''I'm from Missouri'' is a 1939 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Theodore Reed Theodore Reed (June 18, 1887 – February 22, 1959) was an American film director, producer and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Selected filmography * ''Say! Young Fellow'' (1918) * '' Arizona'' (1918) * '' ...

and written by Duke Atteberry and Jack Moffitt. The film stars Bob Burns, Gladys George,

Gene Lockhart Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957)"Gene Lockhart"
''The ...

Judith Barrett Judith Barrett (born Lucille Kelley, February 2, 1909 – March 10, 2000), also known as Nancy Dover, was an American film actress of the late 1920s and through the 1930s, up until 1940. Early life Born and raised in Venus, Texas, Barrett was one ...

William "Bill" Henry William Albert Henry (November 10, 1914 – August 10, 1982) was an American actor who worked in both films and television. Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, Henry started as a child actor, then was a hero in B-movies (mainly we ...

and

Patricia Morison Eileen Patricia Augusta Fraser Morison (March 19, 1915 – May 20, 2018) was an American stage, television and film actress of the Golden Age of Hollywood and mezzo-soprano singer. She made her feature film debut in 1939 after several years on ...

. The film was released on April 7, 1939, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. It is based on novels "Sixteen Hands" by

Homer Croy Homer Croy (March 11, 1883 – May 24, 1965), was an American author and occasional screenwriter who wrote fiction and non-fiction books about life in the Midwestern United States. He also wrote several popular biographies, including books on ou ...

(1938) and "Need of Change" by

Julian Street Julian Leonard Street (April 12, 1879–February 19, 1947) was an American author, born in Chicago. He was a reporter on the New York ''Mail and Express (later Evening Mail'') in 1899 and had charge of its dramatic department in 1900–01. His ...

(1909).

Plot

Sweeney Bliss raises prize-winning mules in Missouri. He travels to London with a twofold purpose, to sell mules to the government there and to find a fitting husband for daughter Julie Bliss, perhaps a British dignitary or someone equally suitable. Complications set in when rival Porgie Rowe also arrives from Missouri, persuading the government that his tractors would be of more use to them than Sweeney's mules.

Cast

* Bob Burns as Sweeney Bliss * Gladys George as Julie Bliss *

Gene Lockhart Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957)"Gene Lockhart"
''The ...

as Porgie Rowe *

as Lola Pike *

as Joel Streight *

as Mrs. Allison 'Rowe' Hamilton *

E. E. Clive Edward Erskholme Clive (28 August 1879 – 6 June 1940) was a Welsh stage actor and director who had a prolific acting career in Britain and America. He also played numerous supporting roles in Hollywood movies between 1933 and his death. Biog ...

as Mr. Arthur *

Melville Cooper George Melville Cooper (15 October 1896 – 13 March 1973) was an English actor. His many notable screen roles include the High Sheriff of Nottingham in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), Mr. Collins in ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1940) and ...

as Hearne * William Collier, Sr. as Smith * Lawrence Grossmith as Colonel Marchbank *G.P. Huntley as Captain Brooks-Bowen * Doris Lloyd as Mrs. Arthur * Tom Dugan as Gus *

Dennie Moore Dennie Moore (born Florence Moore; December 30, 1902 – February 22, 1978) was an American film and stage actress. Early life Moore was born in New York City on December 30, 1902, to immigrant parents of Scottish and Irish descent. She wa ...

as Kitty Hearne * James Burke as Walt Bliss *

Ethel Griffies Ethel Griffies (born Ethel Woods; 26 April 1878 – 9 September 1975) was an English actress of stage, screen, and television. She is remembered for portraying the ornithologist Mrs. Bundy in Alfred Hitchcock's classic '' The Birds'' (1963). Sh ...

as Miss Wildhack *

Spencer Charters Spencer Charters (March 25, 1875 – January 25, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 220 films between 1920 and 1943, mostly in small supporting roles. Biography Charters was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. Until ...

as Charley Shook *

Raymond Hatton Raymond William Hatton (July 7, 1887 – October 21, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures. Biography Hatton was born in Red Oak, Iowa. His physician father steered him toward a career in medicine. Howev ...

as Darryl Coffee *

Charles Halton Charles Halton (March 16, 1876 – April 16, 1959) was an American character actor who appeared in over 180 films. Life and career Halton trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1901, after which he ...

as Henry Couch

Reception

Gladys George, Bob Burns -I'm from Missouri,1939

Frank Nugent of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said, "The too-long absence from our cinematic midst of that genial and characteristically asymmetrical map of the Southwest Territory, the physiognomy of Bob Burns, is sensibly and, in a few low-comedy high spots, inspiredly repaired by ''I'm From Missouri'', at the Paramount. A pleasant variation on the commonplace folksiness-vs.-social-ambition theme, carried this time to the length of finally involving half the British peerage in a riotous Missouri hoe-down, the picture is a hare-brained and occasionally hilarious example of a type of Western which we can only classify as mule opera. It is also —need we emphasize? —one of the funniest of this year's crop of comedies."

References

External links

* 1939 films Paramount Pictures films American comedy films 1939 comedy films Films directed by Theodore Reed American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-comedy-film-stub