When the city of Clayton begin to be slaughtered by the Blowpipe Killer, the police are unable to deal with the situation. Thoughts turn to the old sheriff, Maw Clayton, and her can-do attitude. She's dead, so they summon her daughter, who is Joan Davis. She combines her mother's can-do attitude with can't-do ability. With the unable assistance of Leon Erroll, it's up to her to capture the fiend.
Some of the set-piece comedy sequences come off as old and tired, but Miss Davis was always an unabashed clown, always ready with a goofy line reading or undignified pose or an aside to the audience. She's the entire comedic line, with Leon Erroll miraculously reduced to a stooge and, equally miraculously, a sympathetic one. Her timing and delivery are as good as Bob Hope's, and if this movie isn't better, it's because it looks like a cast-off Abbott & Costello script, refitted for Joan, and with competent but uninspired direction by Erle Kenton. Well, at least he got some bit roles for old comedy hands like Jimmy Aubrey and Charley Hall.
In short: Miss Davis is the entire show. And it's a good show solely because of her.
Some of the set-piece comedy sequences come off as old and tired, but Miss Davis was always an unabashed clown, always ready with a goofy line reading or undignified pose or an aside to the audience. She's the entire comedic line, with Leon Erroll miraculously reduced to a stooge and, equally miraculously, a sympathetic one. Her timing and delivery are as good as Bob Hope's, and if this movie isn't better, it's because it looks like a cast-off Abbott & Costello script, refitted for Joan, and with competent but uninspired direction by Erle Kenton. Well, at least he got some bit roles for old comedy hands like Jimmy Aubrey and Charley Hall.
In short: Miss Davis is the entire show. And it's a good show solely because of her.