The Warner Brothers studio library of classic films is so deep that that even in 2013 there are still plenty of titles to unveil and discover. Take Love on a Bet (1936), released on DVD early in 2013 by Warner Archive amid a flurry of other titles. It's a screwball comedy from RKO that boasts a very funny premise, a witty screenplay, delightful verbiage, and winning performances. The only problem, from a modern perspective, is that its two lead actors, Gene Raymond and Wendy Barrie, are totally forgotten. But that, actually, is part of the reason Love on a Bet qualifies as a nice little rediscovery. It's also a good example of the strength of the made-on-demand system that Warner Archive uses, for while this obscure picture with its forgotten stars may not be worth the financial risk of being brought to market as a pressed DVD, it's perfect for fans to seek out and order on demand as a burned DVD-R.

Love on a Bet is slightly reminiscent of It Happened One Night (1934), and that's probably no accident, as that Capra classic ushered in a wave of screwball and romantic comedies from all over Hollywood. Here, Gene Raymond plays Michael MacCreigh, a struggling playwright seeking production money from his rich Uncle Carlton (William Collier, Sr.). But Uncle Carlton wants no part of it and instead encourages Michael to take a job in the family meatpacking business. Besides, Carlton says, the premise of Michael's play is ridiculous; no one could start in New York in nothing but his underwear and end up ten days later in Los Angeles with a new suit, $100 in his pocket, and a beautiful fiancee. "Ridiculous. Who's gonna believe that?" Michael says he could do it himself. "You?" says the uncle. "You wouldn't get as far as the Holland Tunnel."

Michael then bets his uncle that he will actually do it, in exchange for his uncle funding the play; if Michael fails, he will take the job in the meatpacking plant. After they plan on where to meet in L.A. in ten days' time, we cut to Central Park, where Raymond gets out of a car, removes an overcoat, and starts walking -- in his underwear. It's a hilarious sight, and the film is great fun as it invents various bits of business to keep the plot busily moving along. Soon, for instance, the movie finds a perfectly valid logic with which to show a hungry Michael, now wearing a tuxedo, barging in on a group of hobos eating breakfast under a bridge. Michael also soon crosses paths with a young woman, Paula (Wendy Barrie), driving across the country with her aunt in order to snag and marry a rich man. Paula had previously seen Michael in his underwear and now refers to him as the "Central Park lunatic," wanting nothing to do with him.

The script, then, has very quickly and economically set all the pieces of the scenario in place to give Michael the possibility of fulfilling his plan, including a girl who in the best screwball tradition initially hates him. The pleasure is in watching how it all works out.

While Raymond and Barrie are the principals here -- and they make such a good on-screen pair that RKO teamed them up again for Cross-Country Romance (1940) -- it's supporting player Helen Broderick who winds up stealing the movie, thanks to her magnificent portrayal of the batty Aunt Charlotte. One of many favorite scenes with Broderick: when she picks up a rock with which to hit a bad guy, but instead of hitting him directly, she puts the rock in her purse and hits him with the purse!

Broderick certainly delivers the goods, but moments like this are attributable largely to the fine, breezy script by P.J. Wolfson and Philip G. Epstein, from a story by Kenneth Earl. For Epstein, who later co-wrote Casablanca (1942), Love on a Bet was in fact his first screenplay credit. Warner Archive's DVD-R of Love on a Bet boasts very good picture and sound quality, and the film is highly recommended.

By Jeremy Arnold