Lazybones

Adapted from a play by Ernest Denny, this is a slow starter, with Hunter as an indolent baronet being urged by his impecunious family to marry an American heiress (Luce). He loves her, but scruples won't let him propose until he learns that she has lost all her money, whereupon he whisks her off to the registry office before his family can object. Complications arise, since she is led to believe he thought she was only pretending to have lost her money as a test; and her crooked cousin (Nedell) turns up to involve her in his theft of oil-related diplomatic papers from Hunter's brother-in-law (Shepley). Hereabouts, earlier moments of puckish humour escalate as Hunter rouses himself from his lethargy to resolve all problems; and graduate into dotty fantasy as he proves his ability to provide for a wife by turning his stately home into a 'Work Centre for the Wealthy Weary', where the idle rich can pay to enjoy honest toil as butlers, gardeners, etc. Modest but intelligently directed, the result is very engaging.