Daily Archives: October 7, 2022

Love on a Bet (1936)

Love on a Bet
Directed by Leigh Taylor
Written by P.J. Wolfson and Philip G. Epstein; story by Kenneth Earl
1936/US
RKO Radio Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Uncle Carlton MacCreigh: Well the whole idea of the play is ridiculous. You expect anybody to believe that a man can leave New York in his underwear and get to Los Angeles in 10 days? … This boy wonder arrives in Los Angeles in a new suit of clothes, a hundred dollars in his pocket, and engaged to a beautiful girl. Ridiculous! Who’s gonna believe that?
Michael MacCreigh: Remember, this happens in a play, not in a slaughter house. It’s not beef ham and prize-cuts. It’s romance! Adventure! Just what people want to see in a play.

Michael MacCreigh (Gene Raymond) needs money to produce a Broadway show. His uncle wants him to work in the family meat packing business. Michael bets the uncle that he can start out from New York City in his underwear and, without borrowing money or buying anything, arrive in Los Angeles in ten days with a new suit, a fiancee and $100. He will also prove that the plot of his play is not totally ridiculous. With Wendy Barrie as the love interest and Helen Broderick as her no-nonsense aunt.

If you dial up your suspension of disbelief to 11 and like screwball plots, this could be amusing. Gene Raymond, whom I normally find very bland, gives possibly his most animated performance ever.  I thought this was OK but not more.