''Lay That Rifle Down'' is a 1955 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Charles Lamont Charles Lamont (May 5, 1895 – September 11, 1993) was an American filmmaker, known for directing over 200 titles and producing and writing many others. He directed nine Abbott and Costello comedies and many Ma and Pa Kettle films. Biography ...

starring

Judy Canova Judy Canova (November 20, 1913 – August 5, 1983),Although one source gives her birth date as November 20, 1916, (DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & ...

. It was the thirteenth and last in a series of Judy Canova films released by

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

.Hurst p.233

Plot

Judy Canova works in a hotel for her domineering aunt. Her unscrupulous relatives try to blackmail and dupe her into selling her apparently worthless farm, having been led to believe that it has enormous potential value by a couple of

confidence tricksters A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibili ...

Cast

as Judy Canova * Robert Lowery as Nick Stokes, aka Poindexter March, III * Jil Jarmyn as Betty Greeb *

Jacqueline deWit Jacqueline deWit (September 26, 1912 – January 7, 1998) was an American film and TV character actress from Los Angeles who appeared in over two dozen films, including '' Spellbound'' (1945), '' The Snake Pit'', '' The Damned Don't Cry!'', '' ...

as Aunt Sarah Greeb * Richard Deacon as Glover Speckleton *

Robert Burton Robert Burton (8 February 1577 – 25 January 1640) was an English author and fellow of Oxford University, known for his encyclopedic ''The Anatomy of Melancholy''. Born in 1577 to a comfortably well-off family of the landed gentry, Burton a ...

as General Ballard * James Bell as Mr. Fetcher * Leon Tyler as Horace Speckleton * Tweeny Canova as Tweeny Greeb

Songs

Judy sings three songs in this movie: * The Continental Correspondence Charm School (silly) * Sleepy Serenade (a ''very'' soothing lullaby) * I'm Glad I Was Born on My Birthday (silly)

Reception

After distribution, advertising and prints the film recorded a loss of $151,138.

References

Bibliography

* Hurst, Richard M. ''Republic Studios: Beyond Poverty Row and the Majors''. Scarecrow Press, 2007.

External links

* 1955 films American comedy films 1955 comedy films Films directed by Charles Lamont American black-and-white films Republic Pictures films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{1950s-US-comedy-film-stub