Cracked Nuts
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Edward Cline
Stuart Erwin
Una Merkel
Mischa Auer
William Frawley
Shemp Howard
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In a remote broadcast from the small town of Oswego Falls, the Refrigerall radio show announces that local resident Lawrence Trent is the $5,000 winner of their slogan contest. Larry states that he plans to use the money to marry his sweetheart, Sharon Knight, who is currently working in New York as secretary to patents attorney James Mitchell. In New York, meanwhile, confidence man Boris Kabikoff plans to swindle Mitchell by getting the attorney to finance his phony mechanical man, which is nothing more than his blonde-obsessed assistant, Eddie, in a robot suit. While Kabikoff waits outside, Mitchell is warned by his ex-wife's attorney, McAneny, that he will be jailed if he fails to pay his back alimony in twenty-four hours. Larry then arrives at Mitchell's office to propose to Sharon, and Mitchell and Kabikoff overhear him state that he has $5,000. They trick Larry into investing his $5,000 in a ten percent interest in "Ivan the Robot." After depositing Larry's down payment of $2,000 in the bank, Mitchell and Kabikoff retire to the lawyer's home, where Ethel, Mitchell's blonde ex-wife, tries to sneak in, only to be detected by Eddie, who is dressed as Ivan. The next day, McAneny arrives at Mitchell's office to inform the lawyer that he has attached the entire $2,000. Mitchell and Kabikoff then trick Larry in paying them the remaining $3,000. At lunch, Sharon shows Larry a telegram from the Imperial Research Corporation, warning Mitchell that Kabikoff, their former employee, has stolen their incomplete mechanical man, and "any attempt to patent same will result in injunction suit." Larry asks Sharon not to show anyone the telegram, then heads back to Oswego Falls. Meanwhile, Eddie, as the robot, is reduced to doing the housework for Mitchell's maid, Chloe, and scaring the gambling butler, Burgess, by dressing as a ghost. After watching Mitchell put Larry's $3,000 in his safe, Chloe calls Ethel and tells her old mistress of this latest "deposit." That night, Ethel breaks into the safe while Eddie talks on the phone with his girl friend. The next day, Larry's hometown friends, Mayor Wilfred Smun and Sylvanus Boogle, arrive at Mitchell's office, pretending to be millionaire investors interested in Ivan. They insist, however, that there be no other partners, so Mitchell and Kabikoff try to convince Ethel to give them back the money to buy Larry out. She agrees to meet with Larry and the millionaires that night at Mitchell's home. After some persuading, Larry agrees to sell out, just as the love-crazed "Ivan" breaks into a department store to steal a blonde mannequin. Benson then arrives at the Mitchell home and exposes Kabikoff's deception. Larry, Sharon, Smun and Boogle all head back to Oswego Falls, while the police finally capture Eddie after a mad automobile chase.
Director
Edward Cline
Cast
Stuart Erwin
Una Merkel
Mischa Auer
William Frawley
Shemp Howard
Astrid Allwyn
Mantan Moreland
Hattie Noel
Francis Pierlot
Will Wright
Emmett Vogan
Tom Hanlon
Pat O'malley
Ernie Stanton
Elaine Morey
Marion Martin
Dorothy Darrell
Pierre Watkin
Hal K. Dawson
Billy Bletcher
Milton Parsons
Lyle Clement
Dave Willock
Bobby Barber
Marin Sais
Crew
Bernard B. Brown
Milton Carruth
W. Scott Darling
Fred Frank
R. A. Gausman
Erna Lazarus
Harold H. Macarthur
Bob Moak
Jess Moulin
Jack Otterson
Charles Previn
H. J. Salter
Joseph G. Sanford
Charles Van Enger
Vera West
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The opening credits list actor Ernie Stanton and "Ivan the Robot" separately in the cast, but the CBCS credits Stanton in the role of "Ivan." In the film, actor Shemp Howard, who is credited onscreen in the role of "Eddie," spends most of the movie playing "Ivan." Howard, however, is not listed in the CBCS. It is possible that Howard either replaced Stanton in the part or that Stanton May have acted as a double for Howard inside the robot suit. A January 1941 Hollywood Reporter news item stated that writer Victor McLeod worked on the screenplay for this film; however, his contribution to the final film has not been determined.
