After providing memorable comic support to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Swing Time (1936), Broadway comedian Victor Moore stayed on at the studio for two years of amiable vehicles like this one. Here he stars as a small town marriage license clerk who's never had a marriage end in divorce. When big city reporter Allan Lane does a story on his record, Moore becomes a minor celebrity, eventually taking on small-town crooks to run for mayor. Lane not only manages his campaign, but puts his own hat in the ring by courting Moore's daughter (Vickie Lester). Audiences loved Moore's bumbling persona, but he only visited Hollywood sporadically between Broadway hits like Of Thee I Sing and Louisiana Purchase. Leading man Allan Lane would eventually make his mark as a cowboy hero at Republic, while his comic sidekick, Jack Carson, had to move to Warner Bros. to find his niche. Lester took her screen name from Janet Gaynor's character in A Star Is Born (1937), though she never rose to the same heights. Sixteen years later, Carson would play opposite another Vicki Lester when he co-starred with Judy Garland in the 1954 A Star Is Born.

By Frank Miller