Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #164420 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-02-22
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 65 minutes

Customer Reviews

Nice little vinatge comedy
This is one of those little movies of the '40s you don't hear much about. A cute, minor screwball type comedy with Stu Erwin as a character who mistakenly thinks he's got only four months to live & tries to make provisions for his family for after his untimely demise. This all initiates after a visit from the doctor's office in which Stu's character Henry overhears a conversation between his doctor & his receptionist/nurse that the patient hasn't long to live. Henry not having caught the beginning of the conversation assumes he's the patient they're referring to.

The film also has George O'Hanlon who appeared in The Life of Riley series as Riley's neighbor Calvin Dudley, briefly after Tom D'Andrea left the show to pursue a potential role in another series which didn't pan out & subsequently returned to the show. Irene Ryan as the housekeeper was a nice addition to the ensemble cast as well as Glenda Farrell as Henry's wife. All-in-all, if you like simple comedy fare from the golden age of cinema & appreciate such offerings, this is a good recommendation.

Another Alpha Dud
Though it is not illegal for Alpha to keep putting out unwatchable prints of films such as this one, it is certainly immoral.

Low-Grade Entertainment, Obviously Intended For Those Devotees Of Stu Erwin's Movie Persona.
Stu Erwin's career is based largely upon his portrayals of a number of small-town based characters whose genial nature overrides their native inadequacies when faced with misfortune and the vagaries of chance, both being in the mix for this lacklustre production. Here Erwin plays as Henry Elkins, a realtor in the community of Elkinsville and also owner of a large piece of property within the town's east side, a district boosted (as shown through flashbacks) by the father and grandfather of Henry to be the most promising region for commercial development of the town, a witless prediction as the most desirable neighbourhoods have shifted westward, while Henry haplessly waits for his acreage to advance in value. Plot contrivances propel events in awkward fashion as various swindlers become interested in buying the supposedly useless Elkins land, because of an ostensible plan to construct an airport upon the location. Henry, after receiving a physical examination required for a life insurance policy, overhears his physician describing to a nurse the drastically poor condition of another patient who has little time left to live and, believing that he is the subject under discussion, alters his behaviour towards his wife (Glenda Farrell) and those about him, while deciding to dispose of his property so that buyers may build the airport, thereby financially benefiting the Elkins family. After the movie's pace begins to falter because of a surfeit of sentimental whimsy, a bevy of greedy and manipulative scoundrels provides reasons for Henry to leave off a decline toward self-pity, moving instead to protect his family's economic situation. The storyline material tends to include an overage of threads for competent handling by those personnel in place, although some scenes are redeemed due to acting efforts of Erwin and Farrell, the latter winning performance laurels here as Henry's patiently forbearing wife. An archetypal vehicle for Erwin's hangdog acting style, it has been a very difficult film to locate as a VHS release but has become available through Alpha Video in DVD format that, as is the company's customary mode, offers no extras. The Alpha print is below standard, having frequent jumps and elisions, and lacking needed editing.