good back-story, and good acting

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Blistering performances.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is another under-appreciated Hal Roach comedy, mixing screwball scenarios with slapstick antics. I never miss an Adolphe Menjou movie if I can help it, and he's great here as an eccentric industrialist (and/or recreational con man). He and John Hubbard escape from a mental health resort and join up with a traveling carnival run by the very lovely Carole Landis. Hubbard is secretly a millionaire, looking for true love after dodging gold-diggers. Patsy Kelly is Landis's pal, George E. Stone plays an amorous Indian, Charles Butterworth is Menjou's wealthy nephew, and Willie Best plays his usual stereotype role, but is very funny. All this and Hoagy Carmichael's catchy tune "Calliope Jane". A cute movie, lots of fun.See also: TURNABOUT (1940) and THE HOUSEKEEPER'S DAUGHTER (1939), all directed by Roach and featuring Hubbard and Menjou.

I started watching this with a great deal of interest after seeing several "streamlined" Hal Roach comedies and a few of his "A" budget films that were precursors to much later hysterical farces such as "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun". With the exception of a few (the "Topper" series, "Merrilly We Live", "Turnabout"), they are not great films, but they offer enough screwball antics to give one chest pains after laughing so much. This one had some major laughs throughout, but they were further apart than the films I just mentioned as well as such 45-50 minute "featurettes" such as "Miss Polly", "The Devil With Hitler" and "All-American". To say disappointment followed is an understatement considering a cast of some of my favorite comical character actors.The storyline is set up for farce. A millionaire (John Hubbard) with a gold digging fiancée whom he is prepared to jilt at the alter is put into a mental institution for a "rest" when he starts "baahing" like a sheep after running out of the church. This sets up promise for a funny film, but it sorely disappoints. At the mental institution, he meets wacky Adolph Menjou almost by accident and they escape, only to get involved in Carole Landis's traveling carnival. Patsy Kelly, a Hal Roach regular since 1933, is present, giving her usual hilarity as a carnival woman from Brooklyn (where else would a Patsy Kelly character be from?) who is posing as a Native American selling a cure-all tonic. An actual Native American falls head over heels for her, presenting her with a portrait of himself (a stick figure) with her (a portly and obviously pregnant Indian woman). That is probably the funniest segment of the film as a recurring gag which has a typical Hal Roach payoff.Throw in Charles Butterworth as Menjou's eccentric wealthy cousin who loves riding on firetrucks who ends up encountering the carnival while Menjou is on the run. Then there is the wonderful Florence Bates in a bit role as Hubbard's social climbing mother-in-law not-to-be. Sadly, she is wasted in only the opening segment. There are some genuinely funny farcial moments towards the end with a gang of ruffians who try and break up the carnival only to find themselves surrounded by the group of wackos who have some surprises up their sleeve. Willie Best, an able black comic of the 30's and 40's, is funny as one of the carnival workers who encounters a battle with the carnival lion Hubbard has been forced to "train".I wish I could give this a higher review. It has a lot of potential to be a lot funnier than it is. I saw this years ago and thought it was funnier back then, but after recent screenings of some of Roach's other comedies of the same era have to mark it as a disappointment.

The opening scene in "Road Show" is one of the funniest scenes I can recall from all the movies I've ever watched. This is another of those crazy comedies produced in Hollywood during the tough economic times of the decade plus before World War II. I remember watching some of these gems when TV first began running them as afternoon and late night movies. Some, I don't recall ever having seen, including this hilarious romp, until I bought it on DVD. Movies such as this don't really need much for a plot – they just need to present scenes for the players to do their zany antics and dialog. What's interesting about these old black and white films is that their humor isn't dated. Sure, some of the situations – in this case, a traveling carnival – are dated. But that can be a little educational for a modern audience, as well as it is entertaining. Although few people have rated this film as of the time of my review, most of the reviewers saw it for the zany and fun humor vehicle it is."Road Show" moves from one zany scene and incident to another. Adolphe Menjou was a master in delivery of off-hand wit in his comedies. But here, he also shows physical aptitude in some slapstick scenes as Col. Carroway. He and Drogo Gaines, played by John Hubbard, make a great comedy duo. Carole Landis plays just about the only straight part in the movie as Penguin Moore, owner of the carnival. Several other roles are hilarious and add to the fun.In a scene toward the end, Col. Carroway has upped the prices on the signs of the carnival booths. Penguin asks, "Don't you think you've raised the prices too much?" Carroway replies, "Too much? Why these people couldn't have a good time unless they paid too much." A few songs add to the enjoyment, with an appropriate tune, "Calliope Jane," sung by the Charioteers. Incidentally, this film was based on a novel of the same title by Eric Hatch. Hatch also wrote a novel and the screenplay based on it by the same name – "My Man Godfrey" (1936). He wrote more than 20 novels and worked for The New Yorker Magazine. I highly recommend this comical farce for movie fans who like zany humor and real laughter.

This isn't a comedy for intellectuals, as they will no doubt find the film too silly and full of cheap slapstick to enjoy. However, if you are not a film snob and you give it a chance (especially at the beginning), you'll probably have a few laughs and enjoy yourself.The film begins with a man (John Hubbard) about to marry. However, he's having cold feet and pretends to be crazy. During his crazy act, he overhears his fiancée say that she can't stand him and is only marrying him for his money. Before he can do anything about this, she decides, out of spite, to play up that he really is insane and has him placed in a mental institution. So far so good, though the film lags a bit in the sanitarium due to too many "crazy people" jokes.Hubbard can't get out despite his attempts to convince the chief of staff that he is sane. In this "rest home" for the rich, Hubbard meets Adolph Menjou--who isn't dangerous but certainly is rather crazy. Menjou LIKES living there but knows of a way out so they both escape together. Menjou's character is awfully broadly written at this point--laying on the mentally ill part a bit too thick, though he does settle down later in the film and is a good sidekick for Hubbard.On the run, the two men meet up with Carole Landis and her traveling carnival. Things look great except that the awfully loud and untalented Patsy Kelly is with the carnival as well, though fortunately her role in the film isn't a big one. Plus, so much of the time she's avoiding the romantic overtures of George E. Stone ("Runt" from the Boston Blackie series), that she doesn't get that much of a chance to yell her lines. Landis welcomes the pair of escapees and they all become one big happy family. Things come to an interesting conclusion when Menjou directs him to the mansion of his rather cracked nephew, played by Charles Butterworth.The film has a lot going for it other than the crazy jokes. The script is bouncy and fun, the supporting singers (The Charioteers) are amazingly fun to listen to and the film never gets dull. Certainly this isn't a great film, but it is fun--and isn't that what comedy is all about anyway?FYI--Two things to look for: Adolph Menjou's amazing hat and Shemp Howard in a small role (before joining the Stooges in films) and he's billed as "Moe"!