It's in the Bag

Buy This Item It's in the Bag by Republic Pictures  Available from Amazon  $19.98  on 8-31-2008     Where to start? First, there are two versions of this hysterical farce but one of the versions is severely hampered by Fred Allen's voice overs through many of the best comedy segments. The other, and I'm guessing, "original" version involves no voice overs and this version is an unmitigated classic for which we can give a big thank you to producer Jack Skirball. <br /> <br />It's in the Bag is one of the screwiest comedies ever. It's the story of Fred F. Floogle(Fred Allen)an unsuccessful flea circus exhibitor and his madcap family; devoted and wholly unsatisfied wife Eve(Binnie Barnes), soon-to-be-bride daughter Marion(Gloria Pope) and genius son Homer(Richard Tyler)who is given many of the best lines though there are zillions of funny lines and millions of gags in this one-of-a-kind romp. Exterminator(Robert Benchley)is determined to not let his son Perry Parker(William Terry) marry into such an inferior family as Fred's, that is until Fred's millionaire uncle dies leaving his entire fortune to his long lost nephew, or so everyone thinks. Everyone thinks it enough to extend Fred and his family whatever they wish and they're wishing the moon. But when Fred and Eve meet with his uncle's former business partners(headed up by John Carradine in a rare, intentionally comedic role)they find that there's "no money", only a set of chairs.(This is where Mel Brook's "Twelve Chairs" may have found it's basis or vice versa if the period piece is actually from that period.)Of course Fred sells the chairs only to later dicover there's a fortune and the name of his uncle's murderer hidden in one them and now they must be retrieved. Along the way we run into Don Ameche, Jack Benny, Rudy Vallee, William Bendix, Jerry Colonna, Sidney Toler and Victor Moore to name some of the bigger names but there are what seems to be hundreds of well known faces of comedic character actors in tons of riotous bits. This movie is a real hoot. If you're old enough to understand that phrase, then this movie might be for you. <br /> <br />As I've said in past reviews, the fact that this and Champagne for Caesar, Ball of Fire, The Male Animal, The Senator Was Indiscreet, Cold Turkey, The Loved One, A Slight Case of Murder and Larceny Inc. plus many, many more have not been restored and tranfered to DVD format IS A CRIME. <br /> <br />Oh, that's Joe. Reader Reviews Fred Allen makes me laugh. He may not have that effect on some folks, but the bassett-faced, baggy-eyed, acerbic & brilliant radio writer/performer with the ironic and cynical deadpan delivery has always tickled me. Alas, he's virtually unknown but to a few today, and as his main medium was radio with doubtless few if any shows extant we only have glimpses of him in a few films and his writings. Allen was a true humorist, finding the absurdity in himself and his culture, and while his humor could be stingingly sharp, it wasn't mean-spirited. A lost art, in many ways. I can only recall him in "The Ransom of Red Chief" episode in "O'Henry's Full House" and with Ginger Rogers as the radio couple episode in "We're Not Married" for other appearances on film. At any rate, we have "It's In the Bag" which is a riff on the old Russian tale of "The Twelve Chairs", and is really only an excuse for a series of sketches with Fred tangling with some of his radio characters and guest appearances/cameos by Jack Benny, Jerry Connola, Robert Benchley, John Carradine, Don Ameche, Rudy Vallee, Victor Moore and Bill Bendix et al. And it is in these encounters we get the dry wit and delivery of Allen as his erstwhile Flea Circus owner Fred Floogle is beset and bedeviled by crackpot inventors, quack psychiatrists, crooked lawyers, surly theatre ushers and managers, and other contemporary woes of the times. The best bit by far is with his great friend and the other half of his celebrated radio "feud", Jack Benny. The banter between these two old pros is worth the price of admission: light, fast and wry. Allen never spared himself in his gags, and the over-all experience is one of great good humor. Definitely a piece of work for probably only a small few, but considering that other than his writings this is about all we'll ever have of Fred Allen, it is to be treasured. Any man who could write: "All the sincerity in Hollywood you can stuff into a flea's navel and still have room left over to conceal eight caraway seeds and an agent's heart." must be treasured. One can only hope for a DVD some day.

It's in the Bag Available from Amazon Price: $19.98 Updated on 8-31-2008.

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