It was nice to see a couple heavyweights like James Gregory and Claude Rains on the screen. The problem is that they have nothing to work with. When chronic drunken actor Rains seeks out Gregory for an acting job, he is summarily dismissed and sent packing. Gregory sees him at the local watering hole and feels sorry for him. This is awfully sudden. He offers him a job in his play after sobering him up and providing him with a place to sleep. The part is that of a blackmailer. Rains had previously attempted to blackmail Gregory. Rains then makes a terribly mistake in his effort to get the part. All well and good, but we are left with many unanswered question, including Gregory's participation in the events that ultimately occurred. There's no way that he could have predicted what ultimately happened. Anyway, while the episode is pretty slick, it is really quite unsatisfying.
Review of The Cream of the Jest
