Safety in Numbers (1938 film)

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Safety in Numbers
Safety in Numbers (1938 film).jpg
Directed by Malcolm St. Clair
Written by
Produced by John Stone
Starring
Cinematography Charles G. Clarke
Edited by Harry Reynolds
Music by Samuel Kaylin
Production
company
Distributed byTwentieth Century Fox
Release date
  • May 30, 1938 (1938-05-30)
Running time
55 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Safety in Numbers is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Malcolm St. Clair and starring Jed Prouty, Shirley Deane and Spring Byington. It was part of Twentieth Century Fox's Jones Family series. [1] [2]

Contents

Plot

Jones family patriarch John Jones is convinced by swindlers that the town swamp contains valuable mineral deposits. The ruse is exposed when some local youth fall into the swamp. The townspeople raise a ruckus and the matter is resolved satisfactorily. [3]

Cast

Reception

New York Times film critic Frank S. Nugent notes the formulaic foundation of the Jones Family series and “the obviousness of their scripts.” Mr. Jones (Jed Prouty) is “up to his neck in swindlers” and the family’s welfare is put at risk, as in all Jones saga films. Ma Jones (Spring Byington) offers advice on her radio program, and the youngsters, Jack and Lucy (Kenneth Howard and June Carlson, respectively) “puzzle” over matters of elopement and matrimony. Nugent concludes that it would be difficult “to deny the friendliness and likability of their pictures.” [4]

Notes

  1. Drew p.180
  2. Dwyer, 1996 p. 225-226: Filmography
  3. Dwyer, 1996 p. 225-226: Filmography, plot synopsis.
  4. Nugent, 1938

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References

Bibliography