La gran trifulca

Nutty madcap that wartime (1944) audiences could escape with. Feuding fathers (Horton & Tully) are next door neighbors. Trouble is Tully's daughter and Horton's son take out a marriage license, then find out they're really brother and sister. Seems the two families' boys (Lydon & Bartholomew) were both born on the same day and the hospital mistakenly switched them. Now the families want to get back the license before it's publicized in the town newspaper. However, things soon spiral out of control, and the town goes wild.

Good look at 40's mores, though no mention is made of the big war abroad. But then this is escape for those bleak times. The movie's pretty funny, moving along at a snappy tempo. Horton and Tully's mock face-offs are featured and generally amusing. Then too, many of Hollywood's familiar middle-age actors put in comedic type appearances from Horton to Conlin. And shouldn't overlook the very non-comedic Charles Middleton (Flash Gordon's Ming, The Merciless). So, old movie fans should be pleased. Also, Lydon, who excels here and as a teen of the time, went on to a successful career both before and behind the camera. On the other hand, child star Bartholomew soon went behind the camera as his rather bland presence here foreshadows. But catch blonde cutie Jill Browning who also left the business early, but is a dead-ringer for a young Marilyn Monroe.

Anyway, the 60-minutes amounts to an entertaining slice of 40's madcap, courtesy the economical PRC who got a good chuckle for their buck, even with the tricky material.