In their most amusing appearance together, Wallace Beery and Marjorie Main are town rivals with a past who find their paths crossing more than either of them care to either admit or do without. This is exactly the type of film that Beery and his old sparing partner, Marie Dressler, had done as lovers in both "Min and Bill" and "Tugboat Annie", and even though he made more films with Ms. Main, he's more remembered for the two (plus a brief encounter in "Dinner at Eight") he made with Dressler than with Main. It's the middle of World War II, and small town store owner Beery finds himself at odds with ration supervisor Main. His ward is engaged to Main's daughter, and it comes as no shock to discover that the two elders had a romance many years before, separated by the first World War which resulted in marriages for each of them. His wife abandoned him and as Beery reminds Main, her husband did the same, "by dying". They are "the Bickersons" of Tuttlesville (and she seems to be an in-law of one of the founder's descendent's, her name being Iris Tuttle) and make waves for each other each chance they get-"In triplicate!".
In fact, "In triplicate!" could have been the name of this film, for each form Beery must fill out when Main begins to enforce rationing rules. Beery goes to Washington D.C. in order to find an army job just to get away from Main's interference in his business, but his old army buddy (Henry O'Neill), now a Senator, is intent on preventing that from happening, arranging for him to end up working with Main in Tuttlesville so he can get the goods on a meat-selling racket which has settled nearby. Comedy erupts into big volcano laughs when Main "rations" the selling of a girdle to the town sex-pot, and Beery must use a fishing rod to get it out of the vixen's home. The laughs dissipate a bit when Beery gets involved in the meat-selling racket, but they return for a ruckus finale where Main turns the tables on Beery in a surprisingly funny finale.
Some of the great character performers of the era have meaty parts here, including Connie Gilchrist, Donald Meek, Sarah Edwards and Chester Clute, and Gloria Dickson as the girdle-greedy sex kitten. The film manages to express the frustrations of the average American's inability to buy certain items without being preachy. As Beery tells one of his customers, selling excessive amounts of certain items would take it out of the mouths of soldiers off fighting the war, and this is certainly not a dated thought, even if rationing could certainly never succeed today. Only several generations after the end of the war (with our parents and grandparents sharing their own rationing stories with those of us who are interested, as well as their own remaining ration stamps), this reminds us of how America once took some sacrifices just so freedom could be fought for and won. And what's a little sacrifice considering the results of the end of that war and the enemies we managed to defeat?
In fact, "In triplicate!" could have been the name of this film, for each form Beery must fill out when Main begins to enforce rationing rules. Beery goes to Washington D.C. in order to find an army job just to get away from Main's interference in his business, but his old army buddy (Henry O'Neill), now a Senator, is intent on preventing that from happening, arranging for him to end up working with Main in Tuttlesville so he can get the goods on a meat-selling racket which has settled nearby. Comedy erupts into big volcano laughs when Main "rations" the selling of a girdle to the town sex-pot, and Beery must use a fishing rod to get it out of the vixen's home. The laughs dissipate a bit when Beery gets involved in the meat-selling racket, but they return for a ruckus finale where Main turns the tables on Beery in a surprisingly funny finale.
Some of the great character performers of the era have meaty parts here, including Connie Gilchrist, Donald Meek, Sarah Edwards and Chester Clute, and Gloria Dickson as the girdle-greedy sex kitten. The film manages to express the frustrations of the average American's inability to buy certain items without being preachy. As Beery tells one of his customers, selling excessive amounts of certain items would take it out of the mouths of soldiers off fighting the war, and this is certainly not a dated thought, even if rationing could certainly never succeed today. Only several generations after the end of the war (with our parents and grandparents sharing their own rationing stories with those of us who are interested, as well as their own remaining ration stamps), this reminds us of how America once took some sacrifices just so freedom could be fought for and won. And what's a little sacrifice considering the results of the end of that war and the enemies we managed to defeat?