Jack of All Trades

It's surprising to see Robert Stevenson credited as co-director of the Jack Hulbert vehicle. I think of him at his peak in the mid-40s, directing JANE EYRE... but of course, he would later work for Disney, directing some of the studio's more financially successful gimmick comedies, like THE LOVE BUG and THE SHAGGY D.A.

Jack is anxious to do well to make his little old mother proud, so he walks into a bank one day and convinces everyone he has been transferred back from Paris. He talks up "The Merrivale Plan" and in short order, the bank comes up with the plan, which is shoe manufacturing. He also courts through dance and blather, Gina Malo.

Although the movie is clearly a bit of stage musical-comedy fluff, Hulbert is at his most Astaire-like in this one, dancing a couple of numbers in white tie and tails. Unlike Astaire, however, Jack dances for the camera, instead of the way that Astaire stages his numbers, letting the camera follow him. The wonderful nonsense of the story, however, is clearly Hulbert's strong point in a delightful musical.