Mr. Boggs Steps Out

I watched this little Grand National film expecting little. I wanted to see Helen Chandler's last film. I had a crush on Helen since I first saw Dracula on TV when I was a kid. From the opening moments I had a smile on my face. Stuart Erwin decides to step out in the world and make his mark. He moves to a small town (where no one has a job) to buy a barrel factory. The barrel factory has one customer, a Pickle manufacturer, and that business is struggling.

Erwin has a habit of reciting meaningless statistics in the middle of conversations, causing confusion for all. Helen Chandler plays his only employee. Is the company losing money? As Helen tells Erwin early on, "If you stay here long enough, you'll be wearing one (a barrel)" The odds are all against Erwin, can he possibly make the business a success?

Chandler and Erwin are very good here. It's surprising this was her last film. She's very good. Beautiful Toby Wing is also in the cast. She plays a snobby society dame who Erwin covets. This is a fun film, one of the best Grand National films I have seen.

Sound quality and picture quality are just TERRIBLE with a capital T. Stuart Erwin is "Oliver", who wins a contest and decides to invest his winnings in another business. First he meets office worker "Oleander" (Helen Chandler), but Toby Wing is "Irene" is the girl he is courting. It's quite dated, and it looks like most of the cast had come from vaudeville and/or the silent films. Oliver takes over and is determined to make a go of the company he has bought in a quiet, little hick town. Directed by Gordon Wiles, who had won an oscar for "TransAtlantic" in 1931. sadly, Wiles died quite young at 46.. couldn't find much info on him anywhere. does anyone have any info on him? Written by Clarence Kelland, who had also written "Mr. Deeds".. .he had a whole bunch of stories made into films, both silents and talkies. It's entertaining, if a bit slow. I hope this gets a restoration at some point. Saw this shaggy copy on Moonlight Movies channel... haven't seen this one on Turner Classics yet. Produced by Zion Meyers, who wrote and directed various projects during the 1920s, 30s, 40s. Not much information available on him either. There ARE some web pages on the interwebs with more information, with various spellings of myers/meyers... but it wouldn't be right to cut and paste that information here. It's a pretty good film, if you can find it. Good, solid story line.

I have never understood the appeal of Stu Erwin. In the 1930s and 40s, he starred in quite a few films--most of which were pretty ordinary (at best). While it was nice to see his nice-guy character, he was also pretty forgettable and bland. Here he is again, starring in another B-movie that is pretty ordinary. It's not offensive or dumb--but also not all that interesting either and has 'time-passer' written all over it.

Mr. Boggs is a nice guy who has a weird fixation with trivia and statistics. He works a very ordinary job and has a rather dull life. However, when he wins a contest, he impulsively quits his job. Then, also rather impulsively, he buys a barrel-making business and tries to make it work--though it was on the verge of bankruptcy. And, because he's so nice, he can't stand the idea of selling out and laying off all his employees--plus doing this will sour his relationship with a new lady in his life. Will Mr. Boggs make it work?

As I said, the film is pretty ordinary--which isn't all that surprising considering it was made by tiny Grand National--a small-time studio along the lines of PRC. Nothing bad or good--sort of like the Wonderbread of the film industry.

This lighthearted comedy seems to have fallen through some crack and been nearly lost. It's hard to know why as it's just delightful. Mr. Erwin is perfect as the naive little man who is absorbed with useless facts, statistics and figures. His life is at his desk memorizing ever more useless information until the day he wins a bean counting contest and the $1,500 prize changes his life forever. He decides to strike out and see the world.

When he lands in a small town and winds up buying a run down barrel factory his adventures are just beginning. He finds not only challenges, success and excitement but romance as well. This is a charming story, filled with laughs that your whole family will enjoy again and again. You will be very glad to have re-discovered a fine film!