Money To Burn (1939)

• 73%
• 1939
• Comedy
• Gus Meins
• James Gleason
• Lucile Gleason
• Russell Gleason

When Joe Higgins returns home from a hard day's work at the Ellis Advertising Agency, he is furious to find that his wife Lil has not prepared dinner. Lil is instead at the home of her friend, Lucy Davis, working on a contest. Joe gets his dinner when Lil comes home and leaves afterwards for an evening meeting. He is forced to take his son Sidney's jalopy, when Sid and daughter Betty take his car to a dance, and at the meeting, he becomes a hero when he inadvertently gives Dover, an important new client, the idea to promote his dog biscuits with a contest. Joe's boss Ellis is impressed and promises to discuss a promotion with Joe if Joe gives him a ride home. Sid's jalopy is certainly not impressive, however, and Joe gives Ellis the keys to his car when they pass the dance hall where the children are. Unaware of his father's actions, Sid reports the car stolen, and Ellis spends the night in jail. Joe loses the promotion and is not the least sympathetic later that evening when Lil discovers that Lucy stole her slogan and won their contest with it. Lil takes out her anger on Lucy's son Bill, who is Betty's boyfriend, by throwing him out of the house. The next day, Lil apologizes to Lucy and Bill but is again enraged when she finds out that Lucy has bought the local store's supply of the dog biscuit boxes containing the new contest. Lil manages to get other boxes, however, and soon the house is overflowing with dog biscuits, which son Tommy suggests they dispose of by getting a dog. King, a Great Dane, is added to the household, much to Joe's consternation, and the next day, Lil finds what she believes is the winning box. Her joy is short-lived though, when she reads the rules and discovers that employees of the advertising agency and their families are not eligible to win. Lil convinces her father, Grandpa Ed Carson, to help her persuade Joe to resign so that she can collect the prize. Grandpa enlists the aid of his friend Irving, a custodian in the building where Brown, Ellis' chief competitor and Dover's former advertiser, works. Irving impersonates Brown and offers Joe the job of general manager. Joe accepts the job on Friday, but is humiliated on Monday when he meets the real Brown and discovers that he has been set up. Dover foils Lil's scheme by switching back to Brown when he hears that Joe now works there, and Brown calls Joe to offer him the job for real in order to retain Dover. When Joe leaves the house after receiving the call, he is pursued by Lil and Sid, who want to stop him from accepting. They in turn are followed by Grandpa, who heard on the radio that Lucy won the contest. After a mad dash, they all reach Brown's office, and the matter is straightened out to Joe's satisfaction. Lucy promises to use some of the $50,000 prize money to pay for Bill and Betty's honeymoon, and harmony is restored to the Higgins household, which is now devoid of contests.