Review of Laugh and Get Rich

Edna May Oliver and Hugh Herbert are a married couple. As for Hugh, he's a ne'er-do-well--with great plans but not a whole lot of drive. Edna wants their daughter (Dorothy Lee) to have a more successful husband for her than she'd picked with Herbert. While it appears she loves her husband, Oliver clearly isn't impressed by him. When he announces he's invested in an oil scheme, she's convinced he's squandered their savings. Later, they think they are rich from the oil investments--and in the end, there is a great twist! This is an interesting film in that Hugh Herbert does NOT play the rather annoying and mincing sort of guy he played in later films. His goofy laugh is, thankfully, absent and he underplays this role considerably compared to his later films--which is a very good thing. It's interesting to see Lee when she's NOT in a Wheeler & Woolsey film--as she was their favorite co-star and seemed to do nothing but their films! And as for Oliver, she's ALWAYS great in films--it's a shame she died as young as she did. Heck, I'd watch her in ANY film--she's that exciting to watch.

Overall, a great little film. Well written and with great characters. It's funny, but this cute little movie reminds me of a W.C. Fields film. Fields did two that are highly reminiscent of this film--"It's a Gift" and well as "You're Telling Me". You'll have to see them to see what I mean--and they both are VERY worth seeing.