Money Means Nothing

This Monogram drama from 1934 is from the period when they were still trying to make good movies, before they focused on cheap second features. It has a good script, a fine supporting cast, including Edgar Kennedy, who gets to do one of his patented slow burns, and Maidel Turner, who is excellent as a well meaning, gossipy neighbor. Wallace Ford is also good in the lead. Unhappily, Gloria Shea, as the female lead, is not up to the standards of the rest of the cast, which also includes Betty Blythe and Vivien Oakland, but the material is good enough to support her.

Christy Cabanne was on a bit of a roll during this period, working with small budgets but getting good casts, and here he gets to play some tricks with the camera-work. Early, character-setting scenes are shot with a highly mobile camera that swoops gracefully through the world of the rich, but it stops dead in its tracks once Ford and Shea are married and living in poverty in Brooklyn. The effect is beautifully calculated to keep the audience in a state of low-level anxiety, a trick of the camera that was discovered during the silent era but rarely used in the sound era. I can think of only a few cases, such as Kurosawa's HIGH AND LOW and Sturges' THE GREAT ESCAPE that use this method.

Cabanne is often denigrated as the least of D.W. Griffith's disciples, but he managed to keep directing until his death, usually second features with small budgets. I think the low esteem he is held in is undeserved and hope that people who care about movies will give him a chance.

Browsing today through one of my favorite places to buy DVDs, in the used section was a single, lonely new DVD still wrapped with the price of 99 cents. The film was called "Money Means Nothing", a title that meant nothing to me. Oh well, for that price, even if the film was a real stinker, all I would be out would be the buck. What a surprise to find a lively little programmer with a good story (based on a play), good acting and surprisingly good production values for Monogram Pictures. Gloria Shea, who I have barely heard of turned in a nice performance as the rich girl newly married to a poor boy, equally well played by Wallace Ford. Edgar Kennedy and Maidel Turner are hilarious as the newlywed's neighbors who are just a little too crude for the bride's family. Former silent star Betty Blythe plays the bride's Mother a bit like Billie Burke or Helen Broderick would if the film had been shot at MGM or RKO. With a running time of 64 minutes, you could find worse ways to spend an hour.

Okay programmer from budget-conscious Monogram. The first half includes a lot of low-brow humor, while the second half gets more dramatic. Julie (Shea) is a pretty but naive daughter of a wealthy family. However, she's unhappy with their rigid ways and wants to strike out on her own. Trouble is she has a sheltered girl's view of money thinking it's not important at all. So when she falls in love with working class guy Ken (Ford), she doesn't care that he's soon unemployed. After all, money isn't important; love will get them by. But then, he can't get a job (it is Depression era 1934), so she's due to learn one of life's important lessons the hard way.

Actress Shea's a good choice for the spunky air-headed daughter. Pretty, but not glamorous, she adds lower key spark to the often over-the-top humor. Ford's okay as a truck driver, but his manner and appearance made me wonder how Julie could get so attached. Too bad the Green's (Kennedy & Turner) are boisterously over-done, but I guess it works at a certain level when they get a comeuppance. What sort of interested me is how the premise could be turned into an intriguing drama of an upper-class girl learning the brute realities of working-class life. Here that gets an overlay of comedy; nonetheless, the dramatic potential is there.

Anyway, director Cabanne keeps the script moving, so you won't be bored no matter the flaws.

I agree with the other reviewer who felt that "Money Means Nothing" turned out much better than they expected. After all, it was made by a tiny so-called 'Poverty Row Studio' (Monogram) and their track record wasn't exactly golden. Plus, although there are a few minor stars in the movie (Wallace Ford and Edgar Kennedy), the actors were mostly small-time and unknowns.

The film begins with a spoiled rich girl, Julie (Gloria Shea), slumming it in a local dive. Looking for excitement, she follows some thugs to see what they're up to. Unfortunately, she nearly gets herself killed when they turn out to be robbers--and she inadvertently ends up helping these jerks! At first, the driver who is robbed, Kenny (Ford) is annoyed at her--especially when she keeps throwing herself at him. However, after awhile he reciprocates and they begin dating. However, he is a simple working stiff and she's from a rich and well-connected family, so their love seems doomed. But, despite the odds, they marry...only to have a series of events nearly tear them apart.

I liked the plot because although I had a general idea where it was going, the film managed to surprise me several times. Additionally, the ending was very, very satisfying and the film was a great vehicle for Ford--a very competent and likable actor but also a guy who never rose to the higher echelons of acting--most likely since he seemed so ordinary and average. Well worth seeing and very well written. And, incidentally, one of the rare films that makes a great case in favor of spousal abuse!!

"Suggested" by The Cost of Living, according to the opening credits... a play from way back. The sound and photography are pretty shaky, but a hundred years later, this is one we're still lucky to have around at all. The sound is WAY off from the actors saying the lines. Badly in need of restoration. Some rich folks get held up on the side of the road. Co-stars Wallace Ford and Gloria Shea, as young lovers Kenny and Julie. Not much of a plot, really. Girl tries to get family to like boyfriend, even though he's having a hard time finding a job. Directed by Chris Cabanne, who apparently was known as "the dullest director in pictures", and I can see why. Slowwww.. ain't no big thang. Film showing on "Comedy Films" Channel.... haven't seen this one on Turner Classics. Only 40 votes at this point in time.