Miss Polly
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Fred Guiol
Zasu Pitts
Slim Summerville
Kathleen Howard
Brenda Forbes
Elyse Knox
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Wilbur, who is about to retire from his job as mailman in the quaint little town of Midville, explains to Hubert, his replacement, that because of the strait-laced Minerva Snodgrass and her puritanical civic league, the town is hopelessly out of date. In fact, he adds, the laws governing courtship are so strict that there have been no marriages in Midville for the past two years. As Wilbur walks Hubert through his route, he points out the home of Miss Pandora Polly, a respected spinster who lives with her cook Patsy and her hired man Slim, an inventor whose bizarre creations have a tendency to go haywire. Miss Polly has helped to arrange a rendezvous between pretty young Barbara Snodgrass, who lives next door, and her boyfriend Eddie, and she listens in dismay as Barbara sadly rejects Eddie's marriage proposal, saying that she will never be able to break away from her mother. When Mrs. Snodgrass catches the young lovers together, she locks Barbara in her room. After an accident involving Slim's newest invention, a power mower with an attachment for smoking out gophers, destroys Mrs. Snodgrass' prize flowers and fills her home with smoke, Mrs. Snodgrass furiously demands that Miss Polly attend a meeting of the civic league that afternoon. Later, Eddie comes by to say that he is leaving town, and asks Miss Polly to help him see Barbara one more time. Slim employs his cannon-like "elopement device" to fire a rope into Barbara's window, and she slides down it into Miss Polly's home. While the sweethearts are kissing, Miss Polly recalls a special liquor her father used to drink that was known to induce romantic feelings, and suggests that it might enable Barbara to stand up to her mother. Miss Polly, Slim and Patsy head down to the musty wine cellar, where they sample bottle after bottle. Just as Barbara loses her nerve and returns home, Miss Polly drinks from the last bottle and is immediately overcome by passion. After making a pass at the grocery delivery boy, Miss Polly drives his cart into town and bursts into the civic league meeting, followed by Patsy and Slim. To the delight of the young people listening though the windows, Miss Polly gently chides the members of the civic league for their hypocrisy, reminding them of their own youthful peccadillos. Mayhem soon erupts as the civic league members begin hurling accusations at one another. When Miss Polly reminds Mrs. Snodgrass about a long-ago fling of her own, Mrs. Snodgrass faints, and Patsy revives her with some of the special liquor. Mrs. Snodgrass gives Barbara and Eddie her blessing, then whistles at Slim and chases him out of the room.
Director
Fred Guiol
Cast
Zasu Pitts
Slim Summerville
Kathleen Howard
Brenda Forbes
Elyse Knox
Dick Clayton
Dink Trout
William Newell
Ferris Taylor
Fern Emmett
Vera Lewis
Sarah Edwards
Virginia Sale
Walter Baldwin
Mickey Daniels
George Pembroke
Syd Saylor
Crew
John Burch
Eugene Conrad
Richard Currier
Charles D. Hall
Robert Pittack
William Randall
Hal Roach
Irene Saltern
Edward E. Seabrook
Roy Seawright
W. L. Stevens
Edward Ward
Dorothy White
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Miss Polly was one of Hal Roach's "streamlined features," a series of short comedies intended to fill the second half of a double bill. The first streamlined feature was the 1941 film Tanks a Million (see below).
