El gordinflón detective

Great glimpse of small town America, when it and not car crashes was the focus of media entertainment. Gildy's a perfect small town character, right down to his basso profundo grunts, groans, and cackles. Here he's got a feud going with the town judge (Arnt) who's questioning his guardianship of teenage niece (Gates) and singing wonder nephew (Mercer). So naturally, to top his rival, Gildy runs for mayor. I love that little campaign parade down Main Street with a band and majorette, just perfect for a small town. Then too, how is eligible bachelor Gildersleeve going to escape the wiles of husband-hunting Amelia, the judge's sister of all people. She's nothing if not persistent. Anyway, the kids are cute, the plot amusing, plus there's a good whiff of a gentler age unfortunately gone by.

HAROLD PEARY brings his trademark laugh and distinctive voice to the screen in the first of the Gildersleeve films starring him in the title role. It's strictly corny, lowbrow comedy but lots of fun, an unpretentious little programmer from the early, patriotic '40s.

With a running time of one hour and two minutes, it seems more like a back to back half-hour TV situation comedy in style with the running joke being Gildersleeve's attempt to remain the bachelor guardian of two children and suspected of having marriage plans with the plain spinster mistakenly assumed to be his intended.

Nice support from JANE DARWELL as his efficient Aunt Emma, willing to help Gildersleeve with his household responsibilities and NANCY GATES as one of his charges. Much of the humor springs from Peary's comic skill with slapstick material as he mismanages everything.

CHARLES ARNT as a befuddled and irate Judge Hooker is effective in a supporting role, as is MARY FIELD as his sister, the unattractive spinster.

Anyone familiar with the Gildersleeve of radio fame is sure to enjoy this situation comedy from the Golden Age of B-film programmers.

Harold Peary's title character is a delight. The guy is id personified: Everything that comes into his mind, he comments on. He says what he thinks. Or he makes sounds that seem to him appropriate. Kind of like a suave caveman.

His family is very appealing. Freddie Mercer, as his nephew LeRoy, is a likable child actor. In addition, he has a beautiful boy soprano voice. O for the days when children were given voice and music lessons in their homes! (Rich or extraordinarily gifted children still are but this is a precursor to Mayberry, RFD.) Gildersleeve is pursued here by a truly man-crazy woman. We are distracted from this initially because she is the homely, bespectacled spinster daughter of the town judge. But she really likes men.

It's a charming bit of nostalgia.

"The Great Gildersleeve" was a very popular radio show from 1941-1958. It was a spinoff from another radio show, "Fibber McGee and Molly". Not surprisingly, the show was so popular that it led to several movies. The first string of Gildersleeve films were based on the character from "Fibber McGee and Molly" and were made by Paramount. This film, "The Great Gildersleeve" sounds as if it's the first Gildersleeve film but it's actually the sixth...but the first made by RKO studio.

In this story, Throckmorton Gildersleeve (Harold Peary) is the guardian of his niece and nephew. He thinks his kids need the influence of a woman and he asks his aunt (Jane Darwell) to move in with them. Unfortunately, Judge Hooker's matronly sister is smitten with Gildersleeve and thinks he wants to marry her...something he definitely does NOT want to do! But with the Judge overseeing the guardianship, Gildersleeve is worried that the Judge will take away his guardianship if he doesn't marry the sister. How does he avoid this and what's next? See the film and find out for yourself...though it, surprisingly, includes a visit from the Governor.

While the film isn't perfect (Peary's laugh is tough to handle and the rear projection is a bit annoying), the story is entertaining and ends well. Worth seeing.

Harold Peary played the good role of Gildersleeve. His laugh was his trademark. He use to be in radio, before coming to movies. In one episode I like was when the bicycle split into going in separate directions and he yelled LeRoy. This was funny. We need more movies of this gender.