Unexpected Uncle

Acc to IMDb, this 67 minute short was only the fourth project directed by Peter Godfrey. It came out JUST before Pearl Harbor, which probably didn't help. Anne Shirley, on the other hand, had been making films since 1922, as a little girl. Here, she plays Kathleen Brown, a Florida sales clerk who is helped out of a situation by a passer-by Seton Mansley (Charles Coburn). The two of them spend most of the film trying to decide if rich playboy Johnny (James Craig) is good husband material. Craig appears to have had a long, successful career, in spite of his odd voice...here it sounds like he's trying to speak without an accent; it comes out stilted, as if he's trying to disguise his voice or something. Viewers will know Coburn from "Lady Eve" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". He was always the cigar-puffing, large, older gentleman who got caught up in scrapes. This one turns into a fun caper, with airplanes, mansions, and country clubs. Quick little love story, with a lot packed in. Pretty light fare, but it all works. Story by Eric Hatch, who also wrote the novel from which "My Man Godfrey" was made.