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A penniless inventor is mistaken for a Canadian swimming champ and swept into competing in a swimming race from Santa Catalina Island to the California mainland.

YOU SAID A MOUTHFUL gave rubber-faced comic Joe E. Brown a fine vehicle to show off his talents. Whether he's attempting to demonstrate his unsinkable bathing suit, trying to learn to swim in an ornate bathtub or encountering numerous difficulties on the 22-mile aquatic contest, Brown is never less than hilarious. Here, he is given fine support by perky, pretty Ginger Rogers, who lends her special magic to light up the screen.

OUR GANG's Allen ‘Farina' Hoskins proves a good sidekick for Brown; this would be one of his last significant film roles. Preston Foster plays Brown's romantic rival; movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Guinn ‘Big Boy' Williams as the hapless real swim champ.

Actual location filming at Avalon on beautiful Catalina Island greatly adds to the ambiance of the picture.

This is neither the best or worst thing Joe E. Brown ever did. It was made during his "salad days" over at Warner Brothers/First National where he did his best talking picture work. Brown plays Joe Holt, a shipping clerk who invents an unsinkable bathing suit and dreams of better things as he is constantly hazed and disrespected by his fellow employees. He soon learns he has inherited the estate of a relative in California. However, all he winds up with is five dollars and a young ward, played by Farina of Our Gang fame. Joe's luck soon turns, though, when he is mistaken for a championship swimmer by the same name. Deathly afraid of water, our hero would have confessed the mix-up to his hosts immediately if it were not for two things - the good eats at his hosts' comfy estate and, more importantly, the attention of an attractive young lady, Alice (Ginger Rogers), who just adores good swimmers.

The film has some good Joe E. Brown moments in it, who in many ways had the kind of early talkie career that Buster Keaton could have had if he had not been tied to a studio that so misunderstood his potential (MGM). MGM's forte was drama not comedy, and certainly not physical comedy. Ginger Rogers is in a transitional role here, as she is playing someone who is splitting the difference between her earlier flapper persona and her more hardened chorine image in the Berkeley musicals. Farina does a good job as Joe's ward and the only real friend Joe has. Preston Foster, as Joe's rival for both the championship and Alice, bears a striking resemblance to Ralph Bellamy both physically and in how Bellamy played the cad in some of his earlier screen roles.

A good film from the precode era that doesn't have a precode moment in it, which is odd considering its stars.

Director: Lloyd Bacon Writers: Robert Lord (screen play), Bolton Mallory (screen play) Stars: Joe E. Brown, Ginger Rogers, Preston Foster

1932's You Said a Mouthful is a charming and funny vehicle for Brown that overcomes its overstuffed, uninspired plotting with plenty of gut-busting gags.

At a brisk seventy minutes, You Said a Mouthful is both very simple and strangely overcomplicated. Brown stars as Joe Holt, a clerk in a swimwear company who designs a no-sink bathing suit, solely because he is deathly afraid of water. Of course, then, the big idea of the movie should be to get this fella swimming. And it is... but the script by Robert Lord and Bolton Mallory seems to run itself ragged just to cook up a semi-plausible series of events that will lead to the scaredy-cats getting in the water.

Joe E. Brown gets needed help form of an unexpected sidekick. That's Allen Hoskins, or, as he was known with the rest of "Our Gang", Farina as Sam. Here he's the accidental adopted son of hapless inventor Joe Holt (Brown). What's nice? No one seems to really notice Farina's race. He's a wacky, bossy kid who gets to push our hero to greater things. He's a sidekick, but smarter and save's his father's butt more than once, even if it involves dropping an anchor on his head. Very hilarious gag routine.

High jinks ensue when he's mistaken for a world champion swimmer, with the possibility of beautiful Alice (Rogers) being the prize. The mistaken identity leads the cowardly Joe into a number of situations where he desperately tries to fake sick or cheat, but he ends up making a treacherous marathon swim from Catalina to the shore while Alice and Sam cheer him on.

The final race sequence is particularly madcap, cobbled together from moments shot on location and in a studio tank -- Brown is even great at physical comedy under ten feet of water! You Said A Mouthful showcases Brown's energy at its peak, the actor turns the film into a laugh riot. 8/10

1932. The snappy opening music. The Dilbert with his Big Idea, laughed out of the office. Goes to L.A. to get an inheritance. Thanks to a shyster lawyer, ends up with only 5 dollars and a pickaninny. Destitiute, As it happened, our hero and ward were bound for Catalina for a $6 day job, when fate stepped in. Mistaken for a marathon swimmer and ends up in the Catalina race for $25,000, though he can't swim. Plug Joe E. Brown into this farce, and you have an early talkie classic. Of course, much of this will offend the politically correct, and much of the humor will escape current audiences. But there are so many fun moments -- the mock-cerebral inner dialogs of the half-wit hero, the amazing costumes (were they serious back then?), the vintage shots of Catalina Island, Ginger Rogers' fresh plump face, the wonderful "I found my heart in Avalon" soundtrack....

In real life, Wrigley had offered a $25,000 prize for swimming first from Catalina to the mainland. And some actually entered who couldn't swim. But 1932 was the Depression, and people would do anything for a windfall, even if they couldn't.

Of course, much of this seems corny and dated, but watch it more than once, and I think the rustic charm will grow on you. There will never be another Joe E. Brown. After all, "Nobody's perfect."

"You Said a Mouthful" is a very odd comedy, as you are expected to root for a guy who is a complete fraud and a liar! Strange, but true!

When the story begins, Joe (Joe E. Brown) is fired from the company where he invented an unsinkable bathing suit. Soon, he learns he's the heir to an estate...but ends up gaining only $5 and a new son, Sam (Farina Hoskins). Soon the pair are destitute and Joe needs a job...when he is mistaken for a Canadian swimming champion bound for a big race at Catalina Island. Instead of admitting the mistake, Joe goes along with it and soon falls for Alice (Ginger Rogers). So what will he do when the race day finally arrives? Well, he'll do what any hero would do...cheat, cheat and cheat some more!

The message in this film is twisted if you think about it. Lie and cheat...that's the secret to success in this movie!! But if you can ignore this, the film is pleasant and enjoyable...and Farina (from the Little Rascals) is a nice sidekick for Joe and it's nice that the expected black jokes did NOT occur in the film. Overall, worth seeing even with a strange moral!