| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jean Arthur | ... | ||
| Robert Cummings | ... |
Joe O'Brien
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| Charles Coburn | ... |
John P. Merrick
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| Edmund Gwenn | ... |
Hooper
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| Spring Byington | ... |
Elizabeth Ellis
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| S.Z. Sakall | ... |
George
(as S.Z. Sakall)
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| William Demarest | ... |
First Detective
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Walter Kingsford | ... |
Mr. Allison
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| Montagu Love | ... |
Harrison
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| Richard Carle | ... |
Oliver
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Charles Waldron | ... |
Needles
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| Edwin Maxwell | ... |
Withers
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Edward McNamara | ... |
Police Sergeant
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| Robert Emmett Keane | ... |
Tom Higgins
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| Florence Bates | ... |
Customer
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Department store owner J.P. Merrick finds that several of his employees are unionizing to get more money and better working conditions. In order to find out who the organizers are, he gets a job at the store as a shoe salesman. Not realizing his true identity, he's befriended by Mary Jones and Joe O'Brien, the two ringleaders, and Elizabeth Ellis, a charming older woman with whom he develops a romance. Written by Daniel Bubbeo <[email protected]>
The tone of this movie is peppy and fast. Not a dull moment. The comedy is sophisticated and yet of the belly-laugh variety. This movie has entertained me and my friends over the years and is as refreshing now as it was the first time. Charles Laughton, Spring Byington, S.Z. Szakall, Bob Cummings, Edmond Gwenn (booooooo) and of course Jean Arthur - what a cast!!!!! This is a representative of the golden era of social-conscious entertainment - movies with a message - the New Deal is there and there is hope for the overworked and underappreciated. The employees who devote their lives and skills to the firm in order to give a better life to their children - this was the era preceding the "me, me, and only me" baby boom where everything was given to the kids without question. I can relate to this after constantly listening to the stories of my parents who were of the same generation as those employees. All gone now, and the memories remain.