Turn Back the Clock

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

604

YOUR RATING

Joe and Mary barely get by with their tobacco store. After an old friend returns now married to wealthy Elvina, Joe wishes he married her instead when he had the chance. Will he be happy when his wish comes true?

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Comedy Drama Fantasy

Joe and Mary barely get by with their tobacco store. After an old friend returns now married to wealthy Elvina, Joe wishes he married her instead when he had the chance. Will he be happy whe... Read allJoe and Mary barely get by with their tobacco store. After an old friend returns now married to wealthy Elvina, Joe wishes he married her instead when he had the chance. Will he be happy when his wish comes true?Joe and Mary barely get by with their tobacco store. After an old friend returns now married to wealthy Elvina, Joe wishes he married her instead when he had the chance. Will he be happy when his wish comes true?

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

604

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins total

Reporter
(uncredited)

Norman Ainsley

Joe's Valet
(uncredited)

Ernie Alexander

Wedding Guest
(uncredited)

Hooper Atchley

1925 Spokesman
(uncredited)

Symona Boniface

Nightclub Patron
(uncredited)

Don Brodie

Reporter
(uncredited)

William Burress

Mr. Cradwell - Drug Store Proprietor
(uncredited)

Ruth Cherrington

Wedding Guest
(uncredited)

Corky

Effie the Dog
(uncredited)

Nell Craig

Nurse
(uncredited)

Lester Dorr

Joe's Aide
(uncredited)

Director
- Edgar Selwyn
Writers
- Edgar Selwyn
- Ben Hecht
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Trivia
Turn Back the Clock (1933) was the first film in which then known as "Ted Healy's Stooges"--Moe Howard, Jerry Howard (later known as Curly Howard), and Larry Fine--appeared together, but not as The Three Stooges. They sing "Sweet Adeline." Joe tells them to sing "something lively"; Larry volunteers that they know "My Old Kentucky Home." Forgetting the difference in years while drunk, Joe requests the Stooges sing "Tony's Wife" (a pop song from 1933), which the Stooges are unfamiliar with; it's Moe then asks "Tony's wife? Who is she?" Although they are not credited as the Three Stooges (indeed, they receive no screen credit at all), this marks the first time the trio appeared as a group on film without their former leader, Ted Healy. They would launch their long-running film-shorts career a few months later.

Goofs
President Woodrow Wilson's letter asking for Joe Gimlet's resignation misspells his last name as "Gimlett."

Quotes
Ted Wright: Oh, wait 'til I tell you about the time Joe and I made a blind date with two girls that called at the drug store.
Joe Gimlet: You mean the Chippeway twins.
Ted Wright: Ha-ha. The Chippeway twins. We called them Africans and they turned out to be Indians.

Connections
Featured in We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Clara Blandick as Auntie Em (2005)

Soundtracks
A Hot Time in the Old Town
(1896) (uncredited)
Music by Theodore A. Metz
Whistled by Lee Tracy

User reviews24

Featured review

Decent Fantasy Film

Turn Back the Clock (1933)

*** (out of 4)

Minor film about married couple Joe (Lee Tracy) and Mary (Mae Clarke) who run a partially successful cigar shop but one night they get into a heated argument about whether or not they should invest their life savings in the stock market. Joe gets upset because years earlier he could have become rich by investing but Mary wouldn't let him and the same thing seems to be happening. The husband leaves the house drunk and gets struck by a car and he gets his wish by getting to re-live the past twenty years. TURN BACK THE CLOCK has been called an early version of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and there's no question that this does share some connections with the Capra film but this here is still far from reaching a great level. I think the biggest problem I had with the film was that when Tracy goes back to re-live his life, he's well aware of everything that's going on and this allows him to make all the right decisions. I really didn't care about him knowing everything that was going to happen because he had already lived it because these scenes were often played for laughs and I didn't think the comedy worked. Still, this is a fairly entertaining fantasy and I liked how they threw in real events to tell the story including the stock market crash of 1929. Tracy is pretty good in the lead role, although his comedy bits aren't all that good. Clarke, best known for her work in FRANKENSTEIN, is good as the wife and Otto Kruger is very good in his scenes as the friend. The Three Stooges even have a small cameo. I did like the twist that happened towards the end of the movie with our main character and his alternate life. Fans of 30's cinema should enjoy this one even if it has some flaws.