Stuart Erwin built a career playing hicks, bringing skilled comic timing and a sense of humanity to his roles as eternal innocents. That was certainly the case in this 1936 comedy that casts him as a small-town boy with a special talent. Elmer Lamb loves cows more than almost anything else and dreams of starting a dairy farm. But first he has to raise the money, which doesn't seem likely with his low-paying job as a bank clerk. His ticket to fame, however, is his genius for math, which makes him a "human adding machine." When sideshow promoter Robert Armstrong gets wind of his talent, he takes him on the road to make a fortune, culminating in a marathon bridge match with champion E.E. Clive that attracts so much attention, it soon has the mob breathing down Erwin's neck. This was a return to form for the actor, who had played a series of wise-cracking newsmen at MGM after stepping in when the studio fired actor Lee Tracy from Viva Villa! (1934) for getting drunk and creating an international incident during location shooting in Mexico. Erwin was fine as fast-talking tough guys in the Tracy vein, but it was roles like Elmer that really made the most of his talents and would delight fans for years.

By Frank Miller