It's in the Bag! (1945)

The ringmaster of a flea circus inherits a fortune...if he can find which chair it's hidden in.

Director:

Richard Wallace

Writers:

Lewis R. Foster (screen treatment), Fred Allen (screen treatment)

Stars:

Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Don Ameche

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Fred Allen	...	Fred F. Trumble Floogle
Jack Benny	...	Jack Benny
Don Ameche	...	Don Ameche
William Bendix	...	William Bendix
Victor Moore	...	Victor Moore
Rudy Vallee	...	Rudy Vallee
Binnie Barnes	...	Eve Floogle
Robert Benchley	...	Parker
Jerry Colonna	...	Dr. Greengrass - Psychiatrist
John Carradine	...	Jefferson T. Pike
Gloria Pope	...	Marion Floogle
William Terry	...	Perry Parker
Minerva Pious	...	Mrs. Pansy Nussbaum
Richard Tyler	...	Homer Floogle (as Dickie Tyler)
Sidney Toler	...	Detective Sully

Storyline

Wealthy Frederick Trumble makes an eccentric new will, secretes much of his wealth in a chair, then, within seconds, is murdered. The new heir, Fred Floogle, runs a flea circus. Of course, the reputed $12 million inheritance goes to his family's heads...then proves to consist of five chairs, which the disgusted Floogle sells just before discovering their secret. Packed with wisecracks, strange cameos, and nothing-sacred, anything-goes digressions.

---

Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | screwball comedy | flea circus | heir | penthouse | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

Passed

Details

Official Sites:

Grapevine Video [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 April 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fickle Fortune

Company Credits

Production Co:

Manhattan Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was completed in October 1944, and bears a 1944 copyright statement during the opening credits, but was not released until 1945.

---

Goofs

In the opening credits Fred Allen says about "Screen Treatment and screen play" that these four people are now out of work. However his own name is mentioned in the screen treatment.

---

Quotes

Eve Floogle: Just out of idle curiosity, how do you get rid of twelve million dollars?
Mr. Arnold: Mr. Trumble piddled his money away. A few million here, a few million there.
Eve Floogle: That's nice piddling.
Mr. Gardiner: In one stock market deal alone he lost three million.
Mr. Arnold: Yes. And there was that motion picture company.
Jefferson T. Pike: And, of course, there was a woman or two.
Fred F. Trumble Floogle: A woman or two? My uncle was in his 70s.
Jefferson T. Pike: So what?

---

Crazy Credits

Before the final card at the end of the movie, Fred Allen breaks the fourth wall one more time and says to the audience "Folks, you've got to come back to the next show, immediate seats on the inside."

---

Connections

Version of Rabe, Pilz & dreizehn Stühle (1973)

---

Soundtracks

Song of the Volga Boat Men
(uncredited)
Traditional
[Played when Fred is carrying Bill Bendix down to the river]

User Reviews

Fleas and the ingenious mouse trap.

Fred F. Trumble Floogle is the owner of a less than successful flea-circus. Struggling to pay his gambling debts, Trumble is most delighted when it's announced he has inherited a substantial amount of money from a recently slain relative. Jumping straight into the rich mans life style with his family, it's a shock when the dubious suit brigade tell him that all the inheritance money has been dissipated, thus sending the Trumble's into even worse poverty than before. But salvation comes in the form of a phonograph record, which on its reverse side has a message from the grave. It seems that $300,000 is hidden in one of the five chairs that Trumble got from the initial will reading. Trouble is is that his son has just gone and sold the chairs to a dealer, who in turn has sold them on to various people.

I'm not at all familiar with the works of radio star Fred Allen {Fred Trumble}, so going into this film blind as to his style of comedy was a bit of a gamble. Happily I can report that It's In The Bag, and Allen himself were a comedic joy. Backed up by the likes of Jack Benny, William Bendix, John Carradine, Rudy Vallee, Don Ameche and Victor Moore-Allen and the ensemble deliver quick wit and skits to laugh yourself hoarse with. There are some far better reviews of this film available on this site, ie: those more familiar with Allen and his influences, so I would urge interested parties to seek them out. For myself I just loved what I watched, skits around trying to get cinema seats and one involving William Bendix playing against type are excellent, whilst I barely contained my joy during a sequence as Don Ameche recites poetry during a riot. Full of gags both visual and oral, It's In The Bag comes highly recommended to those that enjoy old time comedy with a sharp and prickly edge to it. 8/10