''The Golden Fleecing'' is a 1940 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 Leslie Fenton and written by S. J. Perelman, Laura Perelman and Marion Parsonnet. The film stars

Lew Ayres Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film '' All Quiet on the Western Fr ...

, Rita Johnson,

Lloyd Nolan Lloyd Benedict Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor. Among his many roles, Nolan is remembered for originating the role of private investigator Michael Shayne in a series of 1940s B movies. Bi ...

, Virginia Grey, Leon Errol and Nat Pendleton. The film was released on August 16, 1940, by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

Plot

Mary Blake insists that mild-mannered insurance salesman Henry Twinkle demand a raise if they intend to get married. Henry earns praise and a raise from his boss when he sells a valuable policy to a man named Gus Fender. Fender turns out to be a gangster with a huge reward for anyone who brings him in, dead or alive. Henry's furious boss orders him to personally assure Fender does not end up dead. Fender and his moll, Lila Hanley, however, dupe Henry into a scheme in which they will end up with the reward money themselves. Henry foolishly tries to pay them with a check. Mary, who quit her job after Henry's raise, bemoans his acceptance of a worthless stock and even sues him to get back money she feels she's got coming. The stock ends up valuable after all and Henry ends up with $150,000 in hand. He naively gives Fender a fistful of cash, which then accidentally gets burned into ashes.

Cast

as Henry Twinkle * Rita Johnson as Mary Blake *

as Gus Fender * Virginia Grey as Lila Hanley * Leon Errol as Uncle Waldo Burke * Nat Pendleton as 'Fatso' Werner * George Lessey as Buckley Sloan * Richard Carle as Pattington * Ralph Byrd as Larry Kelly *

Marc Lawrence Marc Lawrence (born Max Goldsmith; February 17, 1910 – November 28, 2005) was an American character actor who specialized in underworld types. He has also been credited as F. A. Foss, Marc Laurence and Marc C. Lawrence. Early life Lawrence w ...

as 'Happy' Dugan * Thurston Hall as Charles Engel * James Burke as Sibley * Spencer Charters as Justice of Peace * William Demarest as Swallow * Ray Walker as Reporter

References

External links

* * * * 1940 films American comedy films 1940 comedy films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Leslie Fenton American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{1940s-comedy-film-stub