In 1933, John Wayne made three Westerns for a series at Warner's, and another three for Paul Malvern's Lone Star Productions. Somewhere in between he found the time to play against type in this rather offbeat romantic comedy. It may be the only time you'll catch him in a movie wearing a suit and tie as he portrays the playboy son of a businessman (Reginald Barlow), with a never ending eye for the ladies. I was rather surprised to see that Wayne's love interest in the story (Evalyn Knapp) actually got top billing, though understandable as Wayne was still a relatively new actor even though he was headlining over at Lone Star.
The story itself has an interesting premise as Dick Wallace is assigned by his father the job of collecting delinquent accounts for the company. It brings him to the town of Somerville, population 407, give or take a few as events in the film play out. What doesn't seem quite as believable though is Dick trading his car for a gas station so he can stick around to woo the minister's daughter. Come to think of it, the minister not paying his debt to the Wallace firm also seems like a stretch, but no more unbelievable then some of Wayne's Westerns.
There's the hint of a sub plot in the early going when one of Dick's gal pals named Polly (Natalie Kingston) attempts to snag him for his potential fortune, but that one goes nowhere. When it's finally revealed that Dick and Marion (Knapp) are married, Polly's reaction is virtually nil, she must have had another potential millionaire in the wings.
The movie's payoff occurs in the way Marion turns the tables on Dick's father, who hires her as a secretary, and winds up wishing his son would marry someone just like her. Winning him over without appearing to be a gold digger was the whole point, and Marion has the charm to pull it off. By the time the film is over, we have John Wayne in a clinch with his sweetheart, pretty much the same way all of his Lone Star films ended, though this time he's planting a great big kiss on the new Mrs. Wallace.
The story itself has an interesting premise as Dick Wallace is assigned by his father the job of collecting delinquent accounts for the company. It brings him to the town of Somerville, population 407, give or take a few as events in the film play out. What doesn't seem quite as believable though is Dick trading his car for a gas station so he can stick around to woo the minister's daughter. Come to think of it, the minister not paying his debt to the Wallace firm also seems like a stretch, but no more unbelievable then some of Wayne's Westerns.
There's the hint of a sub plot in the early going when one of Dick's gal pals named Polly (Natalie Kingston) attempts to snag him for his potential fortune, but that one goes nowhere. When it's finally revealed that Dick and Marion (Knapp) are married, Polly's reaction is virtually nil, she must have had another potential millionaire in the wings.
The movie's payoff occurs in the way Marion turns the tables on Dick's father, who hires her as a secretary, and winds up wishing his son would marry someone just like her. Winning him over without appearing to be a gold digger was the whole point, and Marion has the charm to pull it off. By the time the film is over, we have John Wayne in a clinch with his sweetheart, pretty much the same way all of his Lone Star films ended, though this time he's planting a great big kiss on the new Mrs. Wallace.