A former Boston socialite (Edna May Oliver) reduced to running a boarding house and nagging her easy going but lazy husband (Hugh Herbert) finds out that her spouse has taken her savings to invest in an oil well. Will their ship come in and keep the marriage afloat, or will husband's faith in their daughter's beau's invention of "whistling tire" (indicating it is leaking) pay off and keep their marriage intact? That last run-on sentence basically asks the two questions that the pop up as this seemingly light-hearted depression movie gets underway. Oliver is at first presented as the typically nagging spouse and controlling mama (she disapproves of daughter Dorothy Lee's love interest) but there's more to her than meets the eye. This comes very apparent in the scene where she discovers that her savings have been stolen and learns who the culprit is. After slapping her husband across the face, her pain both for her guilt and the betrayal of her husband come apparent as she has a slight breakdown before the audience's eyes. Out then pops the sentimental loving side of her character who refuses to let him leave, but continues her initial nagging, which we now know is out of love, not control. Herbert, on the other hand, accepts her for exactly who she is and does not consider her to be shrewish like other husbands might do. Lee, who was the squeaky voiced leading lady in a dozen Wheeler and Woolsey comedies (including a few with EMO herself), provides the light romantic plot of the movie, but it is the relationship between Oliver and Herbert which holds this movie together.
The light-heartedness of the movie pops up in the scene where Oliver takes the family to visit her wealthy sister who gives a party in their honor. Oliver proceeds to get drunk and begins a raucous Virgina Reel type dance to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasle" which at first horrifies then delights the stodgy society of Boston. Between the emotional confrontation scene and this little musical interlude, "Laugh and Get Rich" has a few four star moments in a nice forgotten little programmer.
The light-heartedness of the movie pops up in the scene where Oliver takes the family to visit her wealthy sister who gives a party in their honor. Oliver proceeds to get drunk and begins a raucous Virgina Reel type dance to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasle" which at first horrifies then delights the stodgy society of Boston. Between the emotional confrontation scene and this little musical interlude, "Laugh and Get Rich" has a few four star moments in a nice forgotten little programmer.