Even though early in her career (1919) Bessie Love was praised for her naturalistic acting, it wasn't enough to make her a big star. She was memorable in a variety of roles ("Soul Fire", "The Lost World", "Lovey Mary" etc) and the twenties saw her with steady acting employment,but by the late twenties she was bogged down as "the girl" in some "by the numbers" programmers until Frank Capra rescued her for the hilarious "Matinee Idol".
It may have been just a churned out programmer given to Alan Hale because maybe he wanted to direct but with Tay Garnett and Zelda Sears (she adapted "The Divorcée") writing the adaptation, it is out of the box!!! Even before it starts you've just got to love this movie for the sparkling titles - "At home with the Stack family - where every day is like Friday the 13th"!! Pa - "wants capital without labour", Ma (May Robson) - "provides labour with no capital", even Junior (Junior Coghlan) "sure wish they'd turn off the water again". Then there is cute Bessie Love as Mary Ellen, the family bread winner but not for much longer - she has just been fired!!! She decides the family should sell up and use the money to pay back taxes on a house in California (another of Pa's get rich quick schemes) and go out there to live.
Mary Ellen buys a Tourist Open Air Tourer but unbeknownst to the Stacks, the car company is on a nationwide hunt to find the first car ever to roll off their assembly line - and yes, you guessed it, it is the Stack's latest purchase!! The company are offering $10,000 reward and the first person who sees the sign is the junkman who sold them the car in the first place!! Following in hot pursuit is Bill (Harrison Ford), an old flame of Mary Ellen's who is driving in a car without a motor!! "I've got the rope, I know we're just out of New York but can you tow me to California"!! Arriving at the "Kozy Korners" auto park he sees he has competition in Dudley, a want to be actor - "a young man who wants to be a big noise in silent movies one day". The junkman finally catches up with them only to hear Pa's "good" news - that he has traded their car to a Mexican couple in exchange for a sedan!!
Now the race is on to find that car - if Bill and Dudley can stop long enough from wise cracking each other!! "My mountains! My California" and Pa lifts his arms to the skies - then the family is robbed of everything even the air in their tires!! It doesn't seem as though any cars made later than 1910 were used in the making of this movie!! what with clunky cars and dusty treeless landscape - California doesn't look very inviting but it does make for some funny car gags!!
The lack of casting credits is annoying - John Patrick played Moe I thought. Young acting hopeful Dudley who is the second male lead isn't even mentioned!!
It may have been just a churned out programmer given to Alan Hale because maybe he wanted to direct but with Tay Garnett and Zelda Sears (she adapted "The Divorcée") writing the adaptation, it is out of the box!!! Even before it starts you've just got to love this movie for the sparkling titles - "At home with the Stack family - where every day is like Friday the 13th"!! Pa - "wants capital without labour", Ma (May Robson) - "provides labour with no capital", even Junior (Junior Coghlan) "sure wish they'd turn off the water again". Then there is cute Bessie Love as Mary Ellen, the family bread winner but not for much longer - she has just been fired!!! She decides the family should sell up and use the money to pay back taxes on a house in California (another of Pa's get rich quick schemes) and go out there to live.
Mary Ellen buys a Tourist Open Air Tourer but unbeknownst to the Stacks, the car company is on a nationwide hunt to find the first car ever to roll off their assembly line - and yes, you guessed it, it is the Stack's latest purchase!! The company are offering $10,000 reward and the first person who sees the sign is the junkman who sold them the car in the first place!! Following in hot pursuit is Bill (Harrison Ford), an old flame of Mary Ellen's who is driving in a car without a motor!! "I've got the rope, I know we're just out of New York but can you tow me to California"!! Arriving at the "Kozy Korners" auto park he sees he has competition in Dudley, a want to be actor - "a young man who wants to be a big noise in silent movies one day". The junkman finally catches up with them only to hear Pa's "good" news - that he has traded their car to a Mexican couple in exchange for a sedan!!
Now the race is on to find that car - if Bill and Dudley can stop long enough from wise cracking each other!! "My mountains! My California" and Pa lifts his arms to the skies - then the family is robbed of everything even the air in their tires!! It doesn't seem as though any cars made later than 1910 were used in the making of this movie!! what with clunky cars and dusty treeless landscape - California doesn't look very inviting but it does make for some funny car gags!!
The lack of casting credits is annoying - John Patrick played Moe I thought. Young acting hopeful Dudley who is the second male lead isn't even mentioned!!
