Plot in a nutshell: Joe E. Brown plays Wilfred Simpson, a small town clerk with big dreams, a big mouth and a big ego. A surprisingly childish and immature man - for the sake of comedy of course - Wilfred gets mad when he thinks his girlfriend Phyllis Jenkins (or fiancé as he insists on calling her - played by Maxine Doyle) is being stolen from him by hotshot trick cyclist Harry St. Clair (Gordon Westscott). When Wilfred's bad behavior (including but not limited to hissing at Harry, who already has a wife, when he's performing on stage) gets to be too much an alienated Phyllis takes off, seemingly to Harry and to the big city. Wilfred, whose only real skill is being a capable biker himself, decides the only way to win her back is to enter an epic 6 day bike race with a partner he picks up along the way. Old school hilarity ensues.
An okay old school black & white/sepia tone comedy that'll never be seen as a classic, I recorded this off TCM out of curiosity. It was an okay early morning viewing with a few genuinely amusing if not exactly laugh out loud funny gags, most of them during the race.
How much one enjoys the film probably depends on how much tolerance one has for Wilfred, the classic unsympathetic comedy protagonist played by Brown. At times Wilfred is somewhat redeemed by Brown's go for broke energy, but at other times you just want someone to slap him and tell him to grow up a little as he sometimes feel more aggressive and bullying than the actual antagonist. Such is the life and lot of the unsympathetic comedy protagonist.
Still, the film offers clean, inoffensive humor and in this day and age where almost every gag or every other gag has some innuendo going on that is a nice change of pace.
An okay old school black & white/sepia tone comedy that'll never be seen as a classic, I recorded this off TCM out of curiosity. It was an okay early morning viewing with a few genuinely amusing if not exactly laugh out loud funny gags, most of them during the race.
How much one enjoys the film probably depends on how much tolerance one has for Wilfred, the classic unsympathetic comedy protagonist played by Brown. At times Wilfred is somewhat redeemed by Brown's go for broke energy, but at other times you just want someone to slap him and tell him to grow up a little as he sometimes feel more aggressive and bullying than the actual antagonist. Such is the life and lot of the unsympathetic comedy protagonist.
Still, the film offers clean, inoffensive humor and in this day and age where almost every gag or every other gag has some innuendo going on that is a nice change of pace.