Father Steps Out
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Jean Yarbrough
Frank Albertson
Jed Prouty
Lorna Gray
Frank Faylen
John Dilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Reporter Jimmy Dugan will stop at nothing to get a good story. On the trail of what promises to be a juicy business story, Jimmy uses his wiles to get an interview with J. B. Matthews, the head of Bay Shore Railroad. Matthews has had a professional row with Tom Oliver, the head of Midland Central Railroad, a company which J. B. now controls. To gain access to the railroad magnate, Jimmy poses as the assistant to J. B.'s doctor and is admitted to the Matthews mansion. Because his doctor has prescribed a country vacation to relieve his strained nerves, J. B. plans to take his henpecking sister Martha and his daughter Helen on a train journey. During Jimmy's examination of J. B., Helen discovers that Jimmy is a fake, but she decides to play along with the ruse, hoping to lose Jimmy by having him return to the house long after they are gone. The following day, when Jimmy learns that the Matthews have left, he follows their train by car. At one town, he nearly catches up with J. B. until he crashes his car. With a stolen policeman's motorcycle, Jimmy manages to catch up to the speeding train and board it. No sooner does he do so, than J. B., fed up with his doting sister, jumps off the train to escape from her, falls down an embankment and lands near a camp where two hoboes live. The hoboes think that J. B. is kidding them when he tells them that he is a railroad magnate, and while they pretend to be wealthy snobs, they serve him some camp-made soup for supper. Meanwhile, Martha flies into a panic when she discovers that J. B. is missing and orders the conductor to stop the train. A search for J. B. yeilds no results and Jimmy calls his editor to report the news of the tycoon's disappearance. Meanwhile, Oliver, seeing an opportunity to regain control of his company, begins scheming to wrestle it away from the missing head of Bay Shore. Back at the hobo camp, J. B., who is feeling quite at home among his new friends, is sent to forage for food and returns with a meal he purchased from a woman at a nearby house. As Helen is being forced to sell J. B.'s assets by Midland, a reward is posted for information leading to J. B.'s whereabouts. The offer is soon answered by the woman who gave J. B. food, and Jimmy manages to help the magnate return to town in time to prevent the bank from selling him out. Having redeemed himself in the eyes of Helen, Jimmy wins her admiration, while J. B.'s hobo friends visit J. B. and make soup for him on his lawn.
Director
Jean Yarbrough
Cast
Frank Albertson
Jed Prouty
Lorna Gray
Frank Faylen
John Dilson
Kathryn Sheldon
Charles Hall
John Maxwell
Mary Field
Tristram Coffin
Paul Maxey
J. Arthur Young
Gene O'donnell
Frank Melton
Crew
Charles Clague
Glen Glenn
Edward Kay
Edmond Kelso
William T. Lackey
Norman Lesley
Dave Milton
Jack Ogilvie
Lindsley Parsons
Mack Stengler
William Strohback
Joseph West
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
A working title for this film was City Limits.
