The best farces, on stage and on film, are the ones where most of the characters exist in a state of hilarious confusion. Typically the audience is in on the jokes with the main character who is a trickster of some sort. In this 1931 comedy from Metro Goldwyn Mayer based on George Randolph Chester's Wallingford stories, studio contractee William Haines plays the trickster. Haines is continuing his successful transition from the silent era as a man who travels the country, pulling cons before moving on to the next location where the next bunch of unsuspecting suckers await him.
Aiding and abetting his crimes is a pal portrayed by Jimmy Durante, named Schnozzle- appropriate given the nature of Durante's proboscis. Durante sniffs out trouble, as in cops or marks that have gotten wise to them, and he helps Haines finish executing a scam before hopping the train and hightailing it elsewhere. Usually the authorities and victims are so mixed up about what's happened, the duo make a clean and easy getaway.
Adding to the confusion are crimes that Durante commits as a long-time kleptomaniac. For you see, he has a penchant for stealing automobiles, thinking that if anything with four wheels and a set of keys in the ignition is parked nearby, it must be there for him to use. Of course, these types of gags work better in an era before car alarms.
In one hysterical scene Durante takes off with a car he finds at a train station and quickly crashes it; the reaction of the vehicle's owners watching this is perhaps the funniest bit in the movie. If this film were remade today, writers would probably suggest Durante's character has dementia, because there is no other way to explain the innocence of such grand theft auto.
Usually during this period of his career, Durante was paired with Buster Keaton in high energy comedies. So it's kind of interesting to see his shtick alongside Haines who has a completely different style than Keaton.
Haines does not get upstaged by Durante, despite the zanier moments involving Durante's character. Instead, Haines' own schemes are much smoother and more complex; and while he's bilking prey, he is falling for a pretty young thing (Leila Hyams). Of course we know that if Haines is going to somewhat reform, he will change because of her.
There are no real surprises, except that when Haines does decide to go straight because of Hyams, he seems willing to take the consequences and has surrendered himself over to the police, along with Durante. But we can never be sure if this will lead to another ruse, as it is awfully hard for such a guy to refrain from pulling more tricks.
Ultimately, Haines and Durante do manage to evade the law because of another mixup that happens on their way to prison. It's a precode, so they don't have to actually pay for their misdeeds (and if Durante does have a form of dementia, he'd hardly be held responsible for what he's done). The filmmakers' main point in redeeming Haines is to have him settle down with Hyams.
Legal issues have prevented this film from being made available on any home video format. It has only aired once on TCM, back in the 1990s when the channel first began broadcasting. It won't be long before WALLINGFORD is in the public domain, then plenty of people will be able to view this enjoyable farce.
Aiding and abetting his crimes is a pal portrayed by Jimmy Durante, named Schnozzle- appropriate given the nature of Durante's proboscis. Durante sniffs out trouble, as in cops or marks that have gotten wise to them, and he helps Haines finish executing a scam before hopping the train and hightailing it elsewhere. Usually the authorities and victims are so mixed up about what's happened, the duo make a clean and easy getaway.
Adding to the confusion are crimes that Durante commits as a long-time kleptomaniac. For you see, he has a penchant for stealing automobiles, thinking that if anything with four wheels and a set of keys in the ignition is parked nearby, it must be there for him to use. Of course, these types of gags work better in an era before car alarms.
In one hysterical scene Durante takes off with a car he finds at a train station and quickly crashes it; the reaction of the vehicle's owners watching this is perhaps the funniest bit in the movie. If this film were remade today, writers would probably suggest Durante's character has dementia, because there is no other way to explain the innocence of such grand theft auto.
Usually during this period of his career, Durante was paired with Buster Keaton in high energy comedies. So it's kind of interesting to see his shtick alongside Haines who has a completely different style than Keaton.
Haines does not get upstaged by Durante, despite the zanier moments involving Durante's character. Instead, Haines' own schemes are much smoother and more complex; and while he's bilking prey, he is falling for a pretty young thing (Leila Hyams). Of course we know that if Haines is going to somewhat reform, he will change because of her.
There are no real surprises, except that when Haines does decide to go straight because of Hyams, he seems willing to take the consequences and has surrendered himself over to the police, along with Durante. But we can never be sure if this will lead to another ruse, as it is awfully hard for such a guy to refrain from pulling more tricks.
Ultimately, Haines and Durante do manage to evade the law because of another mixup that happens on their way to prison. It's a precode, so they don't have to actually pay for their misdeeds (and if Durante does have a form of dementia, he'd hardly be held responsible for what he's done). The filmmakers' main point in redeeming Haines is to have him settle down with Hyams.
Legal issues have prevented this film from being made available on any home video format. It has only aired once on TCM, back in the 1990s when the channel first began broadcasting. It won't be long before WALLINGFORD is in the public domain, then plenty of people will be able to view this enjoyable farce.