Here Comes Cookie

Here Gracie Allen excels. Her mind is delightfully mixed up and what she comes out with is completely wacky. She is an absolute scream and poor old George Burns is on the receiving end as per usual trying to make whatever sense he can out of it all.

Gracie is one of George Barbier's daughters. The other is Phyllis (Betty Furness) and she is engaged to a Hispanic - Ramon (Rafael Storm) - who is only interested really in getting his hands on Daddy's loot. (He is a millionaire). George (Burns) is Barbier's secretary. Barbier is at his usual blustery best and as a way of defeating Ramon's purpose - gives over his fortune to Gracie for 60 days so he can go to some remote place for a rest. Meanwhile Gracie has become interested in things theatrical and has turned the mansion into a flop house for out of work thespians. And, from there she is going to put on a show!

This is one of those madcap comedies where any sense of realism has to be chucked out of the window. All one has to sit back and enjoy, having many a laugh along the way.

Also in the cast is Andrew Tombes as "Botts" the butler, Jack Powell - a drummer who bangs his drumsticks on anything, not necessarily drums and a whole host of other variety acts.

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.

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.

Although billed as a Burns and Allen vehicle, it's actually George Barbier who has the main role and carries the weight of the comedy in this enjoyable, well-produced "B" movie. Not that I'm complaining. Barbier is not only more than equal to the task, he carries off more laughs than the dithery Miss Allen—who is delightfully partnered here not only by Barbier but by Andrew Tombes who makes the most of one of his largest and most ingratiating roles ever. George Burns has only a small role and seems to have been included in the cast simply to serve as an occasional butt for why-don't-you-marry-Gracie jokes.

Other players who register more strongly than Mr Burns include Betty Furness (as the daughter who comes to her senses), Rafael Storm (as the money hound), James Burke (as the fake swami), Syd Saylor (a credulous taxi-driver), and Harry Holman (a disillusioned crony).

As for the twelve (count them) vaudeville headline acts announced in the credit titles, we see only two (three if you count the fact that drummer Jack Powell is handed two bites), although five or six others flit by in the background.