The Tenderfoot

Joe E. Brown plays the main character, Calvin Jones. Jones is in New York City straight from the middle of no where in Texas. Now this is a severe problem, as Jones is very naive about big city ways. So, it's not at all surprising when some producers of a play without backing convince Jones to buy half the show. The problem is that the show is a bomb and Jones is just too ignorant to know it. He's also too ignorant to know that his co-producer, Mr. Lehman, is a crook and his secretary (Ginger Rogers) film-flammed him into investing in the cursed project.

While the idea for the film isn't bad, one thing is very bad--Brown's performance. Subtle he ain't. In fact, he walks about like he's a 6 year-old trying to PRETEND to be a cowboy and his dialog is pretty cheesy. While I've seen quite a few of Brown's other films, this one is among the very worst--all due to his awful character.

Now this isn't to say the film is all bad. It does have some nice moments--such as when Calvin tells a prospective backer the plot (the reactions are pretty funny) as well as the opening dance number (it's one of the strangest in history...complete with robots!). Overall, I'd say that the bad does outweigh the good just a bit.

A Texas cowboy with funds to invest arrives in New York City. Just how long will it take for THE TENDERFOOT and his money to be parted?

Comic Joe E. Brown has a wonderful time, striding about Manhattan in a ten-gallon hat & boots, packing a pair of six-shooters and carrying a lasso. No hick he, shysters of both sexes find he's not an easy mark--until he's taken in by a couple of desperate play producers who want to unload 49% of their latest flop. Brown is a constant wide-mouthed delight, whether roping his luggage at Grand Central Terminal, trying to be neighborly to a bunch of chorus boy cowboys, or galloping after a group of taxi-driven gangsters on a busy New York street, he makes this rather naughty Pre-Code comedy boil.

Perky Ginger Rogers scores as a secretary honest enough to want to protect Joe and his money. Lew Cody & Robert Greig ooze false charm as the producers (Greig even looks a little like the great Mostel) and brassy Vivien Oakland stirs things up a bit as the play's spoiled star.

Movie mavens will recognize Herman Bing as an opinionated chef, Nat Pendleton as a jealous husband and Richard Cramer as a gangster, all three uncredited.

The last few seconds of the film, involving some very peculiar triplets, is hilarious.

Comedian Brown gets a showcase here. As a swaggering wealthy Texan, he visits New York where he gets involved with con men using a Broadway show to fleece him. Good thing Rogers is on hand to help him out. Generally, the movie gets better as it goes along, even though Brown's style of humor is mainly a matter of taste. The first part has him practically yelling his lines and mugging it up mercilessly as he establishes his rustic character. Frankly, I found much of this annoying. But as the plot takes over, his character settles down some, but without losing his comedic shtick. Sorry to say, Rogers is largely wasted as the assertive secretary, but it's still early in her illustrious career. There's one scene that's a real grabber, coming near the end. Brown's on a horse chasing the baddies in a car down a city street. But it's a real city street not a backlot set. There's a lot of weaving back and forth, the car even going down a city sidewalk. I'm surprised any LA jurisdiction would let them take liberties like that. Still, it's a grabber in what's otherwise a fairly static story. All in all, the movie should please fans of the big-mouth funny man; for others, it's mainly a matter of taste.

"Whoooooopie!" ... I caught this movie for the first time on TCM early this morning and found it somewhat entertaining. Not ROFLOL slap-stick, or vaudevillian in the class of the Three Stooges or even Laurel and Hardy but that which was in it for innocent amusement. What did somewhat crack me up was when he was informed that the only costumes they had were that of Shakespeare and nothing associated or fitting the Broadway play they were performing - I believe it was a western. Yet there were some moments to suggest that I was in 1932. For one, in the restaurant the menu contained Kosher items and the comment made about a "tribe," and on the Brown's hat band, swastikas with some other symbols were briefly shown. Not really sure what that was all about but it reminded me a bit of when the Three Stooges poked fun at the threat in Europe that was emerging at the time. Nevertheless it was a fun movie and to see a young Ginger Rogers was well worth it. I'm certainly glad to have experienced it and the script alone was worth commendation. It wasn't great but it was fair.

Texas cowboy Calvin Jones (Joe E. Brown) is fresh off the train. He is a fish out of water in NYC. He's looking to invest in a Broadway play. Crooked producer Joe Lehman (Lew Cody) is robbing him blind and he falls for Joe's secretary Ruth Weston (Ginger Rogers).

This is a pre-Code comedy. I like him reconnecting with his old horse. I like a lot of the first half. I see his character as a Crocodile Dundee. I don't like him being too dumb. I also don't see much chemistry between him and Ginger Rogers. It's generally fine as a screwball comedy. At least, he closes riding a horse in a car chase.