Pardon My Past
starring
Fred MacMurray ■ Marguerite Chapman
Akim Tamiroff ■ William Demarest ■ Rita Johnson
(1945)
Hey MacMurray...your PAST is showing!
| Recently discharged GI's Eddie York and Chuck Gibson are en route to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin to start their own mink farm. While in New York, Eddie is mistaken for wealthy playboy Francis Pemberton and taken to see bookie Jim Arnold, whom Pemberton owes $12,000 in gambling debts. Arnold confiscates Eddie and Chuck's $3,000 savings, and demands the balance by tomorrow. Eddie and Chuck go in search of Francis to get their money back, but with Francis away in Mexico, everyone in the Pemberton household believes Eddie is Francis.. A few months ago I was scanning through Youtube looking for something to watch that I hadn't seen before. Bored with short videos and wanting to watch a movie I did a search and found Pardon My Past in the results. I watched it because it was a comedy and particularly because it had Fred MacMurray in it. Wasn't halfway through the movie before I knew it was one to have my family watch. Of course, I just couldn't stop right there in the middle and wait for them, now could I? I've actually seen it 3 times now, and, you know what, it's just as funny as it was the first time. Pardon My Past is one of those old fashioned comedies that does not require much for brainwork. Instead, you suspense belief a little, ignore the fact that it's a bit predictable, and just enjoy the fun and the zingers. Many of those zingers come from my favorite character in the film, Grandpa Pemberton. He's a crazy old coot and he makes the most out of it! Between him and William Demarest they really make the movie. Cheesy and corny as this movie is, Pardon My Past is well worth watching. It's relatively clean, it's funny, and perfect for escaping the real world for an hour and a half. Fred MacMurray does a great job playing both characters in a dual role, the one guy you like and the other you just want to knock some sense into. The supporting actors are equally as good and hold up their end quite well. I will make a confession here at the end... Every time they mentioned minks and the mink farm the lyrics from Bobby Darrin's song Multiplication kept running through my mind... “Let me tell ya now …I say one and one is five. You can call me a silly goat. But, ya take two minks add two winks. Ahhh... ya got one mink coat. “  1 hour 28 minutes | Principal Cast Fred MacMurray...Eddie York / Francis Pemberton Marguerite Chapman...Joan Akim Tamiroff...Jim Arnold William Demarest...Chuck Gibson Rita Johnson...Mary Pemberton Harry Davenport...Grandpa Pemberton Douglass Dumbrille...Uncle Wills Karolyn Grimes...Stephanie Pemberton Dewey Robinson...Plainclothesman Hugh Prosser...Mr. Long Tom Moffatt...Plainclothesman Herbert Evans...Burch, the Butler Frank Moran...Timothy - Chauffeur / Henchman Charles Arnt...Clothes Salesman Quotes Chuck Gibson: What does a mink do? Does it baaa, growl, meow or coo? Eddie York: It makes more minks. Eddie York: Go on, get him a hat? Why don't you try to be nice to the customers? Clothes Salesman: I've been nice to customers for 22 years. Now I don't have to 'til the war's over. Jim Arnold: Mark Twain said, "The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." Grandpa Pemberton: Oh, the doctor. That hypocritical old pill peddler. I'll out last him 10 years. Chuck Gibson: We'll call the cops. Mr. Long: Don't use that word. Mr. Arnold doesn't like it. Jim Arnold: Is this his signature? Grandpa Pemberton: Yes, that's his. When you going to beat him up? Jim Arnold: Mr. Long, this is one experience I will not forget. All this money and not one sane person in the house.  |
Thanks to IMDB.com for most of the info for this movie.
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