If you can take such a HIGH level of over the top offness and mayhem, then you will totally enjoy the blend of Hijinx and Antics that continually stir the Screwball plot !!!
The bulk of the story takes place at stately Kilbourne Manor where Mrs. Emily Kilbourne (Billie Burke, pre Wizard of Oz) has the nasty habit of taking in ne'er do wells that are victims of their own fate, and leech off of the fortune of others. The Kilbourne family children , hip to this fact, do everything to dissuade dear mother from her misguided philanthropic ways. Enter incognito Novelist E.Wade Rawlins(Brian Aherne), whose jalopy has met an unfortunate fate traveling thru the hills . He stumbles upon the Kilbourne family. There in lies the story. Mix in the stern stubborn grouchy patriarch Henry Kilbourne(Clarence Kolb), precocious daughters Jerry(Constance Bennett) and Marian (Bonita Granville),and son Kane(Tom Brown) Kilbourne. The voice of reason and the common denominator is deftly played by Alan Mowbray, the butler Grosvenor, who is always being pushed into a state of angst.
Aherne displays a terrific range of his acting ability. Billie Burke plays the screwball matriarch to the 9's.Pasty Kelly is charming as the maid. So if you enjoy a look at high class oddballs 1930's style then try this film. I gave it a 7. A little lower than "Arsenic and Old Lace " in anxiety levels.
The bulk of the story takes place at stately Kilbourne Manor where Mrs. Emily Kilbourne (Billie Burke, pre Wizard of Oz) has the nasty habit of taking in ne'er do wells that are victims of their own fate, and leech off of the fortune of others. The Kilbourne family children , hip to this fact, do everything to dissuade dear mother from her misguided philanthropic ways. Enter incognito Novelist E.Wade Rawlins(Brian Aherne), whose jalopy has met an unfortunate fate traveling thru the hills . He stumbles upon the Kilbourne family. There in lies the story. Mix in the stern stubborn grouchy patriarch Henry Kilbourne(Clarence Kolb), precocious daughters Jerry(Constance Bennett) and Marian (Bonita Granville),and son Kane(Tom Brown) Kilbourne. The voice of reason and the common denominator is deftly played by Alan Mowbray, the butler Grosvenor, who is always being pushed into a state of angst.
Aherne displays a terrific range of his acting ability. Billie Burke plays the screwball matriarch to the 9's.Pasty Kelly is charming as the maid. So if you enjoy a look at high class oddballs 1930's style then try this film. I gave it a 7. A little lower than "Arsenic and Old Lace " in anxiety levels.