Jack Benny stars as Richard Clarke, a small town lawyer who moves to New York to seek success and discovers that he may not have what it takes—namely, he's just too kindhearted and sympathetic to attract any clients.
Eddie "Rochester" Anderson co-stars as Shufro, Benny's valet and right hand man; their relationship essentially duplicates that between Rochester and boss Benny on their radio program—that is, Rochester mainly follows orders but seldom hesitates to offer an opinion or suggestion.
The simple plot: Benny decides to try being meaner. Sure enough, when he steals a lollipop from a child and the event is captured by a newspaper photographer, the work starts flooding in. Success at last? Well, there are complications
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Priscilla Lane, charming and lively as Benny's fiancée, is understandably upset when she discovers that he's become a minor celebrity famed for unabashed meanness.
Edmund Gwenn is hilariously wicked in a small role as a client who needs help throwing an old lady out of her apartment. (It's his brother's widow.) Anne Revere is also good as Benny's bored secretary. (She hopefully shows him a trashy novel she's reading about a lawyer who makes passes at his secretary; instead of taking the hint, Benny asks to borrow the book when she's done with it.)
Unfortunately, the whole thing is only 57 minutes long, which doesn't allow much time for any of these fun supporting characters to shine. Oddly, the plot seems to build rather slowly—and then when things do start happening, the action is suddenly very fast paced, and then is just as suddenly over. (Apparently there were some editing issues behind the scenes.)
Definitely worth watching, though, especially for the great teamwork between Benny and Rochester—also for the hilarious series of newspaper headlines that chronicle Benny's adventures as the Meanest Man.
