Public Wedding

H. Theodore Lane runs a failing carnival sideshow. He has one day to pay or else the Sheriff is shutting them down. The group's only money-making idea is a public wedding in the mouth of a whale with the old man's daughter Florence 'Flip' Lane (Jane Wyman). It's supposed to be a fake wedding but...

I've never heard of a public wedding as a sideshow attraction. No matter. Jane Wyman has the charisma to pull this off. It's a basic rom-com but the guy isn't much. The couple needs more screen to build up some chemistry. There just isn't much although the premise do set a great conflicted romance.

This B picture from Warner Brothers is primarily made to exhibit the talents of some players that the Brothers had high hopes for, Jane Wyman and William Hopper. Both made successes of themselves but not at Warner Brothers.

Public Wedding is the story of conman Berton Churchill in a role that normally would be reserved for Raymond Walburn as a man with an ever flowing spiel of con and Jane Wyman as his stepdaughter whom he has schooled in the arts. They've got a sideshow exhibit of a whale's mouth that's circling the drain financially. Churchill hits on an idea to hold a public wedding. The idea being who doesn't like to go to a wedding and enjoy the reception afterward. Wyman will be the bride and at the last minute they rope in struggling young artist William Hopper for the groom.

I'll say no more because it really gets hard to follow as Wyman and Churchill go through an amazing string of cons at which Hopper just looks bewildered by. Some of them are even designed to benefit him. Along the way Marie Wilson and her ingenuous manner get swept up in all this.

Wyman at this beginning of her career was getting roles at Warner Brothers that Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell were turning down. Like Olivia DeHavilland, Wyman kept trying to tell the Brothers she could do better. She didn't really until 1945 with strong leads in The Lost Weekend and The Yearling. But she moves that dialog along at a clip the other two would envy.

William Hopper as we know was the son of Hedda Hopper and that fact alone would have guaranteed employment. Eventually his success came on TV's Perry Mason as Paul Drake. Here he's just one of several young leading actors coming up, among others was Ronald Reagan.

Churchill is the real star here. Usually he's stuffy upper class gentleman, here he goes to town with this bit of offbeat casting. You will love his scenes with Marie Wilson.

Public Wedding, a little gold nugget among the B picture dross.

Silly but fast-paced and enjoyable comedy built around the "public wedding" as a money-making scheme that goes awry. Jane Wyman and William Hopper star as the couple who get tricked into a real marriage when they think it's just a scam. Wyman is very good in her Warner Bros comedy roles. Solid support from Marie Wilson, Berton Churchill, and Dick Purcell. Churchill steals the film as Wyman's blow-hard crook father, but then he was always good. Watch Churchill in 1939's "Stagecoach" some time. He was ALWAYS good but is forgotten today. Best line said to Marie Wilson in the film: "Hey, why don't you cover your mouth when you yawn?" The response: "What? And Get Bit?"

Very well dressed "carnies" are looking for a way to soup things up and make some money. Stars Jane Wyman, William Hopper (was on Perry Mason, and real life son of famous Hedda Hopper), Dick Purcell and Berton Churchill. A short-shortie from Warner Brothers. Wyman had been doing mostly uncredited roles up until about 1937... she DID win an Oscar for Johnny Belinda in 1948 ! The group comes up with a fake wedding, where they will charge the public money to attend the "fake wedding", in the mouth of a whale, of course. I won't spoil the surprise, but of course things don't go as planned. Everything moves right along, fast paced script. Lots of running around, the usual caper stuff. One interesting note... the judge says they defrauded the public out of $ 10, 000.. and they were charging 50 cents each.. .which would mean they had 20,000 people witness the wedding! that must have been one big tent. unless i missed something, which is entirely possible. Directed by Nick Grinde, who had started in the silent films. It's actually pretty good! Shown on Turner Classics here and there.

Everything old is new again. How about a wedding that costs nothing because it, (very amusingly), advertises the businesses that provided the goods and services and has a paying audience? Or a painter who becomes popular with those with more money than brains because he has a reputation over a woman? Or good-looking con artists coming up with one scheme after another to make money from publicity while trying not to get arrested? It all sounds very familiar because it is entertaining and still works today to bring in the cash.

Hectic movie with many quips, turns of plot, and much running around. It's worth a look to see that the techniques used today were used in the 30s and were well-worn even back then. Visually it has interesting elements. On the whole, though, it's one of the lesser movies of the "attractive con artist" genre.