Hook Line and Sinker

1930

comedy, romance

Taken from IMDB:Two fast-talking insurance salesmen meet Mary, who is running away from her wealthy mother, and they agree to help her run a hotel that she owns. When they find out that the hotel is run down and nearly abandoned, they launch a phony PR campaign that presents the hotel as a resort favored by the rich. Their advertising succeeds too well, and many complications soon arise.

Hook, Line and Sinker is a 1930 slapstick comedy directed by Edward F. Cline from a screenplay by Ralph Spence and Tim Whelan. It was the third starring vehicle for the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey (Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey), and also featured Dorothy Lee (actress). It would be one of the largest financial successes for RKO Pictures in 1930.

Plot summary

Two fast-talking insurance salesmen — Wilbur Boswell and J. Addington Ganzy — help penniless socialite Mary Marsh to turn a dilapidated hotel, which was willed to her, into a thriving success. They soon run into trouble, however, in the form of two sets of rival gangsters who want to break into the hotel safe; also, Mary's mother, Rebecca Marsh, wants her to marry wealthy lawyer John Blackwell, although Mary has fallen in love with Wilbur. And while she takes an instant dislike to Wilbur, Rebecca falls for Ganzy. Adding to the complications is the fact that Blackwell is actually in league with the gangsters. The finale involves nighttime runarounds and a shoot-out in the hotel. During the pitched battle between the rival gangs and the police, Boswell and Ganzy save the jewels, after which Ganzy marries Rebecca, and then gives away Mary at her marriage to Wilbur.

Cast

Bert Wheeler - Wilbur Boswell
Robert Woolsey - Addington Ganzy
Dorothy Lee (actress) - Mary Marsh
Jobyna Howland - Rebecca Marsh
Ralf Harolde - John Blackwell (Buffalo Blackie)
William B. Davidson - Frank Dukette (Duke of Winchester)
Natalie Moorhead - Duchess Bessie Von Essie
George F. Marion - Ritz De La Rivera Bellboy
Hugh Herbert - Hotel House Detective
Stanley Fields (actor) - McKay

(Cast list as per AFI database)< name=AFI />

Reception

The film made a profit of $225,000,< name="rko"/> and would be one of the top two money earners for RKO Radio Pictures in 1930.< name=RKO></>

Notes

In 1958, the film entered the List of films in the public domain in the United States due to the copyright claimants failure to renew the copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.<> See note #60, pg. 143.</>

Category:1930 films
Category:1930s romantic comedy films
Category:American films
Category:English-language films
Category:Films directed by Edward F. Cline
Category:RKO Pictures films

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William LeBaron