A Girl in Every Port

Plot

The unique comic talents of Groucho Marx, William Bendix and Marie Wilson are hardly exploited to their fullest in RKO's A Girl in Every Port. Groucho and Bendix play Benny Linn and Tim Dunnevan, respectively, a couple of scheming sailors who embark upon one get-rich-quick scheme after another. This time around, our heroes use a small inheritance to purchase two horses, one for racing purposes and one to be sold at a tidy profit. After a series of bizarre complications, both horses are pitted against each other in a crucial race which could spell either triumph or ruin for the two goofy gobs. Wilson co-stars as a birdbrained carhop who owns one of the horses coveted by Linn and Dunnevan. No stone is left unturned so far as wheezy comedy routines are concerned: writer-director Chester Erskine even manages to revive the old chestnut wherein the sailors sneak both horses on board their ship. The likeable supporting cast includes Don DeFore as a disgruntled stable owner, Dee Hartford (who later became Groucho Marx's sister-in-law) as DeFore's financially savvy fiancee, Gene Lockhart as a seedy horse dealer, Hanley Stafford ("Daddy" on radio's Baby Snooks) as the two protagonists' flustered commanding officer, and Teddy Hart as a Runyonesque gangster. A box-office disappointment, A Girl in Every Port ended Groucho Marx's efforts to become a solo screen star; fortunately, he still had TV's You Bet Your Life to fall back on. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cast

• Groucho Marx - Benny Linn
• Marie Wilson - Jane Sweet
• William Bendix - Tim Dunnevan
• Don DeFore - Bert Sedgwick
• Gene Lockhart - Garvey

Dee Hartford - Millicent; Hanley Stafford - Navy Lieutenant; Teddy Hart - "High Life"; Percy Helton - Drive-In Manager; George E. Stone - Skeezer; Rodney Wooten - The Pearl

Credit

Albert S. D'Agostino - Art Director, Walter E. Keller - Art Director, Chester Erskine - Director, Ralph Dawson - Editor, Roy Webb - Composer (Music Score), Nick Musuraca - Cinematographer, Irwin Allen - Producer, Irving Cummings, Jr. - Producer, Chester Erskine - Screenwriter, Frederick Hazlitt Brennan - Short Story Author

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