For over one quarter of a century, Lum and Abner gave their radio listening public a finely layered and detailed view of small-town life, as represented within the Ozark community of Pine Ridge, Arkansas. During that period, Chester Lauck, who portrayed Lum Edwards, and Norris Goff, as Abner Peabody, completed seven films as the rustic duo, with DREAMING OUT LOUD perhaps the best, as it presented them as able to conduct themselves as their fans desired them to be, whimsical and helpful to those in need, but additionally engaged with an incident-packed scenario. Lum and Abner always demonstrated respect for life and children and people of all ages, and in this work, well directed by Harold Young, they are faced with tragedies and crises aplenty, but somehow manage to develop a solutional formula for each. Veteran performer Frank Craven gives a refreshing performance as Doctor Walter Barnes, resident physician of Pine Ridge, and nifty turns are displayed by Phil Harris as a travelling salesman and Irving Bacon as a town constable. The title melody is sung by petite and nubile Frances Langford, whose role is as Alice, postmistress ensconced in Lum and Abner's Jot 'Em Down Store, and whose romance with the son of Doctor Barnes is interwoven with most of the film's subplots.
