It's a Joke, Son! (1947)

The first Eagle-Lion film stars Kenny Delmar as Senator Beauregard Claghorn, his "Allen's Alley" resident-character heard on Fred Allen's radio program. Claghorn was a blustery, ... See full summary »

Director:

Benjamin Stoloff

Writers:

Robert E. Kent, Paul Girard Smith

Stars:

Kenny Delmar, Una Merkel, June Lockhart

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kenny Delmar	...	Senator Beauregard Claghorn
Una Merkel	...	Mrs.Magnolia Claghorn
June Lockhart	...	Mary Lou Claghorn
Kenneth Farrell	...	Jefferson 'Jeff' Davis
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Big Dan Healey
Jimmy Conlin	...	Senator Alexander P. Leeds
Matt Willis	...	Ace, Healey's Henchman
Ralph Sanford	...	Knifey, Healey's Henchman
Daisy	...	Daisy
Vera Lewis	...	Hortense Dimwitty
Margaret McWade	...	Jennifer Whipple
Ida Moore	...	Matilda Whipple
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Byron Foulger	...	Groceryman

Storyline

The first Eagle-Lion film stars Kenny Delmar as Senator Beauregard Claghorn, his "Allen's Alley" resident-character heard on Fred Allen's radio program. Claghorn was a blustery, one-man-Chamber-of-Commerce for all things Southern, who had no tolerence for anything north of the Mason-Dixon line, although he made allowances for South Philly. The character inspired the creation of one of the most popular of the Warners' cartoon characters, Foghorn Leghorn, who re-worked most of the originals material and style. The title of this movie is a stock line- "it's a joke, son"---he would feed a befuddled Fred Allen each week. In the film, Claghorn gets into some financial difficulties and is forced by a machine-political gang to enter a race for state senator against his wife (Una Merkel) who appears to have a good chance to beat the political hack backed by the machine. Claghorn is in to siphon votes and ensure his wife's opponent will win and is expected to run a campaign that will defeat ...

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Plot Keywords:

based on radio show | dog | small town

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Taglines:

The Funniest Man of the Year in the Happiest Hit in Years!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 1947 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bryan Foy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

63 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kenneth Farrell receives an "introducing" credit.

User Reviews

It's a Joke, Son. A Joke that is.

Every time I see this film I want to yell out loud, "Save you're Confederate money, Boys! The South's gonna rise again!". This was a laugh a minute all the way through. Of course, you can see that Claghorn was the inspiration for Foghorn Leghorn from the Saturday Morning cartoons. It may not be politically correct, but it is funny.