Reginald Denny is a real estate agent trying to sell a house to Harvey Clark, and himself as a son-in-law via Lorayne Duval. Clark complains that the house next door is empty, so Denny rents it quick to a party of what turns out to be crooks. They quickly get him thoroughly trouble.
The serious side of this late Universal comedy -- it's supposed to have some sound sequence in it, but the copy I looked at was completely titled -- is xenophobia, fear of the wrong sort of people moving into your neighborhood, ruining values and so forth. That's never explored at all, as three comic sequences ensue, starting with the crooks calling on Clark andtrying to pocket all his valuable collectibles, then a roadhouse sequence, followed by one in which Denny tries to scare the crooks into leaving.
I don't think the last worked, but otherwise it's a bright and amusing movie, even if it was clearly intended as a makeweight. Sound was coming in, and the Laemmles were worried about the effects on their business. They would fire. Lot of their minor stars and almost all the cowboys. Denny's stardom would not survive the next couple of years. Instead, he would become a major supporting actor., in one of those careers that have a real second act.
The serious side of this late Universal comedy -- it's supposed to have some sound sequence in it, but the copy I looked at was completely titled -- is xenophobia, fear of the wrong sort of people moving into your neighborhood, ruining values and so forth. That's never explored at all, as three comic sequences ensue, starting with the crooks calling on Clark andtrying to pocket all his valuable collectibles, then a roadhouse sequence, followed by one in which Denny tries to scare the crooks into leaving.
I don't think the last worked, but otherwise it's a bright and amusing movie, even if it was clearly intended as a makeweight. Sound was coming in, and the Laemmles were worried about the effects on their business. They would fire. Lot of their minor stars and almost all the cowboys. Denny's stardom would not survive the next couple of years. Instead, he would become a major supporting actor., in one of those careers that have a real second act.
