Here Comes Kelly


1h 4m 1943
Here Comes Kelly

Brief Synopsis

A hot-tempered young process server gets mixed up with gangsters.

Film Details

Also Known As
He Couldn't Take It
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Sep 10, 1943
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 27 Jul 1943
Production Company
Monogram Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 4m
Film Length
5,770ft

Synopsis

Bus driver Jimmy Kelly loses yet another job when he gets into a fight with a customer. Jimmy, who inherited his terrible temper from his late father, still lives with his mother. His fiancée, legal secretary Margie Burke, worries about his inability to hold a job for any length of time, and breaks their engagement and returns his ring. Jimmy's friend, Sammy Cohn, plants the idea in Jimmy's mind that he could become a boxer, but Jimmy is knocked out in the first round of his first fight. Jimmy next decides to study law, and Margie introduces him to her boss, lawyer L. Herbert Oakley, who, unknown to Jimmy, is trying to seduce her. Oakley tells Jimmy that he will need to enroll at City College. Unfortunately, the man in charge of enrollment turns out to be the bus passenger with whom he fought, and Jimmy ends up hitting him again. After Jimmy abandons his plans to become a lawyer, Sammy gets him a job at the same office at which he works as a process server. When an employee returns beaten up, having attempted to serve a summons, manager Driscoll sends Jimmy to serve it at the Rio Cabaña nightclub, and Jimmy invites Margie to accompany him. In order to serve the summons to entertainer Babette, Jimmy joins in the dance segment of her act. Upon receiving the summons, Babette has bouncers try to throw Jimmy out, but he escapes through her dressing room window after she admits that she would like to see him at her apartment. As a result of this episode, Margie will no longer talk to Jimmy, so he decides to visit Babette at her place. She tells Jimmy that her sweetheart, Oakley, was supposed to have taken care of the summons, but they had a fight. Realizing that Oakley is a philanderer, Jimmy leaves, then accosts the lawyer and warns him to stay away from Margie. Later, when the district attorney is serving subpoenas in an oil securities investigation, Jimmy and Sammy are assigned to serve the two major witnesses, "Trixie Bell" and "No. 7," whom they first have to locate. After Jimmy learns where to find "Trixie," he tells Sammy her address and goes to her apartment. When "Trixie" turns out to be a massive, male gangster, however, Jimmy changes his mind about serving him, but Trixie insists he stay because he is nervous when alone. Meanwhile, Margie comes to say goodbye to Mrs. Kelly, as she and Oakley are leaving on a business trip to Montreal. Trixie then gets a phone call from "No. 7," who turns out to be Oakley. Oakley tells Trixie that he is leaving town until the investigation blows over and warns him not to accept any subpoenas. Worried about Margie, Mrs. Kelly calls Sammy, who goes to Trixie's apartment and tips Jimmy off about the Montreal trip. Jimmy has been posing as a fellow gangster and introduces Sammy to Trixie as "Torpedo Ginsberg." When Trixie receives a phone call from an unsuspecting gangster Jimmy has used as a "reference," he realizes he has been tricked. Jimmy and Sammy nonetheless manage to give Trixie the subpoena, then escape and head for the railroad station. There, Oakley tries to kiss Margie, prompting her to change her mind about going with him. Jimmy arrives in time to see Margie slapping Oakley and slugs him while Sammy hands him the subpoena. Later, as Jimmy and Margie are about to be married, he discovers his draft notice, instructing him to report that very day. After he dashes off, his mother tells Margie and Sammy to save the wedding ring because the war will soon be over, as Jimmy has never had a job longer than a month in his life.

Film Details

Also Known As
He Couldn't Take It
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Sep 10, 1943
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 27 Jul 1943
Production Company
Monogram Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 4m
Film Length
5,770ft

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

The working title of this film was He Couldn't Take It. Actor Luis Alberni's name is misspelled "Louis" in the onscreen credits. Here Comes Kelly is a remake of a 1933 Monogram production, also titled He Couldn't Take It. The original story was actually written by noted writer Dore Schary, who took the name of his then-infant son Jeb as his pseudonym for this film. Schary wrote the story for He Couldn't Take It, which was directed by William Nigh and starred Ray Walker and Virginia Cherrill (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.1808). Schary's story was also used as the basis for a 1946 film titled Live Wires, starring the Bowery Boys and directed by Phil Karlson (see below).