''Nobody's Fool'' is a 1936 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Arthur Greville Collins Arthur Greville Collins (September 5, 1896 - September 1, 1980) was a British-born film director. Career Collins was born in London, and began directing for the stage, including productions of ''Fata Morgana'', ''No Man's Land'', and ''Tarnish'' ...

and written by

Ralph Block Ralph J. Block (June 21, 1889, Cherokee – January 2, 1974, Wheaton) was an American film producer in the 1920s and became a full-time screenwriter in 1930. He is most famous for being President of the Screen Writers Guild from 1934 to 1935. ...

Ben Markson Ben Markson (August 6, 1892 – October 20, 1971) was an American screenwriter active from the very beginning of the sound film era through the end of the 1950s. During his 30-year career he was responsible for the story and/or screenplay of 45 f ...

, and Jerry Sackheim. The film stars

Edward Everett Horton Edward Everett Horton Jr. (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970) was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons. Early life Horton was born in Kings County ...

Glenda Farrell Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971) was an American actress. Farrell personified the smart and sassy, wisecracking blonde of the Classical Hollywood films. Farrell's career spanned more than 50 years, appearing in numerous Broadwa ...

and

Cesar Romero Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor and activist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in c ...

. The movie's working title was "Unconscious". It was released by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

on June 1, 1936. A naive country boy goes to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

where he gets mixed up with real estate swindlers.

Plot

At the Better Business Boosters convention, Will Wright (

) who works as a waiter, interrupts the guest speaker and asks him what can be done to improve the city's welfare. In response, George Baxter (

Pierre Watkin Pierre Frank Watkin (December 29, 1887 – February 3, 1960) was an American character actor best known for playing distinguished authority figures throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood. He is best remembered for his roles of Mr. Skinner the b ...

) tells him that he would be happier living in New York. Will decides to leave town. After arriving in New York, he is mistaken for an economist named Mr. Wight. When Ruby Miller (

) a con artists realized the mistake she quietly draws him away. Ruby, a member of a group of con artists plans to extort money from gangster Dizzy Rantz (

) after discovering that he does not own a piece of land under his gambling house. Afraid of Dizzy's reaction, they ask Will to make the demand for them and convincing him that they will build apartments for working people if they gain access to Dizzy's land. When the group discovered that the land is actually owned by Mary Jones (

Florence Roberts Florence Roberts (March 16, 1861/1864 – June 6, 1940(photo included) was an American actress of the stage and in motion pictures. Stock company actress Born in New York City, she began acting onstage there. Her career began at the Brooklyn ...

). They ask Will to charm Mary into signing the land over to him. Dizzy who mistakenly believing that Will is connected to the District Attorney office, agreed to meet him. Meanwhile, Jake Cavendish ( Frank Conroy) the head of the group and Ruby's boyfriend is planning to murder Will. later, Will calls a meeting with Dizzy and the other member of the group including Jake and Ruby. Will suggests that the owners of the land should build affordable housing. Dizzy is hesitated until Mary says she will force Dizzy to move his buildings off her land. Dizzy and Jake formed a legitimate partnership. And Jake calls off the contract on Will's life, with Will given an honorary membership in the home development league of New York. Ruby who has fallen in love with Will, tells him to look her up.

Cast

as Will Wright *

as Ruby Miller *

as Dizzy Rantz * Frank Conroy as Jake Cavendish *

Warren Hymer Edgar Warren Hymer (February 25, 1906 – March 25, 1948) was an American theatre and film actor. Early life He was born in New York City. His father, John Bard Hymer (1875/1876 – 1953) was a playwright (with nine Broadway plays to ...

as Sour Puss *

Clay Clement Clay Clement (May 19, 1888 – October 20, 1956) was an American stage, film, and TV actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1918 and 1947. Clement was one of the earliest members of the Screen Actors Guild.Florence Roberts Florence Roberts (March 16, 1861/1864 – June 6, 1940(photo included) was an American actress of the stage and in motion pictures. Stock company actress Born in New York City, she began acting onstage there. Her career began at the Brooklyn ...

as Mary Jones *

Edward Gargan Edward Gargan (July 17, 1902 – February 19, 1964) was an American film and television actor. Career He was born of Irish parents in Brooklyn, New York. He was the elder brother of actor William Gargan. As soon as he had left college, he we ...

as Tom *

as George Baxter

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' movie review said: "Nobody's Fool, which moved into the Albee Theatre in Brooklyn yesterday with Universal's splendid picturization of "Show Boat," makes its chief bid for fame as a harbinger of Summer doldrums in the cinema. A feeble mélange of soporific comedy and far-fetched melodrama, the new film works an unfair hardship on such talented comedians as Edward Everett Horton, Glenda Farrell and Warren Hymer—not to mention its audience. Put together with apparently more speed than inspiration, the film narrates the oft told story of a country yokel who comes to Manhattan and outsmarts a gang of real estate racketeers intent on defrauding a nice old lady of three feet of property in Fifty-third Street. That's the gist of "Nobody's Fool", which would probably make a compact three-reeler."

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0028037, Nobody's Fool 1936 films American comedy films 1936 comedy films Universal Pictures films American black-and-white films Films directed by Arthur Greville Collins 1930s English-language films 1930s American films