The Golden Fleecing

Lew Ayres stars with Rita Johnson, Lloyd Nolan, and Virginia Grey in "The Golden Fleecing," from 1940.

Ayres plays Henry Twinkle, a life insurance salesman who sells Gus Fender (Lloyd Nolan) a $50,000 life insurance policy. This impresses his boss, until he realizes that Gus Fender is a racketeer. His boss nearly has a coronary and tells Henry that he'd better keep Gus alive. Henry goes to Fender, and the two of them hatch a scheme where Henry puts Fender in jail and collects the $25,000 reward. He then is supposed to turn it over to Fender, who wants to make bail and get out of the country. That's where the problems begin.

Lew Ayres was very cute, and he's funny as a guy who just wants to marry his fiancé Mary (Rita Johnson) but becomes entangled with gangsters, with Mary becoming jealous of Fender's girlfriend (Grey).

Nothing special, with Fender's army of goofy associates, headed by Nat Pendleton, providing some comedy.

The funniest thing in this movie is its title. 'The Golden Fleecing' has a similar premise to Danny Kaye's unfunny comedy 'The Man from the Diner's Club': a gormless hero, on behalf of his employer, extends financial obligation to a gangster, then must imperil himself implausibly in order to undo the damage. But 'Diner's Club', as dire as it was, managed to be much more plausible than 'The Golden Fleecing'.

Lew Ayres was a slightly talented dramatic actor with no flair for comedy; his success in a supporting role in the comedy 'Holiday' was down to Ayres's willingness to give a passive performance for a firm-handed director while allowing much more talented actors to play off him. Here, in 'The Golden Fleecing', Ayres plays a schlub insurance salesman named Henry Twinkle: I guess that this name is meant to be funny, but somehow I'm not laughing. (When I said he was a schlub insurance salesman, I didn't mean he sells schlub insurance: I meant he's a schlub who has a job as an insurance salesman.) Henry is engaged to Lila (the attractive but untalented actress Virginia Grey), and they hope to get married if only Henry sells a few insurance policies.

Henry sells a life-insurance policy to a man named Gus Fender (played by Lloyd Nolan, whose face does indeed resemble a bashed fender). Henry is pleased with the sale ... until he learns that Fender is a gangster, and rival gangsters have put a price on Fender's head. If this were real life, Henry's boss could just cancel the insurance policy on a technicality. But this is a movie, so ... exit credibility, upstage left, while implausibility runs riot.

In order to keep Fender from getting killed, Henry gets involved in some criminal schemes which become increasingly felonious and decreasingly plausible. Meanwhile, Lila can't figure out why Henry is acting so weird, and of course he can't tell her. Listen, sister: when you decided to marry a guy named Twinkle, you should have been prepared.

Part of the problem with 'The Golden Fleecing' is that Fender is so unlikeable, we actually want him to get killed off ... even though this would mean ruination for Henry. Lloyd Nolan was a very talented actor (more so than Ayres) whose unpleasant physiognomy kept him typecast nearly always as crooks or unsympathetic heroes.

There are some good supporting performances here. The trim and muscular Nat Pendleton (a former Olympic athlete) plays a guy named Fatso. Leon Errol plays a character named Uncle Waldo: just the idea of Leon Errol playing somebody named Uncle Waldo is funny, but Errol has little to do in the role. Spencer Charters, Ralph Byrd and the great William Demarest are excellent in small roles. It's nice to see Ralph Byrd playing a role that isn't Dick Tracy. I'll rate this weak movie 4 out of 10.

Remind me not to ride an elevator with Twinkle (Ayers), that is, unless I feel like having a good laugh. The movie's a bouncy slice of screwball, but what else could it be with a lead named Henry Twinkle. Seems his insurance salesman gets a big boost by selling a fat insurance policy to racketeer Fender (Nolan). Trouble is he doesn't know Fender's a bad guy who's probably got a short life expectancy. Thus, Twinkle better keep him breathing otherwise it's a weighty insurance payoff for the company and a demotion for our hero.

Ayers does surprisingly well as the addled Twinkle who fortunately packs a punch in his right hand; certainly not what you'd expect from the dead-serious Dr. Kildare. The first part is pretty funny as Twinkle bumbles his way along the insurance route with sweetie secretary Mary (Johnson). However, the lighter mood eventually gives way to more serious developments and a heavier feeling. Nonetheless, Ayers manages to carry the screwball idea through thick and thin. Credit too, a familiar supporting cast of Nolan, Lawrence, Pendleton, and others who cook up a sprinkling of menace along with a pinch of tongue-in-cheek. The girls, Johnson and Grey manage gamely in what amounts to stereotype roles. At the same time, director Fenton keeps things moving in apt fashion, such that the plot- heavy parts don't pall.

Overall, the flick's a fairly nifty little slice of leading man amusement, courtesy MGM and a pixilated Lew Ayers.

In between stints as Dr. Kildare Lew Ayres managed to star in this really nice screwball comedy, the kind of part that someone like Jimmy Stewart or Henry Fonda would have done had this B film from MGM were given a top drawer budget and production.

The Golden Fleecing casts Lew Ayres as a mild mannered insurance agent who sells a life insurance policy to gangster Lloyd Nolan who then gets a contract put out on him. At that point Ayres is in jeopardy of his job and he seeks out Nolan to make sure he stays alive.

It's hard to describe the rest of the film other than Nolan's various schemes come to naught and the bumbling Ayres keeps coming up a winner. Both are lucky in the women they have. Rita Johnson is faithful to Ayres and smart. Virginia Grey is the smart one on Nolan's team and if he let her handle things it might not have ended so badly for him.

If you haven't seen this one, don't miss it if broadcast.

Henry Twinkle (Lew Ayers) is a naïve life insurance salesman who unknowingly sells a $50,000 policy to a crook named Gus Fender (Lloyd Nolan). This puts a kibosh on his plans to marry his girl, secretary Mary Blake (Rita Johnson). When he realizes his mistake, he understands he has a vested interest in the continuing health of Fender, who is wanted dead or alive.

This is the comedic crux of the plot, which has the hapless Twinkle trying to salvage his relationship while dealing with the fugitive Fender. There are some good moments, like the scene where he tries to get arrested for speeding.

Johnson and Ayers are a good pair, though Twinkle's cluelessness is a little annoying. Fender is humanized by Nolan's portrayal, not just a ruthless rogue. He pairs well with Virginia Grey, who plays his intellectually superior moll.

At the time of this filming, Ayers was married to Ginger Rogers. And his career was all about multiple portrayals of Dr. Kildare ---quite a different character from Henry Twinkle.