PUBLIC WEDDING (1937)

An early Jane Wyman comedy, back when she was mighty frisky. The movie is built around a brief fad involving weddings to which the public at large was invited (for an admission fee), often followed by a big dinner at a nearby restaurant. Wyman and her father (Berton Churchill) are carnival workers; their attraction is Moloch, a huge stuffed whale head. Just as they are about to have everything they own repossessed, they come up with the idea of having a fake "public wedding" in the mouth of the whale. After much money is collected, two of Churchill's workers run off with the cash, leaving Wyman stranded at the whale...er, at the altar. She finds a beachcombing artist (William Hopper) to play the groom, but unbeknownst to them, the new justice of the peace is real and they discover that they are legally hitched. Wyman, fed up with the carny life, splits from her father and a battle-of-the-wits war of publicity stunts follows between Wyman (helped by Hopper) and Churchill, aided by Dick Purcell and Marie Wilson. As a stunt, Wyman promotes Hopper's art, and it turns out he really does have talent. Clearly, the filmmakers were trying for a screwball feel here, but the B-movie trappings (including the fairly bland leading man) hurt the film. Nevertheless, with a short running time, it's painless fun most of the time. Wyman and Wilson are both good. Also in the cast: B-queen Veda Ann Borg and Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson. [TCM]