Earthworm Tractors

"Earthworm Tractors" is a very good 30's-style comedy, with pleasantly silly main characters and a story designed to set up some good comic sequences. It's the kind of movie that can easily come out badly if not done with some skill, but this one is done nicely and it works.

Joe E. Brown plays Alexander Botts, a self-described born salesman and master mechanic, whose real talent is for getting in over his head. His attempts to make a big sale of tractors to grumpy, old-fashioned lumberman Johnson (Guy Kibbee) lead him into one disaster after another. Much of it is stock humor, but it is pleasantly done, and there are some particularly funny sequences of the tractor rampaging out of control. Kibbee and Brown are both good, giving deliberately exaggerated performances that work well. It's mostly a two-man show, but the rest of the cast does well when called on.

Anyone who likes comedies of the era should enjoy this film. It's very pleasant, and at times is hilarious.

This is a very pleasant and enjoyable comedy, with a lot of clever laughs. Perfect for one of those Saturday or Sunday afternoons when you just want to disconnect, and indulge in a little pointless old-time movie watching.

Joe E. Brown is a self-proclaimed Natural Born Salesman (it even says so on his business card), whose confidence greatly outweighs his actual sales abilities. He's the type of salesman who bumbles into jam after jam, says and does exactly the wrong things, and yet somehow stumbles into making a sale in the end.

And Guy Kibbee is his perfect foil, as the blustery, old fashioned owner of a company that needs the new-fangled Earthworm Tractors that Brown sells, in order to survive. But the irritable Kibbee loudly rejects Brown's wild sales pitches throughout the film, which just drives the stubborn and determined Brown to make even wilder pitches, in an effort to sell him the tractors. Blustery windbags were Kibbee's sweet spot as an actor,and he and Brown make a great comedy team in this film. If they had stuck together through a series of movies, they might have achieved Laurel-and-Hardy legendary status. The one small criticism that I have of this film is that the two of them don't get enough screen time together.

This is a movie made with directors and writers who knew what they were doing, and stars who were hitting their stride. I watched this film alone one afternoon, and laughed out loud at several points, which is truly the mark of a great comedy.

Or perhaps a crazy person.

No. Great comedy. Try it.

Takes a while to get moving but really gathers steam. Employs one of the most sure-fire comedy recipes: take a gung-ho dimwit and pair him with a grumpy old coot and you're just about guaranteed to get laughs. I wasn't really familiar with Joe E. Brown's work before this movie and had generally avoided films from the 30's (for no good reason) but consider me a fan. He's a funny guy, though perhaps it's a brand of humor that works best in the 1930's. His "natural born salesman" Alexander Botts never loses confidence in his abilities despite the fact that he is quite frankly, a total screw-up. What is somewhat unique about his comic persona is that he gleefully, recklessly puts himself in situations where he is in way over his head and knows it, but doesn't seem to care. One way or another, he's sure he will always land on his feet. This sort of attitude must have had enormous appeal in the Depression era.

Maybe a little too broad and "cute" at times, it is also quite inspired at others. It has a carefree loopiness that's very endearing and some rather elaborate stunts and sight gags. The whole thing is really just a fun loving excuse to get Brown and Guy Kibbee (who is a master at the art of bloated befuddlement) together and watch the sparks fly.

The world premier of this movie was held in Peoria Illinois in 1936. Peoria is the home of Caterpillar tractor company on which the Earthworm tractor was loosely based. The movie referred to Peoria being the base for Earthworm Tractor Co. Joe E. Brown attended the premier and the street in front of the Madison theater was packed. It was also one of the hottest nights of the season.

I gotta say it up front that I am not a huge fan of Joe E. Brown's films. Much of the reason is that in many of his films he often plays unlikable guys--real fat-heads (such as in one of his most famous films, "Alibi Ike"). Audiences in the 1930s loved his films, but I've never had much love for them. Imagine, then, to my surprise when I saw a minor Brown outing and actually liked it! This was even more surprising, as for some odd reason Warner Brothers didn't even bother renewing the copyright on "Earthworm Tractors" and allowed it to slip into the public domain! You'd assume in a case like this that the film was a real dog!

The film begins with Brown playing a guy who wants to marry his sweetheart, though her father can't stand him. To impress the Old Man, he decides to get a salesman job--though since he is a bit daft, you know the road will be a bit bumpy to say the least! When he approaches the Earthworm Tractor Company, they do not hire him, but Brown starts working as a representative for them anyway! He certainly isn't a salesman who takes 'no' for an answer! Along the way, he meets another nice young lady who he falls in love with--but what about his other girl? And, in a case of déjà vu, the new girl's father (Guy Kibbee) also doesn't particularly like Brown---but he's also a rich guy who NEEDS a tractor--or so his daughter thinks.

The film succeeds, I think, because Brown is more likable. Sure, he's still a bit of the usual rube but this time he's NOT selfish and overconfident--at least no where nearly like many of his other films ("Fireman Save My Child" comes to mind here). In addition, the stunts are amazingly good for a 1930s comedy--and a heck of a lot better for the craptastic stunts he'd soon have in his films by the David Loew's studio--which was a major career misstep in hindsight. Likable and pleasant--while not a great comedy, there is a lot to like and it's a nice change of pace.