Minor movie actor John Lund finished up another day on the set and out of the blue is approached by a stranger (Barry Fitzgerald) who asks him to pose as a missing member of a wealthy family. The reason? To get his hands on the share of the missing relative whom he supposedly resembles. This also means acting like a lunatic, lighting curtains on fire, follow relatives around inceccintly, and repeat nonsensical babble over and over. Reunited with the "family" (which includes veteran character actors Monty Woolley, Elizabeth Patterson, Dorothy Stickney and ilka Chase), he also gets to meet a younger "sister" (Wanda Hendrix) who is entranced by him, causing him to fall for her as well. When attorney Richard Haydn announces that all of the estate has been left to Lund, the greed of the others (with the exception of Hendrix) is revealed, and the desperation of Fitzgerald to wrap up the scam and get out.
"You are the first person in history to make Lucretia Borgia look like a bobby soxer", Woolley tells one of the harpy relatives with his typical Sheridan Whiteside wit, giving much emphasis to simple lines that in other hands would have been meaningless. Fitzgerald is a lovable rascal, subtle in his attempts to con the family, while Stickley and Chase seem so much like sisters that it becomes a distant memory that they were later in the original TV version of "Cinderella" together. But it is the handsome Lund, briefly a leading actor after "To Each Their Own", who gets the acting honors, really changing his looks when he acts like the mentally challenged relative. Smartly written and directed by Richard Haydn, this is one of those forgotten comedies much in need of being discovered.
"You are the first person in history to make Lucretia Borgia look like a bobby soxer", Woolley tells one of the harpy relatives with his typical Sheridan Whiteside wit, giving much emphasis to simple lines that in other hands would have been meaningless. Fitzgerald is a lovable rascal, subtle in his attempts to con the family, while Stickley and Chase seem so much like sisters that it becomes a distant memory that they were later in the original TV version of "Cinderella" together. But it is the handsome Lund, briefly a leading actor after "To Each Their Own", who gets the acting honors, really changing his looks when he acts like the mentally challenged relative. Smartly written and directed by Richard Haydn, this is one of those forgotten comedies much in need of being discovered.