THE MAN WHO WALKED ALONE

US, 1944, 70 minutes, Black and white.
David O 'Brien, Kate Aldridge, Walter Catlett, Guinn Williams, Isabel Randolph, Smith Ballew, Nancy June Robinson, Ruth Lee.
Directed by Christy Cabanne.

This is a mixture of screwball comedy in the vein of the 1930s along with some war propaganda, released in 1944.

The film offers an opportunity to see David O’ Brien, here billed as David O’ Brien, who worked in the chorus, was a stuntman, appeared in a number of comedies in the 1930s and 40s, became the central character of MGM’s popular supporting feature, Pete Smith Specialties, worked for Red Skelton, and wrote and directed a number of films for television.

He first appears hitching a lift on a country road being advised by an old-timer sitting on the fence. While trying to hail down a car, he causes it to veer off the road. It is being driven by a mysterious woman, played by Kate Aldridge. She is called Will while he is called Marion.

The film shows their continual sparring leading, very obviously, to their falling in love. They are held up by the police, spend some time in jail, meet some hard cases in jail, the police being suspicious.

It turns out, of course, that she is an heiress about to marry a rich politician. And she also has a very, very fussy mother who is prone to have fainting spells as long as somebody is there to catch her. There is also a maiden aunt and precocious younger sister. Will arranges that Marion, who is interpreted as a deserter from the Army because of his military uniform in his case, be the family chauffeur.

When it is clear that Will is in love with Marion, her fiance and her mother go to all kinds of links to prevent the romance and insist on the proposed wedding. The assistant in the house, Wiggins, played in double-take fashion by Walter Catlett, gets involved in comedy routines.

Unbeknownst to mother and fiance, as the wedding ceremony is about to begin, the house is filled with people including the Governor and the mayor. It turns out that Marion is a war hero but had been trying to come quietly into the town. However, he is feted, a parade – and happy ending to the romance.

The film was written and directed by Christy Cabanne who had begun making films in 1916 and was to continue to 1950, making 166 supporting features.