Three of a Kind

Congested little comedy from budget-minded Invincible Productions. The chuckles, such as they are, come mainly from occasional funny lines, while actor Churchill blusters his way through the generally unfunny. The best part is the first where laundry tyrant Penfield is shown as a fumbling hypocrite. His attempted turn around from uncaring to caring while addressing employees is humorously revealing and central to the premise. Then too, the amusing used car set-up shows buyer and seller trying to out-fox each other at a time when 500 bucks was a small fortune. In fact, the subtext amounts to a 30's era attack on class deceit, as the various confidence schemes show big money pretenders trying to bilk one another, while ordinary folks struggle along. And that's after a sympathetic character has ironically committed to hard work as the key to getting ahead.

Anyway, nothing special here, even though leading lady Knapp shows real presence. Too bad she left the industry while still young. All in all, the flick's mainly a 30's cheapie with better production talent than results.

I'm fascinated by the wonderful character actors in so many of the '30s and '40s B movies, and they had me laughing all through this. I especially loved Carle -- he totally inhabits the part and his character in consistent in every scene he's in. Bigger stars and a bigger budget might have made a movie that was a big hit instead of simply charming, but that would have been a very different movie. For me, I was again impressed with what creativity and very good character actors having fun with their parts could create on a small budget. Like so many of the B's, it has lots of small delights. I started watching it with a smile and by the end, was chuckling at every scene.

Chick Chandler wins an award from his employer and is given a choice —$1000 cash or 11 shares in the company. To the chagrin of his employer, Mr. Penfield himself of Penfield Peerless Laundry, Chandler takes the money and runs.

Old Mr. Penfield is already upset with daughter Evalyn Knapp—despite his forbidding it, she has informed him that she is planning to marry shady Bradley Page (who is, in fact, a con man after Penfield's money).

Chandler and Knapp inevitably meet up in one of those cute situations—she thinks he's rich and he thinks she's broke, when in fact it's just the other way around.

Appearances can be deceiving in this charming B picture that features a neat little plot and a great cast of character actors.

Richard Carle is blustery and eccentric as Mr. Penfield, the laundry king. Burton Churchill is hilarious as another fast talking schemer who rolls onto the scene looking for some dishonest winnings. Knapp and Chandler are bright and attractive as the two leads.

So it's a little slow at times—it is definitely a cheapie. But what a fun plot! Enthusiastic performances all around and some clever dialog really make this one a lot of fun.

"Three of a Kind" is a cute comedy...but it's also one you need to pay attention to as it runs. So, don't do housework or your taxes while you're watching this one!

Barbara Penfield (Evelyn Knapp) is a spoiled and headstrong rich girl. Her father owns a cleaning company and is worth a fortune. However, Barbara is also a bit dim. Everyone around her knows that Barbara's boyfriend is a cheap swindler....yet she insists on helping him with his latest get rich venture. She tries to get her father to invest in the scheme...but he absolutely refuses. So, she plans on selling her lovely new car and giving the money to her worthless boyfriend. However, her plan starts running amok while she's trying to sell her car. You see, a con-man (Berton Churchill) sells the car while she's test driving a replacement car....and the guy who buys it is a nice guy who just insulted Mr. Penfield and quit his job working for him. Does it get more complicated....you betcha...a lot more complicated. There's also the Kentucky Colonel and his daughter and Mr. Penfield shows up and then there are the cases of mistaken identity. I am sure you kinda get the idea.

The film is quite clever and while I would never call it a laugh out loud sort of picture, it is very good and well worth seeing.

Richard Carle doesn't want his daughter, Evalyn Knapp, marrying Bradley Paige, because he's a lazy confidence man and Bradley Page besides. Meanwhile, Chick Chandler gets a thousand-dollar bonus from Carle's laundry, and quits to enjoy a bit of the high life. He gets evening clothes and buys Miss Knapp's car, stolen by con man Berton Churchill and his daughter, Patricia Farr, leaving Miss Knapp to be picked up by Chandler in her stolen car and taken to a resort, where all them them pretend to be each other, except for Carle.

It's certainly an appealing outline for a screwball comedy, but director Phil Rosen can't get them up to speed for the insanity to roll. Churchill, in his deliberate manner, has the best pacing; Miss Farr starts out too slow, although she improves by the end, and Miss Knapp seems to be channeling Myrna Loy, but without any snap.

It's a puzzlement, because all of these performers have shown themselves to be capable farceurs in other movies. I imagine the problem lies in a combination of slowing down the performances to bring the movie up to decent second-feature length, concerns over the audience understanding what was going on, and lack of rehearsal time. Rosen directed nine other Poverty Row movies that year. That couldn't have helped. The result is an amusing, but far less interesting a movie than it should have been.