Romance on the Run

This was a movie directed by former Our Gang helmer Gus Meins that I managed to find on Internet Archive. Like his previous movie-The Hit Parade-that I found on YouTube, this one also has William Demarest and Edward Brophy, two character actors who provide some comical relief. Donald Woods is the leading man, Patricia Ellis the leading lady, and Grace Bradley is one of the villains. Now that I think of it, everyone has moments of some comedy that I found chuckle-worthy, to say the least. Some of the reviewers here complained that some scenes were abrupt. I have to admit part of me felt that way too. They also mentioned they saw the 53-minute version. I did too. So, yes, I wonder what was in the 16-minutes that are now missing. Still, Romance on the Run was quite an enjoyable comedy for the length I saw it as.

Romance On The Run might rate better had it been done with some better production values. As it is Universal Pictures was doing a lot of cost cutting because the Laemmle regime had nearly bankrupted the place at this time.

When some jewels are stolen that are insured by Granville Bates's company, he always calls Donald Woods who recovers them for a fee and no questions asked. Woods is a guy who skips nicely over the dividing line of crook and detective, kind of like the Saint, but no one can prove a thing. Especially not William Demarest who isn't much smarter than Tom Kennedy in the Torchy Blane series. But he doesn't give up for lack of trying.

Through a bad combination of circumstances, Woods and man Friday Edward Brophy are chasing crooks Craig Reynolds and Grace Bradley through the USA south. Woods also has Patricia Ellis from Bates's office along for the ride and that's what the Romance On The Run is all about. Demarest is chasing all of them.

If this had been done at MGM with William Powell and Myrna Loy, Romance On The Run might well have been a classic. As it is it's an OK programmer, but nothing special.

Donald Woods is a freelance insurance investigator in this one. He is told to recover a valuable necklace and traces it to Craig Reynolds and his moll, Grace Bradley.... and recovers a paste imitation. This sets police lieutenant William Demarest on his tail, in cooperation with the insurance company's Girl Friday, Patricia Ellis. The pursuers wind up in Cincinnati, and on their way to New Orleans.... but who actually has the jewels keeps shifting.

It's a fast and speedy Republic Pictures comedy, under the direction of Gus Meins. Although some of the situations are stock -- including some Kentucky hillbillies who think Demarest is a revenue agent -- it's handled in a light-hearted manner, and the leads behave charmingly throughout. Demarest is wasted in a role that any of a dozen "dumb cop" specialists could have handled, but Eddie Brophy is good as Woods' thuggish manservant. It's not a classic, but it is constantly amusing.

When a valuable necklace is stolen the insurance agent who mistakenly issued the policy suspects the suave and handsome man that her boss has hired to get it back and who the inept police officer (William Demarest) on the case also suspects. They follow him and his valet (Edward Brophy)as they in turn are following a nightclub singer and her boyfriend. The group finds themselves on a train and then at a shack out in the middle of nowhere with guns pointed at them by country folks who distrust "city people in circus clothes".

It all ends happily of course and in just under an hour. The actors are very good and some very funny situations.

Donald Woods is Barry Drake, a sort of private operator who specializes in recovering stolen valuables and returning them to the insurance company—for a handsome fee, no questions asked. Realizing his latest recovery fee has been accepted for a fake necklace, not the original, he sets out after the burglars who have it. Patricia Ellis is Dale Harrison, insurance company secretary who latches onto Drake's trail and sets out after him. The great William Demarest is Eckbart, a police detective whose greatest professional goal is to catch Barry Drake at the illegal doings he's sure Drake's mixed up in—and he follows them both.

It's a fun ride that includes a train journey to Cincinnati followed by an automobile excursion toward New Orleans that gets sidetracked and winds up in some kind of hillbilly country where the people say things like "Hey Pappy! We got furriners!" It's all quite nutty and holds just tightly enough to an actual plot line to keep it making sense.

Lots of familiar faces in this Republic production—there's Edward Brophy as Drake's right hand man and sidekick, Granville Bates as the blustery necklace's owner, Andrew Tombes as the insurance company executive. Not household names, at least not in my household, but boy, those guys were in a lot of movies.

All that marred this excellent B movie was the chopped up 53-minute version that is currently available. The film seems to have been a good 68 minutes originally; this shortened version was presumably prepared for some long-ago TV release, but it's riddled with major gaps that make it hard to follow and distract woefully from its enjoyment. If I can ever find the complete version, I will cheer!

Even as is, though, the film is well worth those 53 minutes. Woods and Ellis make a handsome pair as they spar and quip; the supporting cast is excellent; the dialog is sharp. All in all it's a first-rate example of that rich and silly genre, the late '30s quickie comedy-mystery.