Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Fantastic!

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Remind me not to ride an elevator with Twinkle (Ayers), that is, unless I feel like having a good laugh. The movie's a bouncy slice of screwball, but what else could it be with a lead named Henry Twinkle. Seems his insurance salesman gets a big boost by selling a fat insurance policy to racketeer Fender (Nolan). Trouble is he doesn't know Fender's a bad guy who's probably got a short life expectancy. Thus, Twinkle better keep him breathing otherwise it's a weighty insurance payoff for the company and a demotion for our hero.Ayers does surprisingly well as the addled Twinkle who fortunately packs a punch in his right hand; certainly not what you'd expect from the dead-serious Dr. Kildare. The first part is pretty funny as Twinkle bumbles his way along the insurance route with sweetie secretary Mary (Johnson). However, the lighter mood eventually gives way to more serious developments and a heavier feeling. Nonetheless, Ayers manages to carry the screwball idea through thick and thin. Credit too, a familiar supporting cast of Nolan, Lawrence, Pendleton, and others who cook up a sprinkling of menace along with a pinch of tongue-in-cheek. The girls, Johnson and Grey manage gamely in what amounts to stereotype roles. At the same time, director Fenton keeps things moving in apt fashion, such that the plot- heavy parts don't pall.Overall, the flick's a fairly nifty little slice of leading man amusement, courtesy MGM and a pixilated Lew Ayers.

Lew Ayres stars with Rita Johnson, Lloyd Nolan, and Virginia Grey in "The Golden Fleecing," from 1940.Ayres plays Henry Twinkle, a life insurance salesman who sells Gus Fender (Lloyd Nolan) a $50,000 life insurance policy. This impresses his boss, until he realizes that Gus Fender is a racketeer. His boss nearly has a coronary and tells Henry that he'd better keep Gus alive. Henry goes to Fender, and the two of them hatch a scheme where Henry puts Fender in jail and collects the $25,000 reward. He then is supposed to turn it over to Fender, who wants to make bail and get out of the country. That's where the problems begin.Lew Ayres was very cute, and he's funny as a guy who just wants to marry his fiancé Mary (Rita Johnson) but becomes entangled with gangsters, with Mary becoming jealous of Fender's girlfriend (Grey).Nothing special, with Fender's army of goofy associates, headed by Nat Pendleton, providing some comedy.

In between stints as Dr. Kildare Lew Ayres managed to star in this really nice screwball comedy, the kind of part that someone like Jimmy Stewart or Henry Fonda would have done had this B film from MGM were given a top drawer budget and production. The Golden Fleecing casts Lew Ayres as a mild mannered insurance agent who sells a life insurance policy to gangster Lloyd Nolan who then gets a contract put out on him. At that point Ayres is in jeopardy of his job and he seeks out Nolan to make sure he stays alive.It's hard to describe the rest of the film other than Nolan's various schemes come to naught and the bumbling Ayres keeps coming up a winner. Both are lucky in the women they have. Rita Johnson is faithful to Ayres and smart. Virginia Grey is the smart one on Nolan's team and if he let her handle things it might not have ended so badly for him.If you haven't seen this one, don't miss it if broadcast.

This is a surprisingly fun and funny comedy.And I recall having heard the name of the lead actor, Lew Ayres,who in this film is playing one Henry Twinkle.This is the first time I have seen Lew Ayres and he certainly has star quality. The story is about an insurance clerk who arranges a policy for what is later discovered to be a crime boss with a reward on his head. The insurance company only discovers that fact later so Henry Twinkle,the clerk, needs to keep the insured alive and the movie is all about the 'keystone cops' type of adventures of Henry in trying to protect the double-crossing boss.Lew Ayres plays a patsy and does it very well and the first 5 minutes of the movie is quite hilarious as is much of the rest of the film. Often the picture is slap stick but thats the nature of it.Great supporting cast and all the players are presented with style and class in 1940's super smartly tailored suits and gowns and they are all beautifully groomed as well. Modern movies could learn a lot about elegance from this type of picture.All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable comedy, worth at least:7/10.