... which was something RKO did well in their early years, whether they stumbled into that formula or not. Plus this is a slice of working class life in the months just before the Depression began to hit hard.
Bertha"Bert" Quinlan (Mae Clarke) is a housewife who lives with her unemployed brother Danny (Ned Sparks) who considers his jobless state as almost a religion. And that's too bad, because Bert's husband, Johnny (Jack Mulhall) is completely unreliable. He loses a job at a drug store out of just plain carelessness - he is late to work a few times. It is never clear as to whether or not he is a pharmacist, but he doesn't seem to be bright enough to be one.
Days of joblessness turn into weeks, and still no job. In the meantime Johnny borrows money from a bootlegger he considers to be his friend - Nifty Herman - in spite of sage warnings from his wife Bert. Then one day Nifty asks a favor from Johnny - he wants him to hold a mysterious suitcase in his flat for him until Nifty comes calling for it, and Johnny feels he cannot refuse a guy who has been good to him.
Meanwhile Johnny's sister, Lottie (Wynne Gibson) is dating a fellow with a mysterious job. Everything comes to a head when Lottie's fellow comes to dinner at the Quinlan home one evening, and the contents of the suitcase are revealed. Complications ensue.
There are lots of things to notice in this film - for one how much people stood up for family members when their behavior was indefensible. Ned Sparks is playing such an unlikable person here it is surprising the first cost cutting measure the Quinlans do not take is dumping this able bodied guy on the pavement to fend for himself. Second, in spite of Johnny being unable to find a job and Danny unwilling to do so, it seems to be out of the question for a married woman, Bert, to consider going to work. Third, nobody takes Prohibition seriously. Noone is concerned that Nifty is a bootlegger, Bert's concerns are all of the other things Nifty may be involved with in the process of being a bootlegger.
Some other things of note. Ned Sparks is not being used well here. He is much better as the serious sour guy who just never had a fun day in his life and is not afraid to tell you about it. Also, it's a wonder of make up and fashion design that 20 year old Mae Clarke looks like a dowdy housewife run down by years of worrying over pennies, downright lifeless looking compared to 32 year old Wynne Gibson who is playing her flapper-like sister in law.
The weirdest thing I noticed? At one point a cop and Danny are in the kitchen, and for some reason the cop is trying the bad cop routine without the good cop around and it just doesn't work. I think they were going for some kind of vaudeville back-and-forth comic routine, but it just falls flat.
I'd say this is worth it for film historians and for people who want a look at how average people lived in 1930. From that viewpoint it is essential.
Bertha"Bert" Quinlan (Mae Clarke) is a housewife who lives with her unemployed brother Danny (Ned Sparks) who considers his jobless state as almost a religion. And that's too bad, because Bert's husband, Johnny (Jack Mulhall) is completely unreliable. He loses a job at a drug store out of just plain carelessness - he is late to work a few times. It is never clear as to whether or not he is a pharmacist, but he doesn't seem to be bright enough to be one.
Days of joblessness turn into weeks, and still no job. In the meantime Johnny borrows money from a bootlegger he considers to be his friend - Nifty Herman - in spite of sage warnings from his wife Bert. Then one day Nifty asks a favor from Johnny - he wants him to hold a mysterious suitcase in his flat for him until Nifty comes calling for it, and Johnny feels he cannot refuse a guy who has been good to him.
Meanwhile Johnny's sister, Lottie (Wynne Gibson) is dating a fellow with a mysterious job. Everything comes to a head when Lottie's fellow comes to dinner at the Quinlan home one evening, and the contents of the suitcase are revealed. Complications ensue.
There are lots of things to notice in this film - for one how much people stood up for family members when their behavior was indefensible. Ned Sparks is playing such an unlikable person here it is surprising the first cost cutting measure the Quinlans do not take is dumping this able bodied guy on the pavement to fend for himself. Second, in spite of Johnny being unable to find a job and Danny unwilling to do so, it seems to be out of the question for a married woman, Bert, to consider going to work. Third, nobody takes Prohibition seriously. Noone is concerned that Nifty is a bootlegger, Bert's concerns are all of the other things Nifty may be involved with in the process of being a bootlegger.
Some other things of note. Ned Sparks is not being used well here. He is much better as the serious sour guy who just never had a fun day in his life and is not afraid to tell you about it. Also, it's a wonder of make up and fashion design that 20 year old Mae Clarke looks like a dowdy housewife run down by years of worrying over pennies, downright lifeless looking compared to 32 year old Wynne Gibson who is playing her flapper-like sister in law.
The weirdest thing I noticed? At one point a cop and Danny are in the kitchen, and for some reason the cop is trying the bad cop routine without the good cop around and it just doesn't work. I think they were going for some kind of vaudeville back-and-forth comic routine, but it just falls flat.
I'd say this is worth it for film historians and for people who want a look at how average people lived in 1930. From that viewpoint it is essential.