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A small town, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, USA: Young Danny
(Marvin Stephens) has gotten himself into a jam when he gambled away the
money he was supposed to pay the mortgage on his family's hotel with, so
he calls in Freckles (Johnny Downs), his best friend who has gone to the
big city to study, to put things right ... and soon enough, Freckles seems
to have the solution: The village would need a highway running through -
but unfortunately, the local banker Potter (John Ince), who is also one of
the heads of the highway commission, doesn't like Freckles and his family
one bit.
But then Leach (Walter Sande), a gangster from the big city hiding out
at the hotel pretending to be a businessman, hears of the whole thing and
offers to help out ... and soon enough, his partner in crime Quigley
(Bradley Page) arrives in town pretending to be another businessman - and
before you know it he's best pals with banker Potter and sweettalks his
daughter Jane (Gale Storm) ... much to the dismay of Freckles who's in
love with her, and who soon suspects that Quigley is planning something
crooked.
Sure enough, Leach and Quigley are indeed planning something crooked -
hey, they are gangsters -, they plan to empty Potter's own bank - but then
Leach is killed, and before you know it, two FBI agents take over ...
thing is that they are indeed gangsters who have offed Leach themselves
and now want to force Quigley into cooperating with them in emptying the
bank - and before you know it, Freckles gets in the thick of it, but
eventually all the gangsters are overcome and Freckles gets the girl, Jane
that is.
Comedian Mantan Moreland has a supporting role as bellhop who tries to
sell a machine for locating gold to Quigley's chauffeur (Laurence Criner),
but is in the end made to eat the machine himself ...
Somehow this film just doesn't fall together, the story is lame, the
actors mediocre and the comedy at best so-so. The film's only saving grace
is (once again) Mantan Moreland, who has saved many a lame picture.
Actually his presence in the film and the fact that Frankie Darro had been
drafted for service in the Navy around the time it was made makes one
suspect that the film was planned to be a part of the Frankie
and Mantan-series, because in my view, Darro would have been
perfect for the Freckles-role and much better than Johnny Downs, and he,
together with Mantan, could have carried the film. As it is, Freckles
Comes Home is a disappointment sparkled with funny Mantan-routines.
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