This oddball film boasts an equally oddball cast. Joe Cook, the famous vaudeville performer, stars as Smiley Johnson, a master huckster/manager/showman for a floundering circus inherited by Mary Rainey, played by Joan Peers. Cook is a one man band as he badgers, cajoles, fast-talks, performs, and generally outshines all the other actors and actresses who appear in this film. The loosely strung together plot merely serves as an entertainment showcase for Cook and his two primary stooges who also have appearances in the film. The actor playing a fool most of the time is Dave Chasen, the man who founded the famous restaurant in Hollywood. The other stooge is Tom Howard who eventually picks up on Cook's hijinks, and works on others in the same manner.
One gets the notion there isn't much of a story here besides Cook and company's antics. There's a hilarious bit with a fat lady near the beginning of the film who does reappear later in the film for another one of Cook's barbs, but that's it. Louise Fazenda plays princess, one of the circus performers, and she has a funny bit with Cook when they team up to con Howard into buying a 20% share of the circus. After that, she disappears, and that's what hurts this film for the most part. Characters come and go at will throughout the film with nary a reason.
Highlights of the film besides Cook include the circus acts themselves, and the hilarious dinner party sequence (which reminded me of something viewers might see in a W.C. Fields movie). The tea gag, the celery bit, and the spaghetti joke, coupled with Cook's frenetic pace, made for a most amusing dinner party without the actual dinner. Cook shows off again at the end in the big circus finale when chaos erupts due to the sheriff attaching the show's receipts. Cook was a tremendous performer who deserved a place in films, but he only made a few appearances in the 1930's. He was later afflicted with Parkinson's Disease.
Frank Capra directed the film, and few of his touches are apparent. There are some great tracking shots under the big top, which Capra was known for, and some really snappy dialog at times. Capra was also fond of the small town flavor present in the film. Jo Swerling and Dorothy Howell co-adapted the film from the play by the later well known character actor: James Gleason. Maurice Marks wrote the book. It's probably not a good example of a Frank Capra film, but it's fast paced, old-fashioned Hollywood entertainment. **1/2 of 4 stars.
One gets the notion there isn't much of a story here besides Cook and company's antics. There's a hilarious bit with a fat lady near the beginning of the film who does reappear later in the film for another one of Cook's barbs, but that's it. Louise Fazenda plays princess, one of the circus performers, and she has a funny bit with Cook when they team up to con Howard into buying a 20% share of the circus. After that, she disappears, and that's what hurts this film for the most part. Characters come and go at will throughout the film with nary a reason.
Highlights of the film besides Cook include the circus acts themselves, and the hilarious dinner party sequence (which reminded me of something viewers might see in a W.C. Fields movie). The tea gag, the celery bit, and the spaghetti joke, coupled with Cook's frenetic pace, made for a most amusing dinner party without the actual dinner. Cook shows off again at the end in the big circus finale when chaos erupts due to the sheriff attaching the show's receipts. Cook was a tremendous performer who deserved a place in films, but he only made a few appearances in the 1930's. He was later afflicted with Parkinson's Disease.
Frank Capra directed the film, and few of his touches are apparent. There are some great tracking shots under the big top, which Capra was known for, and some really snappy dialog at times. Capra was also fond of the small town flavor present in the film. Jo Swerling and Dorothy Howell co-adapted the film from the play by the later well known character actor: James Gleason. Maurice Marks wrote the book. It's probably not a good example of a Frank Capra film, but it's fast paced, old-fashioned Hollywood entertainment. **1/2 of 4 stars.