Slightly Tempted


1h 5m 1940

Brief Synopsis

Confidence man Professor Ross (Hugh Herbert) is released from prison and goes to Knoxton where his daughter Judy (Peggy Moran) lives. She has told everyone, including her fiancee Jimmy Duncan (Johnny Downs), that her father has been exploring in South America. Civic leaders ask him to lecture at a gala reception. Because Jimmy needs money to finance a toy train factory, Ross ends his lecture with a sales talk about the valuable Iridium mines he found in South America. Ethelreda Knox (Elisabeth Risdon), big-time toy manufacturer, wants to get a monopoly on the Iridium stock, while Gentleman Jack (Robert Emmett Keane) and The Duchess (Gertrude Michael), a pair of slick crooks, also want to chisel in on the deal. Ross gets the swindlers and civic leaders to deposit $60,000 in the bank and he finances Jimmy's factory with the funds. Feeling somewhat "taken", Gentleman Jack and The Duchess rob the bank, but with the help of his crony Peter (George E. Stone), Ross sees to it that the pair leave town holding an empty bag. Ross reimburses the locals and suggests a merger of the factories owned by his bride-to-be Eltelreda and his future son-in-law Jimmy.

Film Details

Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Oct 18, 1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Universal Pictures Co.
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures Co.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 5m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6 reels

Synopsis

Librarian Judy Ross becomes apprehensive when her father, Professor J. Bramwell Ross, a confidence man, is released from prison and comes to live with her in Knoxton. Judy has told the local people, including her fiancé Jimmy Duncan, that her father has been exploring South America. Consequently, civic leaders turn out to welcome Ross and request that he lecture about his travels. The golden opportunity is too much for the professor to pass up, especially when he learns that Jimmy wants to start his own toy factory in competition with the big one owned by his boss, Ethelreda Knox, who has refused to manufacture the toy electric train that Jimmy has invented. To raise money for Jimmy's train, the professor ends his lecture by giving the locals a sales talk about a valuable iridium mine he has discovered in South America. When his old accomplice, Petey, arrives in Knoxton, followed by the Duchess and Jack, two crooks demanding the money owed them by the professor, Ross enlists them all in a scheme to fleece Ethelreda and the others. Posing as the representative of a group of South American investors, Jack deposits his latest illicit haul in the bank and then bids up the price of iridium stock. The professor outwits them all by suggesting a partnership and accepts both offers. Following the professor's instructions, Petey poses as a blackmailer and extorts three thousand dollars from Jack and the Duchess so that the professor can pay for Jimmy's machinery. The professor then convinces the pair that Petey has been arrested and they decide to skip town before he talks. After drawing the money out of the bank, the professor has his pal McClusky impersonate a policeman and in the ensuing scuffle, he switches the suitcases and, as a result, Jack and the Duchess leave town with a case stuffed with paper. The professor then turns the money over to Jimmy and Ethelreda and promotes a merger between them. All ends happily as the professor marries Ethelreda in a double ceremony with Jimmy and Judy.

Film Details

Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Oct 18, 1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Universal Pictures Co.
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures Co.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 5m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6 reels

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

Although a print of this film was not viewed, the above credits and plot summary were taken from a cutting continuity included in studio records. A pre-production news item in Hollywood Reporter in April 1939 noted that George Yohalem was to have produced this picture, however, his participation in the project has not been confirmed.