The terrific May Robson is an octogenarian ball of fire in this very enjoyable, if absurd, screwball comedy about a mama's boy (Wayne Morris) without a mama. After lowlife racketeers steal prizefighting manager Pat O'Brien's star fighter (Maxie Rosenbloom), O'Brien goes out of his way to find another fighter, and goes down right on the farm where he spots Morris arguing with some other locals about being an orphan. He insists that his mother will come back some day and is persuaded by Morris to become a fighter so he can use the money to find dear old mumsy. While his assistant (Edward Brophy) is in court after getting into a fight, O'Brien spots the drunken Robson manhandling the cop escorting her in and giving judge Warner Oland a hard time. O'Brien decides to pass Robson off as Morris's mother to keep him happy, and before long, she's showing up wearing Whistler's Mother's outfit and pretending undying loyalty to her son, all the while sipping out of a gin bottle on the side. O'Brien fears that Morris will leave prizefighting now, and convinces Robson to make him stay in.
To keep Robson in line, Morris brings in her old flame Stanley Fields to make her stop acting so demanding, but the crafty Robson twists it by introducing Fields to Morris as his father! Meanwhile, the rackets want to keep Morris from taking the world championship in a fight with Rosenbloom and use the knowledge of Robson's criminal activities against O'Brien. It's a bubbly little comedy where O'Brien's bubble dancer girlfriend (Joan Blondell, as sparkly as ever) recognizes Oland as the judge who sentenced her to jail for indecency at the engagement party where Morris's fiancee (Jane Wyman in an early part) turns out to be Oland's daughter. But there are surprises in store for everybody which makes this comedy filled with so many delightful twists and turns in a way that would have made Damon Runyeon proud.
There will be obvious comparisons to "Lady For a Day", the Capra film (written by Runyeon) where Robson got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and began to rival Marie Dressler as the hottest old lady on film. Robson outlasted Dressler by nearly a decade, and "The Kid From Kokomo" is one of her very best performances. Even if she wasn't top billed, she is so memorable in this film that she deserved a special box or the credit of "and also starring" because it is her who makes this film work. Morris is deliciously naive, almost ridiculously so, and is nicely paired with Wyman who, as a Columbia journalism student, has some nice pratfalls. The party sequence where Robson and Blondell both recognize Oland, is up there with the party scenes of both "Auntie Mame" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for wild antics. This may be a preposterous story on many levels, but there's no denying that it truly is one of the most enjoyable films that will keep you laughing up until the hysterical finale!
To keep Robson in line, Morris brings in her old flame Stanley Fields to make her stop acting so demanding, but the crafty Robson twists it by introducing Fields to Morris as his father! Meanwhile, the rackets want to keep Morris from taking the world championship in a fight with Rosenbloom and use the knowledge of Robson's criminal activities against O'Brien. It's a bubbly little comedy where O'Brien's bubble dancer girlfriend (Joan Blondell, as sparkly as ever) recognizes Oland as the judge who sentenced her to jail for indecency at the engagement party where Morris's fiancee (Jane Wyman in an early part) turns out to be Oland's daughter. But there are surprises in store for everybody which makes this comedy filled with so many delightful twists and turns in a way that would have made Damon Runyeon proud.
There will be obvious comparisons to "Lady For a Day", the Capra film (written by Runyeon) where Robson got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and began to rival Marie Dressler as the hottest old lady on film. Robson outlasted Dressler by nearly a decade, and "The Kid From Kokomo" is one of her very best performances. Even if she wasn't top billed, she is so memorable in this film that she deserved a special box or the credit of "and also starring" because it is her who makes this film work. Morris is deliciously naive, almost ridiculously so, and is nicely paired with Wyman who, as a Columbia journalism student, has some nice pratfalls. The party sequence where Robson and Blondell both recognize Oland, is up there with the party scenes of both "Auntie Mame" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for wild antics. This may be a preposterous story on many levels, but there's no denying that it truly is one of the most enjoyable films that will keep you laughing up until the hysterical finale!