See My Lawyer (1945) DVD-R

Starring Ole Olsen, Chic Johnson, Alan Curtis, Grace McDonald, Noah Beery Jr.
Directed by Edward F. Cline

Print: black/white
Runtime: 67 min.
Genre: comedy
Print Quality: B

Bearing little relation to the hit Broadway play on which it was based, See My Lawyer was
the last and least of Olsen and Johnson's starring vehicles for Universal. The zany
Hellzapoppin stars play a couple of nightclub entertainers who want to break their contract
with proprietor R. J. Wagenhorn (Franklin Pangborn), but business is so good that
Wagenhorn refuses. As a means to force Wagenhorn to let them out, and to simultaneously
drum up business for a trio of struggling lawyers (Noah Beery Jr., Alan Curtis and Richard
Benedict), O & J go on a comic rampage, insulting and humiliating nightclub customers left
and right. As a result, Wagenhorn is slapped with 39 lawsuits, which he gleefully signs over
to Olsen and Johnson as part of his contract-breaking deal. The boys manage to settle 38 of
the lawsuits with a minimum of muss and fuss, but the last claimant, Otis Fillmore (Edward
S. Brophy), intends to take the comedians for every penny they have. After a riotous
courtroom trial, the judge moves the defendants, plaintiffs and jurors to the nightclub itself,
vowing to render his decision as soon as he's seen the nightly floor show. This silly plot
device is merely an excuse to showcase an unending stream of specialty acts, including
the King Cole Trio (dressed as cooks!) Outside of a few good gags (Olsen & Johnson driving
their car into a hotel lobby, Otis Fillmore swaying the jury by having his gray-haired mother
provide testimony while accompanied by a violinist), See My Lawyer is a disappointment,
affording Olsen & Johnson precious little screen time to perform their own special brand of
comic lunacy.