Footlight Fever (1941)
Directed by Irving Reis

Film Review

Fresh from their success in Curtain Call (1940), Alan Mowbray and Donald MacBride are reunited in this exuberant sequel, which offers more of the same - scattergun comedy with a theatrical theme.  The second time round, Mowbray and MacBride appear more comfortable working together, although Mowbray gets the best laughs when he is working solo, particularly when he becomes a ham actor who refuses to die on stage.   The comedy highlight comes when the irrepressible duo attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of a seemingly harmless old lady, only to end up being the butt of a particularly nasty joke themselves.  Although each was a respectable character actor in his own right, the Mowbray-MacBride double act didn't have enough mileage to go beyond a second film, evidenced by the poor performance of Footlight Fever at the box office - the film ended up losing RKO 40 thousand dollars.

Film Synopsis

Don Avery and Geoff Crandall are in a fix.  They are desperate to mount their next theatrical production but so far their efforts to find a financial backer have been doomed to failure.  Their juvenile lead comes to their rescue - he apparently has a rich girlfriend who has more money than she knows what to do with.  Convincing her to stump up the readies should be simplicity itself, particularly for men as persuasive as Don and Geoff.  Alas, things turn out to be more difficult than imagined.  The girl's entire fortune is at present held in trust by her Aunt Hattie, a reclusive old lady who hasn't been out of her apartment for a minute since the love of her life, a sailor named Charlie Farley, failed to return to her.  Never one to admit defeat, Don and Geoff put their thinking caps on and come up with a brilliant plan to get round the troublesome old woman.  They will pass themselves off as Charlie's former shipmates.  Then, having gained Aunt Hattie's confidence, she will naturally be delighted to invest money in their show.  It is a plan than can hardly fail - but unfortunately the dear old lady proves to be a lot smarter than the two men had bargained for...