Directed by William Keighley, with a screenplay by Everett Freeman that was based on the Moss Hart-George S. Kaufman play, this now familiar comedy probably could have been funnier given its cast and subject matter; still, though you're not likely to laugh out loud, the film has a certain charm and does entertain.
The story, which has been done many times since, involves a city couple that moves to the country, buying a fixer-upper that nearly bankrupts them; the local hayseed contractors see them coming, and take full advantage of the city slickers. Jack Benny plays reluctant first- time homeowner Bill Fuller, whose wife Connie, played by Ann Sheridan, has always wanted a place to call their own. When the Fullers' dog causes them to be evicted (by Franklin Pangborn's superintendent character, of course) from their apartment and move for the umpteenth time in as many years, Connie buys a ramshackle home (35 miles from New York, 55 from Philadelphia) said to have been a place where General George Washington had slept during the Revolutionary War, much to her husband's surprise and chagrin.
The house looks every bit its 200 years, and requires significant work and funds to make it livable for the Fullers, Connie's teenage sister Madge (Joyce Reynolds), and their maid Hester (Hattie McDaniel). Mr. Kimber ("Pa Kettle" Percy Kilbride, reprising his role in the play), a handyman with a drawl, is more than willing to help them, for a price - he 'nickel and dimes' them to death with a blank or dumb look on his face.
Charles Coburn plays Connie's 'rich' Uncle Stanley J. Menninger, who eventually comes to visit the Fullers in their renovated country home which, even though the holes in its ceiling and floors have been fixed, still doesn't have its own well. Charles Dingle plays neighbor Mr. Prescott, who won't let the Fullers use 'his' road to get to their house, nor 'his' well's water, etc.. Harvey Stephens plays Jeff Douglas, a former city dweller himself who now runs an antique store and fancies himself an historian; he tells the Fullers that it was Benedict Arnold, and not George Washington, who once used their residence.
The time Connie spends with Jeff is misinterpreted by her husband Bill. Lee Patrick makes a brief yet memorable appearance as a sarcastic urban actress, Rena Leslie, who's passing through with fellow actor Clayton Evans (John Emery); he'd hired her to perform in his production playing at a nearby rural theater. William Tracy, who plays Madge's visiting boyfriend Steve Eldridge, is given reason to be jealous when she gets a crush on Clayton. Douglas Croft plays the Fullers' troublesome nephew Raymond, who also comes to stay with the couple while his parents are going through a divorce. Chester Clute appears uncredited as a man being shown the Fullers' apartment before they'd even moved out.
Uncle Stanley is found to be a fake (he's no longer wealthy after all), the Fullers learn that there's a 64 foot discrepancy in their property line, meaning they've owned the important parts of Prescott's land all along, but it takes another of Jeff's discoveries to save the couple from bankruptcy - 'Kimbie' finds a boot from which the Fullers' dog removes an historical document that proves that George Washington did indeed 'sleep there'
