So You Want to Get It Wholesale

Joe inexplicably decides to buy Alice something nice. So, he tells her he's going to get her a new oven and is sure he can get it wholesale. However, his money-saving ideas naturally end up costing the McDoakes' a small fortune.

Aside from introducing Frank Nelson to the series, there isn't a lot to make me want to recommend this one. Nelson is a face and routine you no doubt have seen if you watched a lot of 1950s and 60s television, as he played essentially the same oily, smart-allecky and annoying salesman who always said 'yes' in a strange and elongated manner. Worth seeing but not an installment I could consider a must-see.

So You Want to Get It Wholesale (1952)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent entry in the Joe McDoakes series finds our pal being cheap once again and deciding to buy a stove wholesale. The first one he tries to buy gets returned when Marvin says he can get the same one cheaper but of course this just leads to one problem after another. The jokes in this series were always very simple ones and they always depended on star George O'Hanlon to deliver them. His quirky mannerisms are what really stole the show here as he frantically tries to get the best deal in town. This leads to several funny scenes including one with an overly hyper salesman (played by Frank Nelson) with that overly annoying voice. The highlight of the film would have to be a scene that takes place in "Stove Heaven" where Joe keeps trying to get a better deal yet never catching on to the fact that he's being taken advantage of. As usual O'Hanlon steals the show but he gets some nice support from Phyllis Coates, Rodney Bell and Nelson.

Phyllis Coates doesn't want a new fur or jewelry for her birthday. She is willing to accept a new stove. But husband George O'Hanlon hates paying retail, so he gets into his usual muddled fix in this typically funny episode of the Joe McDoakes series of shorts.

Writer-director Richard Bare seems to be edging into satire with this episode. He does not neglect the usual laughs as O'Hanlon deals with the various annoying, incompetent, and outright dishonest characters that produced his comic travails. Plus, of course, there's Frank Nelson, doing his well known reaction. Although his shtick has fallen out of memory, you can find it on some episodes of I LOVE LUCY, and THE JACK BENNY SHOW.