Tratantes Atarantados

I say obscure because there are "no names" associated with it unless you count Jack Carson in a minor role before he went to Warner Brothers.

It's actually a good little comedy and plays quite well. It's set in a town basically in Hicksville. A former old boy of the town returns triumphantly and gives rise to the idea that he would like to create a hotel resort. Naturally the townsfolk think this is the best thing since sliced bread and are eager to invest. The Mayor though, thinks something stinks. Is the old boy really what everyone thinks he is, or is it all just a con?

Berton Churchill has the weight and presence to play the high and mighty old boy, Fred Stone is the wily and rural Mayor, Dorothy Moore is the Mayor's wife - with her own opinions, Paul Guilfoyle is the old boy's secretary - or is he really the brains of the outfit?, Harlan Briggs is a slimy bank manager, Sherwood Bailey is the Mayor's son and is experimenting with a chemistry set, Jack Carson has a bit part as a football coach and Hattie McDaniel is hilarious as the Mayor's maid.

It is, at its essence, the once wholesome values and common sense of small town America.

A great collection of silliness, good fun and a great treat to watch.

Minus the the entirely inappropriate use of a man's stuttering as a basis of "humour".

A whole group of familiar character players really put over this comedy about a small town mayor standing up to the public opinion in his town which is hell bent on investing the town's money in a summer resort being proposed by one of its former citizens. Fred Stone is the put upon mayor who is acting in the best tradition of Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.

Proposing the resort is Berton Churchill who has returned to the small town with his 'secretary' Paul Guilfoyle and wants to put in a summer resort. He's prosperous all right, Churchill and Guilfoyle have been putting over this and many other confidence rackets all over the country. Churchill is really superb in the part, he's like a descendant of Gatewood the banker from Stagecoach. He and Guilfoyle got the town drooling at the prospect of Quick Money.

Stone smells something fishy but he's up against public opinion. Even his wife Dorothy Vaughan is for Churchill. Fortunately daughter Dorothy Moore sides with her father and she's dating a budding Carl Bernstein in Gordon Jones. Jones and Stone's son Sherwood Bailey and the wonders he does with his chemistry set come in mighty handy.

There's a chase scene in the end that is hilarious. The wholesome values of common sense in small town America as personified by Fred Stone triumph in the end. As it always did in 1937. Stone and Churchill as a kind of yin and yang of good and evil really do a fine job in leading a great group of character players in this fine B feature from RKO.

Don't miss this if broadcast, it's a real sleeper.

This was probably very corny in its day but today it seems fresh and charming.

My only complaint is with the stuttering character, which is an unpalatable stereotype.

Otherwise, it is a low-keyed but charming tale of two con men who prey on the gullibility of small-town denizens and the upright mayor -- and his ingenious young son -- who stands up against them,

Most of the major characters are on the older side but not condescended to. The comedy begins broadly, with the Rooster Club, but is overall very gentle.

Stars Berton Churchill and Fred Stone. When bigshot Bluford Smythe comes back to his home town, they welcome him home. At first. Then they find out his secret - that he wants to build a huge vacation resort, using the town funds. But the town isn't agreed on what should be done with that money; in fact, Jonas, the current major is completely against it. It gets silly... the local townies and their kids try every trick in the book to get around the mayor, but then more information comes out. Kind of much ado about nothing. It's a short B film from RKO. Done in sixty minutes. Thank goodness. Too bad they didn't do more with the amazing jack carson; this was one of his earlier, credited roles. Directed by Ed Killy. It's a yawn.