The Meanest Man In The World (1943)
Richard Clarke (Jack Benny) is one of the nicest lawyers around. He just can't be ruthless or mean, and he sticks up for people. But niceness is not paying the bills. Clarke's lack of financial stability does not endear him to Mr. Brown (Matt Briggs), the father of Clarke's fiancee, Janie (Priscilla Lane). In order to prove that he can be a good provider for Janie once they're married, Clarke goes off to New York City to make his fortune. He brings along his butler, Shufro (Eddie Anderson).
Several weeks and no clients later, Clarke goes into panic mode when Janie and Mr. Brown come up to NYC to see him. Clarke puts together an elaborate ruse, including renting a Park Avenue apartment, to make it look like he's a success. Janie and Mr. Brown go back home, and Janie starts planning the wedding. Shufro suggests that Clarke turn mean in order to lure clients. Clarke balks at this at first, then changes his mind. The lawyer's first order of business is snatching a lollipop from a little boy on the street - and that mean act gets caught on camera and put on the front page of the newspapers.
Mr. Leggitt (Edmund Gwenn), a rich man, decides Clarke is the right man to handle his legal business based on the photo in the paper. Clarke is given a sizeable retainer, and is asked to evict Leggitt's sister-in-law (Margaret Seddon) from her apartment. The deed is done, but good-hearted Clarke secretly provides Leggitt's sister-in-law with another place to live. The attorney finds himself in one crazy situation after another, pretending to be a legal shark to keep the money coming in while still trying to be a good guy.
This is a short -- a little over an hour -- movie that moves along at a steady clip as more complications pile up for the main character. Benny and Anderson display the chemistry that worked well on Benny's radio show (which was running at the time this movie was made), and would later carry on over to Benny's TV show. Modern audiences might be a little put off by a scene that finds Benny in blackface; unfortunately, that was a sign of that time period, but mercifully, it's brief. Anderson gets in a racial joke earlier, telling Benny's character that he would be "whiteballed" if he showed up at the club where Anderson was a member.
Tor Johnson of Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) fame has a small part. Edmund Gwenn later appeared as Kris Kringle in the movie classic, A Miracle On 34th Street (1947).
Several weeks and no clients later, Clarke goes into panic mode when Janie and Mr. Brown come up to NYC to see him. Clarke puts together an elaborate ruse, including renting a Park Avenue apartment, to make it look like he's a success. Janie and Mr. Brown go back home, and Janie starts planning the wedding. Shufro suggests that Clarke turn mean in order to lure clients. Clarke balks at this at first, then changes his mind. The lawyer's first order of business is snatching a lollipop from a little boy on the street - and that mean act gets caught on camera and put on the front page of the newspapers.
Mr. Leggitt (Edmund Gwenn), a rich man, decides Clarke is the right man to handle his legal business based on the photo in the paper. Clarke is given a sizeable retainer, and is asked to evict Leggitt's sister-in-law (Margaret Seddon) from her apartment. The deed is done, but good-hearted Clarke secretly provides Leggitt's sister-in-law with another place to live. The attorney finds himself in one crazy situation after another, pretending to be a legal shark to keep the money coming in while still trying to be a good guy.
This is a short -- a little over an hour -- movie that moves along at a steady clip as more complications pile up for the main character. Benny and Anderson display the chemistry that worked well on Benny's radio show (which was running at the time this movie was made), and would later carry on over to Benny's TV show. Modern audiences might be a little put off by a scene that finds Benny in blackface; unfortunately, that was a sign of that time period, but mercifully, it's brief. Anderson gets in a racial joke earlier, telling Benny's character that he would be "whiteballed" if he showed up at the club where Anderson was a member.
Tor Johnson of Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) fame has a small part. Edmund Gwenn later appeared as Kris Kringle in the movie classic, A Miracle On 34th Street (1947).
Labels: Eddie Anderson, Jack Benny
posted by Hillari | 12:50 PM
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