The Nut Farm

By the standards of B-comedies, "The Nut Farm" is above average. The story is rather amusing, and was probably fairly creative at the time. It is also interesting as something of a parody of low-budget film-making. The rest of the production is ordinary but adequate.

Bob and Helen are a middle-aged couple who decide to take their life savings and move to California, where Helen's mother and brother live. Helen's brother Willie is trying to break into the movies, and Helen also dreams of being a star. She soon gets taken in by a group of scam artists who try to persuade her and the rest of the family to invest all of their money in a grade Z film. From there, things work out quite differently from what anyone expected, and there are a few funny moments as everything gets sorted out.

Most of the interest comes from the story and from some of the humorous details of the very low-budget film-making operation. The dialogue is strictly routine and often stale, but the pace generally works well, and the cast is adequate, with Wallace Ford as Willie being the best. It's worth a look for those who know what to expect from a Monogram film.

Oscar Apfel sells his business. He and wife Betty Alden go out to visit her family in Hollywood. While Oscar is interested in buying a nut farm not far outside town, Betty is suckered by "acting school" con man Bradley Page into thinking she can be a great movie actress, and that her brother, Wallace Ford, an occasional assistant director, is just the man to direct the movie, which starts out with farmboys leading cows to pasture in England and winds up being a jungle epic, complete with gorillas. All that is needed is Oscar's bankroll and that of slightly deaf Spencer Charters, Ford's landlord and father of the aspiring director's sweetheart.

It's a good setup for a comedy, but except for Spencer Charters, no one puts much comedy into their performances. Still, it's good to see Oscar Apfel with a good-sized role. He had entered show business around the turn of the century, and had moved into the films about a decade later. He was directing for Edison when Jesse Lasky and Cecil B. Demille had shown up and asked him to join their company as co-director to Demille for THE SQUAW MAN. Despite Demille insisting that Apfel had only taught him the "technical" part of direction Apfel directed or co-directed 120 features and shorts through the end of the silent era, then returned to the front of the camera, with mostly small but well-performed roles. He would die in 1938, aged 60.

"Nut Farm" is a pleasant little film. While it's far from great and not a must-see, it certainly is a bit better than just a time-passer. The story is about a family of idiots who plan on moving to California to buy a farm. I say they are idiots because along the way they fall into the clutches of a crook who insists they all will become movie stars if they just invest in his film. They put their life savings into the project with this oily jerk and it's up to Willie (Wallace Ford) to try to save the day. The problem is that despite his attempts to warn everyone, they are such bubble-heads that they won't heed his warnings.

As I said above, this is not a great film by any standard but is is competently directed and fun. My complaints about it are relatively few (such as why would Willie agree to direct this film?!). Worth seeing if you are a fan of B-movies--like me.

By the way, this is the first film I've ever seen that used the term 'poverty row' to describe the ultra-low budget studios. While this was an industry term, it rarely was used in movies--particularly in a film made by one of the so-called poverty row studios (Monogram).

Orange groves and the sunshine life prompt sleepy aspiring actor Wallace Ford (as Willie Barton) to sent his sister a postal card, asking, "When are you coming to California?" That's all it takes for Betty Alden (as Helen) to pack up husband Oscar Apfel (as Bob) and move from Newark to Los Angeles, where Mr. Apfel hopes to make a fortune by tending "The Nut Farm" hawked in brochures.

In California, Apfel tells the cast, "You people should be right at home on a nut farm!"

Bitten by the acting bug, Ms. Alden decides to "follow in the footsteps of Pickford, Swanson, Garbo, and Mae West." She meets acting agent Bradley Page (as Hamilton T. Holland). He is really a crook, out to bilk Alden. Impersonators posing as Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford and Mae West help convince Alden she's paying a reputable agent. But brother Ford smells a rat in Hollywood...

**** The Nut Farm (3/25/35) Melville Brown ~ Wallace Ford, Betty Alden, Bradley Page, Oscar Apfel