There's a lot going on in River's End. Dr. Christian's nurse, Dorothy Lovett, is dating the local druggist, Robert Baldwin. All the women are preparing cakes and flowers for the fair. To top it off, Baldwin's college friend, Warren Hull, shows up in town. He's a developer, heading on to the next town, but Baldwin talks him into staying over for a few days. This gives storekeeper Edgar Kennedy a chance to sell him some land. While the contractors are digging up the sites, they strike oil and everyone in town sees the chance of riches.
Longtime movie actor Jean Hersholt starred as canny and kindly Dr. Christian for fifteen years, on the radio, in television and of course in the movies. Of the role, Hersholt said "Dr Christian is such a sweet sentimental fellow, I'd hate to be stuck with playing him for the rest of my life." Yet he did, amidst various honors and having the Academy's humanitarian award named after him. He was that sort of man in real life.
The movies, released through RKO, were small-town affairs. This one is eked out with some comedy professionals. Kennedy, of course, does his patented slow burn over a mountain of canned goods that keep getting knocked down; Walter Catlett plays a self-important, slow-witted and fast-talking cop; and Maude Eburne plays Dr. Christian's housekeeper, who stuffs everyone with cake. It's a view of small-town America that pleased America, even though it seems strange to modern society's fast pace, and the slapstick chase sequence at the end, although not very well executed, was also a favored staple of the era.
Longtime movie actor Jean Hersholt starred as canny and kindly Dr. Christian for fifteen years, on the radio, in television and of course in the movies. Of the role, Hersholt said "Dr Christian is such a sweet sentimental fellow, I'd hate to be stuck with playing him for the rest of my life." Yet he did, amidst various honors and having the Academy's humanitarian award named after him. He was that sort of man in real life.
The movies, released through RKO, were small-town affairs. This one is eked out with some comedy professionals. Kennedy, of course, does his patented slow burn over a mountain of canned goods that keep getting knocked down; Walter Catlett plays a self-important, slow-witted and fast-talking cop; and Maude Eburne plays Dr. Christian's housekeeper, who stuffs everyone with cake. It's a view of small-town America that pleased America, even though it seems strange to modern society's fast pace, and the slapstick chase sequence at the end, although not very well executed, was also a favored staple of the era.