Main Cast: Dick Powell, Ann Dvorak, Fred Allen, Patsy Kelly, Raymond Walburn
Release Year: 1935
Country: US
Run Time: 87 minutes
Plot
A sharp satire of small-town politics, Thanks a Million stars Dick Powell as the leading man of a travelling musical show. During a short stopover, the troupe witnesses a political rally where a pompous candidate (Raymond Walburn) is wallowing in ineptitude. Sensing a quick-buck opportunity, the show's manager (Fred Allen) offers to entertain on the politician's behalf. The upshot of all this is that Powell, rather than the political hack, becomes the party's candidate for governor! Thanks a Million was remade in 1946 as If I'm Lucky, with Perry Como and Phil Silvers, respectively, in the Dick Powell and Fred Allen roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Stranded in a small town in a downpour, the manager of a traveling musical show (Fred Allen) convinces the handlers of a boring long-winded local judge running for governor (Raymond Walburn) to hire his group to attract people to the politician's rallies. When the show's crooner, Eric Land (Dick Powell), upstages the Judge, he's fired, but on a return visit he saves the day by standing in for the Judge, who is too drunk to speak. Impressed by his poise, the party's bosses ask Eric to take over as candidate, and the singer, knowing he has no chance to win, agrees for the exposure and the radio airtime in which he can showcase his singing. Soon, though, his girlfriend Sally (Ann Dvorak) becomes annoyed at the amount of time Eric is spending with the wife of one of the bosses, and she leaves when she thinks he has lied to her. When the bosses ask Eric to agree to patronage appointments that will lead to easy graft for all of them, he exposes them on the radio, telling the voters that voting for him would be a huge mistake and urging them to vote for his opponent. At the end Eric is, of course, elected governor, and re-united with Sally.
