New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford (1931)

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

George Randolph Chester (story)
Charles MacArthur (adaptation)

Release Date:

3 October 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

Plot:

Wallingford is a con-man whose specialty is taking money from suckers. His partners are Schnozzle, a pickpocket and car thief; and Blackie...

Plot Keywords:

Barber Shop | Car Theft | Father Daughter Relationship | Male Female Relationship | Mother Daughter Relationship

Cast

William Haines	...	Jimmy Wallingford
Jimmy Durante	...	Clarence 'Schnozzle'
Ernest Torrence	...	Blackie Daw
Leila Hyams	...	Dorothy Layton
Guy Kibbee	...	McGonigal
Hale Hamilton	...	Charles Harper
Robert McWade	...	Horace Tuttle
Clara Blandick	...	Mrs. Layton
Walter Walker	...	Frank Layton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Henry Armetta	...	Henry
Lucy Beaumont	...	Mrs. Dalrymple
Robert Bolder

Also Known As:

Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (USA) (working title)
The New Adventures of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Movie Connections:

Follows Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1921)

William Haines & Jimmy Durante Score Big in Comedy Crime Caper

James Rufus Wallingford, master swindler, returns to America - cheating suckers & dodging the law. But then he falls in love with the daughter of an old man he wants to defraud. He needs to watch his step, or there won't be any NEW ADVENTURES OF GET RICH QUICK WALLINGFORD.

William Haines was perfectly cast as a smooth-talking operator in this, his fastest-moving, most densely plotted film. Leila Hyams is cute as his love interest, but she doesn't have a lot to do but look pretty or distressed. Clara Blandwick, as her mother, acts like a tough old customer. Guy Kibbee is fun as the detective waiting for Wallingford to slip-up. As Haines' accomplices in crime, Ernest Torrence and pickpocket Jimmy Durante are especially good. This was Durante's film debut and he soon would be a top Hollywood star.

By the way, for many decades this movie (based on a character already established in short stories in Cosmopolitan Magazine & a couple of silent films) held the distinction as the Hollywood film with the longest title.