Sorry, this movie sucks

Better Late Then Never

A Brilliant Conflict

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell play process servers who are very, very creative when it comes to giving subpoenas to people in breech of promise suits. One tramp, Ms. LeClaire, has about a dozen to have served just for her! And, for $1000, the two agree to serve these summonses for their shyster boss (Hugh Herbert). Seeing them scheme to meet men and give them these legal documents was pretty funny--such as how they served the pro wrestler and the crooner (Phil Regan). However, a problem develops when it turns out all these people are being served for one case--the very rich Mr. Courtney (Ross Alexander)...and he turns out to be Blondell's boyfriend! The idea is very clever and enjoyable...to a point. Unfortunately, the movie has as much to dislike about it. The worst was Hugh Herbert. While he was a popular supporting character actor in the 1930s, he was a strictly one-not actor and his shtick was VERY heavy-handed and annoying. And, combining this AND horrible rear-projected chase scenes, the film is darn hard to watch at times. Watchable but not nearly as good as it could have been.

I love Joan Blondell and Glenda Farreell. They're fun when together and both had charming careers on their own. (Blondell's, of course, lasted longer and had higher wattage.) Ross Alexander, who plays a a character engaged in a love/hate relationship with Blondell, was also very appealing. He was handsome and talented. Yet he always seems sad in the movies made during his very short career.Blondell's character is named Ginger, in homage, I'd guess, to the lady who sings the title song (not used or alluded to here) in pig Latin in a higher budget movie. She and Farrell are process servers. Some of their antics are amusing enough. I think climbing into the ring to serve a subpoena to a prizefighter has a kind of cruel edge and is also far-fetched.And that's the problem with this. Though snappy for its first third or so, it becomes too far-fetched. Hugh Herbert steals cars he drives without a license. People are in boats, falling off boats ... It takes on a desperate quality that eventually makes it a chore to watch.

I'd never heard of this before I saw it on television the other day. It's captivating, fast-paced, very funny, very imaginative, with terrific dialogue and wonderfully funny situations.Joan Blondell in particular is adorable - playing a vulnerable, smart, fast-moving and thinking, deeply romantic and quick-witted girl. Glenda Farrell is excellent too - as the less romantic of the pair.Hugh Herbert is terribly funny - one really has to listen to his underplaying of a completely distinctive personality - the closest the movies come is probably Edward Everett Horton's character in films, but their manners and style are quite different.I love movies like this - they're VERY fast-moving, and the imagination, the sheer delight evident in the making (and thus in the viewing) - is the opposite of the so often hackneyed (or gross) comedies coming out of Hollywood these days.Perhaps one of the things that most appeals is that the two leads (Blondell and Farrell) are themselves so likable, that you strongly sympathize with them in every wonderfully bizarre situation. (So often I find myself just not LIKING the protagonist in modern romantic comedies - which is fatal to their enjoyment).Joan Blondell's films of the 1930s (whether comedies or the six she did with Jimmy Cagney with whom she was starring on Broadway when both were discovered by Hollywood) are a great and rather undiscovered treasure for modern audiences. You just can't go wrong with Blondell in this or such films as The Traveling Saleslady, in the Gold Diggers films or anything else I've happened to see from the 1930s.Do watch it - even though it requires close attention because the dialogue flies as fast as His Girl Friday. You'll be glad you did.

Two lady process servers will stop at nothing to do their job - but then one falls in love with the man they are stalking...WE'RE IN THE MONEY was the sort of ephemeral comic frippery which the studios produced almost effortlessly during the 1930's. Well made & highly enjoyable, Depression audiences couldn't seem to get enough of these popular, funny photo dramas.Joan Blondell & Glenda Farrell are perfectly cast as the fearless, fast-talking females who will try anything to serve their subpoenas. Although Joan gets both top billing and the romantic scenes, both gals are as talented & watchable as they are gorgeous.Ross Alexander plays Blondell's love interest and he does a very nice job. Remembered now chiefly for his appearance in the classic A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935), this talented young man from Brooklyn was gifted with the good looks & acting skills which should have made him a major Hollywood star. Instead, Alexander ended up in mostly forgettable parts in obscure films. Tragically, Ross Alexander died a suicide in 1937, at the age of only 29.Hugh Herbert, whimsical & wacky as ever, appears as the girls' boss. Whether driving a stolen car or piloting a speeding motorboat, he is equally hilarious. Behind him comes a rank of character actors - Henry O'Neill, E.E. Clive, Lionel Stander, Hobart Cavanaugh - all equally adept at wringing every smile out of any situation. Sharp-eyed movie mavens should spot an unbilled Walter Brennan as a witness at the wedding.While never stars of the first rank, Joan Blondell (1906-1979) & Glenda Farrell (1904-1971) enlivened scores of films at Warner Bros. throughout the 1930's, especially the eight in which they appeared together. Whether playing gold diggers or working girls, reporters or secretaries, these blonde & brassy ladies were very nearly always a match for whatever leading man was lucky enough to share equal billing alongside them. With a wisecrack or a glance, their characters showed they were ready to take on the world - and any man in it. Never as wickedly brazen as Paramount's Mae West, you always had the feeling that, tough as they were, Blondell & Farrell used their toughness to defend vulnerable hearts ready to break over the right guy. While many performances from seven decades ago can look campy or contrived today, these two lovely ladies are still spirited & sassy.