Olsen and Johnson have a trained seal and they want to book it into a show at Mary Howard's theater. The trouble is that Miss Howard is about to lose the theater, so Olsen and Johnson....
Why am I discussing plot in an Olsen and Johnson movie? It's all just an excuse get from one comedy set-piece to the next under the nominal direction of James Horne, with lots of supporting comics like Fred Kelsey and James Finlayson and Franklin Pangborn and Getrude Astor. There's a sequence at the chaotic boarding house run by Blanche Payson. There's a scene at the chaotic theater when they're trying to put on a show. There's the scene when Fred Kelsey comes in to investigate the murder. There's the scene.....
What murder you ask? It doesn't matter, it's all an excuse to get to the next gag set-up. They made this one for Republic, so it's certainly a step down from trouping for Warner Brothers in 1930.
The pair were burlesque comedians with timing and chaotic gags to match. They had entered show business as musicians -- Olsen was credited as the lyricist for "You're in the Army Now." The movies kept trying to make them a working screen pair, and they would appear in several more movies, until Universal filmed their stage hit HELLZAPOPPIN', which was basically a collection of chaotic gags. Then Abbott and Costello came along and knocked them out of the box.
And this movie? There are some funny moments in it, mostly when they're trying to put one over on Jimmy Finlayson, but despite Horne, an ailing Jimmy Parrott building gags and the other alumni from Roach, their style didn't match anything, except a plotless chaos.
