Here Comes Cookie

This was not the only time that Gracie Allen played screwball sidekick to another than hubby George Burns! As in this Paramount she marvelously is the comedy relief to George Barbier, In COLLEGE SWING (Bob Hope's first Paramount) Gracie ABSOLUTELY has Burns forgotten as she plays her Scatter brained character against that of Edward Everett Horton!!! THE TEAMING IS SO GREAT & PERFECT in such a teaming that Burns is delegated to that of Horton's straight man assistant & You Almost Forget About Him! Gracie & Horton are such a tremendously perfect pairing that one even forgets Hope, tho Martha Raye's loud antics can't help but keep you knowing she's in the cast!

George Burns and Gracie Allen: my favorite Hollywood couple of the golden age! And this might just be my favorite movie of theirs. At least so far!

I'm on a bit of a George Burns and Gracie Allen kick after discovering that one of the ways to fall asleep peacefully at night is to listen to Old Time radio. I first started listening to the old detective shows, because they do sound soothing - but be careful, because they can get into your subconscious while you're sleeping and impact the kind of dreams you'll have. So, I found out the hard way that it's much better to listen to something lighthearted like the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, and I fall asleep feeling confident that my dreams will be at least not scary. They are such a comfort to me, those two!

My favorite part about this movie - the way Gracie Allen keeps calling George Burns Georgie Porgie. I could just feel the chemistry between them, and how wholesome their relationship was in real life, as mirrored by the wholesomeness of their relationship in this movie, however farcical it is.

Bonus points for the fact that Gracie Allen's father in the movie is named Harrison, my surname. Whenever my name or my girl's name is in a movie, I always know there's a positive message to be found there for me - a personal message. And I certainly found one here, one of lightheartedness and love.

So glad George and Gracie existed in this world, and thank God for the film restoration people that make sure old movies like these are not forgotten but live on through the passage of time.

Burns and Allen who usually were in support of other stars got to carry this one by themselves. It is a laugh riot from start to finish. Trying to keep his normal daughter, Betty Furness from marrying a gigolo, George Barbier turns over his fortune to his other dimwitted daughter, Gracie Allen. What follows is one madcap situation after another as Gracie turns their home into a hotel for unemployed actors and then decided to produce her own show.

As good as Gracie is, mention must be made of George Barbier. A fine character actor who played fathers, his blustering reactions to Gracie's schemes are worth seeing the movie in and of themselves.

The plot is thin but the casting is stuffed with major faces from the heydey of Vaudeville. For most of these performers, uncredited as they were, this is the only recording of parts of their act. Enjoy the silliness and pretend you're at Minsky's.

The plot is thin, the premise even thinner. However, Grace Allen is her usual ebullient self, somehow even in her "dimwittedness" suggesting that some shrewd insights lie beneath the surface, and that everyone else is only a fall guy. The scenes with father and sister are sometimes extremely amusing, but the primary distinctive feature of the film is that it gives the viewer the opportunity to see many of the old vaudeville acts in their pristine form, as Gracie the heiress opens her home to the out of work performers. Probably these were performers who appeared in vaudeville with Burns and Allen themselves.