé likes the sound of what the man is selling and he convinces his future son-in-law, Og, to "borrow" $500 from the bank to take up the stock.  Og plans to return the money with a bonus that is due to him in four days.

Sousé gets into a little bit of trouble when he takes his job too seriously.  He wrestles with a youngster over a fake pistol inside the bank.  More trouble arrives in the form of bank examiner J. Pinkerton Snoopington, who has come to perform an audit of the bank's books.

Not wanting Og to get in trouble and trying to buy him some time to repay the money, Sousé takes "Snoopy" out for a drink.  He has the bartender slip him a mickey and the bank examiner ends up in bed.  He gets a doctor to go along with him and has him prescribe four days bedrest.

However, Snoopington is very dedicated to his job.  When he comes to the bank even though he is feeling sick, Sousé does everything he can to stall for time.

Everything works out, though, when it is discovered that those "worthless" stocks that Og bought are extremely valuable.  Og is able to return the money, and he even offers to split the stock with Sousé, who gratefully accepts.

The celebrating doesn't last too long.  The bank crook that got away comes back, and this time he takes Sousé as a hostage.  Sousé hilariously races through town at gunpoint in an open-topped car pointing out the local points of interest.

All's well that ends well, and Sousé is given a five thousand dollar reward when the car chase ultimately comes to an end.  That's not all.  The movie he was directing earlier was so well liked, that the president of the studio paid him ten thousand dollars for it and also gave him a contract to direct the movie in Hollywood.

With all of his newfound money, Sousé and family move into a luxurious new house.  Instead of hating him as they did in the beginning of the movie, his family now loves him and dotes upon him lovingly as bid him goodbye as he departs for the "saloon...I mean, the office".

Cast rundown:

   W.C. Fields..............................Egbert Sousé

   Cora Witherspoon.....................Agatha Sousé

   Una Merkel..............................Myrtle Sousé

   Evelyn Del Rio..........................Elsie Sousé

   Jessie Ralph.............................Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch

   Franklin Pangborn.....................J. Pinkerton Snoopington

   Shemp Howard........................Joe Guelpe

   Grady Sutton...........................Og Oggilby

   Russell Hicks............................J. Frothingham Waterbury

   Margaret Seddon......................Old Lady In Car

And that's all for The Bank Dick.  When they read the original script (which was written by W.C. Fields), the censors at Universal demanded many changes.  The director of the film, Edward F. Cline, told Fields to leave everything in the way it was and they would film it as written because the censors wouldn't notice the difference.  They filmed it as written and, as predicted, the censors never noticed that the film was unchanged.

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