I'm from Arkansas


1h 8m 1944

Film Details

Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Oct 31, 1944
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Kleinhert-Vershel Productions
Distribution Company
Producers Releasing Corp.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 8m
Film Length
6,049ft (7 reels)

Synopsis

In the rural municipality of Pitchfork, Arkansas, the denizens of the town gather to acclaim Esmeralda, a sow, who has just given birth to eighteen piglets. Esmeralda's feat makes national headlines, and when theatrical promoter Willy Childs reads about it, he decides to take his troupe of showgirls to Pitchfork to capitalize on the town's notoriety. When Harry Cashin, the vice-president of the Sunshine Packing Company, sees the headlines, he dispatches his minions to discover the secret of Esmeralda's fertility. Also traveling to Pitchfork is radio star Bob Hamline and his orchestra, who have just concluded their final broadcast and are returning home for a vacation. Upon arriving in town, Willy and his girls take up residence in Matilda Alden's boardinghouse and soon learn that the town has no theater in which they can perform. Doris and the other showgirls regard the locals with contempt, and when Doris meets Bob, she assumes that he is a hillbilly. Deciding to play a practical joke on Doris, Bob instructs the other band members to dress up and pose as yokels. Soon after, the representatives of the packing company arrive in town to question Matilda, Esmeralda's owner, about the sow's habits. Suspecting the secret of her fertility lies in the mud below Matilda's land, they send samples to the lab for analysis. Although the tests reveal that the area is rich in mineral springs, Cashin's only concern is in producing pigs for profit, so he sends his representatives to buy Matilda's property for a pig farm. When the commissioner from the State Department of Agriculture comes to town to award Esmeralda a ribbon, a formal ceremony is planned and the commissioner asks Bob and his boys to entertain, much to Doris' dismay. After it is discovered that Esmeralda is missing, Matilda asks Juniper Jenkins, a champion hog caller, to summon the sow, and he agrees on condition that Matilda marry him. Matilda consents to his terms, and after Juniper starts grunting, Esmeralda comes running home. At Matilda and Juniper's wedding, Bob apologizes to Doris for deceiving her, but she refuses to forgive him and leaves the party with the packing company representatives to drink in their hotel room. After becoming inebriated, the representatives blurt out the news about the health benefits of Matilda's land, and Doris hurries to alert Bob. Matilda, meanwhile, has gone to finalize the sale of her property with Cashin's attorneys. Upon reading the deed to the land, however, the attorneys discover that because Matilda has remarried, the land reverts to her daughter Abby. At that moment, Bob and Doris burst into the office and inform Matilda about the mineral springs on her property. When the governor learns about the springs, he approaches the state legislature about turning Pitchfork into a state-sponsored health resort. To focus attention on Pitchfork, Bob decides to broadcast a show from the town. At the end of his performance, word comes that the state has decided to make Pitchfork the new spa of America, and all ends happily as Doris finally forgives Bob.

Film Details

Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Oct 31, 1944
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Kleinhert-Vershel Productions
Distribution Company
Producers Releasing Corp.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 8m
Film Length
6,049ft (7 reels)

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

Although a Hollywood Reporter production chart lists Ray Holbeck and His Orchestra in the cast, their appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. A Hollywood Reporter production chart credits Benjamin Kline, not Robert Pittack, as director of photography. I'm From Arkansas marked the first and only production of musical director E. H. Kleinert and theatrical producer Irving Vershel.