SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

JLRMovieReviews Fred Allen is the ringmaster in a flea circus, until he inherits a fortune (and he needed it badly - but of course who doesn't), from a relative, who is murdered, but not before, the old man hid $300,000.00 in the seat cushion of a chair. Fred is told by the old man's friends (ha!) that there is no money (they squandered it all,) but he is bequeathed five chairs. Only after he has sold them to a furniture dealer for $300, does he get a record which the old man recorded stating that in one of them is $300,000.00! Apparently, they were sold instantly, and now he has to find that chair! This is a precursor to the Mel Brooks film The Twelve Chairs, but I believe that story was from a much older source. There is a scene much later on, that is similar to and is a precursor to Some Like It Hot. Binnie Barnes costars as his wife, who's grew tired of the life as a flea-master's wife a long time ago, and his boy is a real character, with supposedly the gift of a retentive memory. Then, there are a slew of cameos to look for: Don Ameche, Rudy Vallee, Victor Moore, William Bendix, and Sidney Toler, as a detective in a parody of his most famous role, that of Charlie Chan. But maybe the highlight of the whole film is the footage of Jack Benny, who once again is made fun of for being cheap. We see him first, as he has the first chair. Upon getting there, Fred Allen has to pay a check-girl to hold his hat (Fred says "only Jack Benny could think of a thing like that.") and has to use a cigarette machine in Jack's apartment for a cigarette! Then, when Jack refuses to give him the chair, he agrees to rent it to him! What a guy! (But in real life, Jack Benny wasn't like that at all. If he had been, he probably wouldn't have found any humor in being that way in films. He was known for his generosity to charities, for his own self-deprecating humor, and for letting other comedians get a laugh as well. Most comedians don't like their thunder taken from them, or a joke turned on them. But Jack wasn't like that at all.) With Jerry Colonna as a mixed-up psychiatrist and Robert Benchley as a future in-law who doesn't like Fred, this is one fun-filled escapade you don't want to miss. It's a chance to see Fred Allen, who's sadly been forgotten, Jack Benny and company at their best.

JoeytheBrit I was surprised by the quality of the writing in this forgotten exhibition of the comic talents of radio personality Fred Allen. The story is one of those madcap farces in which a virtually non-existent plot is held together by a relentless barrage of jokes and quips which, for a change, hit more often than they miss.Allen plays Fred F. Trumble Floogle, the penniless owner of a flea circus who unexpectedly comes into an inheritance when a distant relative is murdered. What Fred doesn't realise is that most of the fortune has already been siphoned off by crooked lawyer John Carradine and his cronies, and the few hundred thousand dollars that remains is hidden in one of a set of five chairs that have been sold at auction. There then follows a fast paced hunt for the missing chairs that leads Floogle into the paths of all manner of unusual characters. One of these is Jack Benny, and the film has a great time poking fun at his legendary stinginess. Two of the chairs have been sold to a nightclub where Floogle finds former stars Don Ameche, Rudy Vallee and Victor Moore working (Ameche has run out of things to invent in the movies so is reduced to working as a singing waiter to make ends meet.) The story continues in this vein for ninety minutes, but very rarely does the pace – or quality of the jokes – flag. Others have pointed out that many of the gags will be lost on those with no – or little – knowledge of the period, but there's still plenty of timeless jokes that still work today.

Larry Stauch The plot is so goofy that there is no need to make sense out of it. The self-deprecating humor that many of these performers show is one of the qualities that makes makes this film work. It's refreshing to see what real comedy was like before the present day comics started screaming filth at the public. Jack Benny was so funny. He had a way of laughing that makes me laugh just thinking about it. Nobody does that today. This little window to the past shows amazing wit. The delivery of the actors lines are quick and designed to leave the viewer in stitches from one scene to the next. Warner Oland was perfect as the inspector without the Charlie Chan guise which allowed him some very funny lines. John Carradine is fantastic as the crooked lawyer as well. This one is a personal favorite.

Spikeopath Fred F. Trumble Floogle is the owner of a less than successful flea-circus. Struggling to pay his gambling debts, Trumble is most delighted when it's announced he has inherited a substantial amount of money from a recently slain relative. Jumping straight into the rich mans life style with his family, it's a shock when the dubious suit brigade tell him that all the inheritance money has been dissipated, thus sending the Trumble's into even worse poverty than before. But salvation comes in the form of a phonograph record, which on its reverse side has a message from the grave. It seems that $300,000 is hidden in one of the five chairs that Trumble got from the initial will reading. Trouble is is that his son has just gone and sold the chairs to a dealer, who in turn has sold them on to various people.I'm not at all familiar with the works of radio star Fred Allen {Fred Trumble}, so going into this film blind as to his style of comedy was a bit of a gamble. Happily I can report that It's In The Bag, and Allen himself were a comedic joy. Backed up by the likes of Jack Benny, William Bendix, John Carradine, Rudy Vallee, Don Ameche and Victor Moore-Allen and the ensemble deliver quick wit and skits to laugh yourself hoarse with. There are some far better reviews of this film available on this site, ie: those more familiar with Allen and his influences, so I would urge interested parties to seek them out. For myself I just loved what I watched, skits around trying to get cinema seats and one involving William Bendix playing against type are excellent, whilst I barely contained my joy during a sequence as Don Ameche recites poetry during a riot. Full of gags both visual and oral, It's In The Bag comes highly recommended to those that enjoy old time comedy with a sharp and prickly edge to it. 8/10