''There's One Born Every Minute'', also known as ''Man or Mouse'', is a 1942 American

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

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 Harold Young. It was

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

's first film and one of her only films with Universal Studios. The film is a comedy about

false advertising False advertising is defined as the act of publishing, transmitting, or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally (or recklessly) to promote the sale of property, goods, or servic ...

. The Twine family profits from marketing their

pudding Pudding is a type of food. It can be either a dessert or a savoury (salty or spicy) dish served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, inst ...

s as containing the fantastic

Vitamin A vitamin is an organic molecule (or a set of molecules closely related chemically, i.e. vitamers) that is an essential micronutrient that an organism needs in small quantities for the proper functioning of its metabolism. Essential nutrie ...

Z, with the press failing to realize that this vitamin does not exist. A local scientist is persuaded to act as a

shill A shill, also called a plant or a stooge, is a person who publicly helps or gives credibility to a person or organization without disclosing that they have a close relationship with said person or organization. Shills can carry out their operatio ...

for their product.

Plot

With a helpful push from his wife Minerva, Lemuel P. Twine, "Lem", decides to enter the scene of politics, by running a campaign as reform-mayor of his hometown Witumpka Falls. Normally he runs the Twine's Tasty Pudding Powder Company. Lem is unaware that his financial backer, Lester Cadwalader Sr., wants him to run in order to secure that the current mayor, Moe Carson, is re-elected. When Lem's oldest daughter Helen Barbara is on her way to her date with Cadwalader's son Lester Jr., aka "Les", she accidentally bumps into her ex-boyfriend Jimmy Hanagan, who is just back from marketing studies at college. Since Jimmy hasn't found work within his field of advertising yet, he is currently working as a clerk at the Cadwalader's general store. When Les sees Helen and Jimmy together he is jealous and end up firing Jimmy from the store. Instead Jimmy gets a job as advertising director for Helen's father's company. At work, Jimmy comes up with the idea of telling the consumers that the puddings are full of Vitamin Z, a made-up healthy ingredient. He goes on to persuade a local scientist, Asa Quiesenberry, to work with him on the marketing of the product, claiming the discovery of the new fantastic vitamin. The product is tested in a faux laboratory and the media is informed of the vitamin's superior qualities. Among other effects, it is said to enhance the female sexual appetite. The pudding business sky-rockets and the small town is famous nationwide for the new "Zumf" vitamin products. Lem is awarded Witumpka Falls Man of the Year" by the town Chamber of Commerce, and in a newspaper interview with Minerva, she announces the engagement of Helen and Jimmy. These news all upset Les Jr. And Sr. greatly, and they start scheming a plan to ruin the Twine family and their business. The Cadwaladers claim that the Vitamin Z disappears from the pudding powder after it has aged a while. After some intensive testing of old cases of powder, the Cadwaladers announce, at a dinner in Lem's honor, that they have found no trace of Zumf in the old pudding powder. They also claim Jimmy is a fraud and accuses him of bribing scientists to play along. Humiliated, Jimmy leaves the Twine family. Lem continues his campaign for mayor and tells the people to elect him as a man, not as the leader of a pudding company. Jimmy returns after a while, and when he does he sees Helen reunited with Les, and becomes very jealous. That night, Lem meets the ghost of his grandfather Claudius, emerging from a painted portrait on the wall. Claudius warns Lem of the Cadwaladers, and the morning after he meets Jimmy and Quisenberry to tell them about his dream. When Lem tries to tell Moe Carson about Cadwalader's treacherous behavior, Les Sr arrives and a fistfight between him and Moe ensues. The Cadwaladers are exposed as traitors to the town, through flyers handed out by Jimmy and Helen, and Lem is elected mayor. Lem urges Jimmy to reconcile with Helen, and he does, after giving her a lesson for getting back together with Les when he was gone. After they make up, Claudius watches happily them from his painting on the wall.

Cast

Hugh Herbert Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 – March 12, 1952) was an American motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches. Career Born in Binghamton, New York, Herbert attended Cornell Univers ...

as Lemuel P. Twine / Abner Twine / Colonel Cladius Zebediah Twine * Peggy Moran as Helen Barbara Twine * Tom Brown as Jimmy Hanagan *

Guy Kibbee Guy Bridges Kibbee (March 6, 1882 – May 24, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. Early years Kibbee was born in El Paso, Texas. His father was editor of the ''El Paso Herald-Post'' newspaper, and Kibbee learned how to set type at age ...

as Lester Cadwalader, Sr. *

Catherine Doucet Catherine Doucet (born Catherine Green; June 20, 1875 – June 24, 1958) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1915 and 1954. Her film debut came in ''As Husbands Go''. Doucet's work on Broadway began with ''B ...

as Minerva Twine *

Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...

as Mayor Moe Carson *

Gus Schilling August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 – June 16, 1957) was an American film actor who started in burlesque comedy and usually played nervous comic roles, often unbilled. A friend of Orson Welles, he appeared in five of the director's films � ...

as Professor Asa Quisenberry *

as Gloria Twine *

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 Trumbull * Renie Riano as Miss Aphrodite Phipps *

Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer Carl Dean Switzer (August 7, 1927 – January 21, 1959) was an American singer, child actor, dog breeder, and guide. He was best known for his role as Alfalfa in the short subjects series ''Our Gang''. Switzer began his career as a child ac ...

as Junior Twine * Mel Ruick as Radio Announcer

References

External links

* * * {{Harold Young 1942 films 1942 comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films 1940s ghost films American comedy films American black-and-white films Universal Pictures films Films directed by Harold Young (director) False advertising Films about advertising