Great American Pie Company, The (1935)
*** (out of 4)
Charles "Chic" Sale plays a timid, weak man who fears his wife especially when she sends him out to sell pies when there's another man in town also doing it. Chic, being hungry, fools this man into giving him some pies while he tells about his plan for a big pie company that could make them millions. There's really not too much to this film or story but I was entertained throughout. This was my first time seeing Sale and I'm certainly interested in seeing more, which is always a good thing. What I noticed most about the film is how Sale really doesn't use slapstick or anything like that but instead he just digs down into his characters slow wit and delivers plenty of nice, mild laughs. The film, for the most part, is just dialogue driven as Sale talks about how to start this business, which takes a good five minutes but it's well written and delivered. Director Grinde is best remembered for his future films with Boris Karloff including THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG.