Reg'lar Fellers
Cast & Crew
Arthur Dreifuss
Billy Lee
Carl "alfalfa" Switzer
Buddy Boles
Janet Dempsey
Jerry Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Young Jimmie Dugan of Middleville, the smartest member of the "Reg'lar Fellers" inventors club, easily wins the Junior Quiz radio program, but is less successful in winning the admiration of his neighbor, Hetty Carter, a rich old woman who hates children and refuses to rent out her barn for the club's laboratory. Hetty's mean disposition is notorious in town and perhaps best known to Caroline Carter, her daughter-in-law, who married her son Lawrence against her wishes. Hetty has been especially mean since the strange disappearance of her son shortly after his marriage to Caroline. Realizing that Hetty behaves the way she does because of her missing son, little Aggie Reilly, who is desperately trying to win Jimmie's affections, proposes that the Reg'lar Fellers earn Hetty's respect by finding Lawrence and reuniting him with his mother. While Hetty tries to take custody of Caroline's baby away from her because she feels that Caroline is unfit to care for the child without a husband, the Reg'lar Fellers get to work trying to find Lawrence. With the help of supply store owner Emery McQuade, the Reg'lar Fellers find Lawrence's address in New York and send him a letter asking him to return to Middleville. The Reg'lar Fellers then suffer a series of misfortunes: first they must contend with the failure of their latest invention, an amphibious tank, which sinks during a launching ceremony; then club member Pinhead makes a blunder by innocently delivering Caroline's baby to Hetty, thinking that it will soften Hetty. The infant is soon discovered missing by Caroline, who reports the incident as a case of kidnapping. The Reg'lar Fellers find themselves in trouble again when the letter they sent to Lawrence, who, it is revealed, is serving time in prison, is intercepted by the mobsters who framed him. They then use the information about his mother to gain access to her mansion. Posing as friends of her soon-to-be-paroled son, mobsters Lebec and Ferrel move into Hetty's house with the intent to rob her. Their plan nearly succeeds until Pinhead and newly sworn-in Reg'lar Feller Bump Hudson discover their ruse and spoil their burglary. Pinhead grabs the money that Lebec and Ferrel stole from Hetty's safe and run into her barn, where the gangsters are snared by an elaborate set of traps constructed by the Reg'lar Fellers. Grateful for their actions, Hetty thanks the Reg'lar Fellers and shows her appreciation by allowing them to use her barn. Hetty also has a change of heart about Caroline and invites her and the baby to live in her mansion.
Director
Arthur Dreifuss
Cast
Billy Lee
Carl "alfalfa" Switzer
Buddy Boles
Janet Dempsey
Jerry Wilson
Malcolm Hutton
Donna Callahan
Diana Ware
Leonard Grassi
Sharon Lynne
Billy Lee's Band
The Meglin Glee Club
Sarah Padden
Roscoe Ates
Maren Mayo
Netta Packer
Jack C. Smith
Marguerite De La Motte
Pat O'malley
Anna Ruth Hughes
Dan Stowell
Lew Launa
Daisy Ford
Herbert Vigran
Crew
George R. Batcheller
George R. Batcheller
Frank Dexter
Ross Di Maggio
Arthur Dreifuss
Arthur Dreifuss
Joe Eudemiller
Willard G. Gernhardt
Dean Harmon
Arthur Hoerl
Arthur Hoerl
William C. Kent
Ethel Meglin
Ethel Meglin
Dave Milton
Raoul Pagel
Carl Pierson
Mack Stengler
Charles Wasserman
Ben Winkler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Onscreen credits note that Gene Byrnes's "Reg'lar Fellers" cartoon strip was made available to Producers Releasing Corporation "by special arrangement with Reg'lar Fellers of America, Benjamin Lindner, Director." The "Reg'lar Fellers" characters were first drawn in 1917, when they were part of Byrne's New York Telegram strip "It's a Great Life If You Don't Weaken" in 1917. Although a June 1941 Hollywood Reporter news item lists actor James Guilfoyle in the cast, his appearance in the released film has not been confirmed.
