Sudden Money

Sudden Money is a 1939 American comedy film directed by Nick Grinde, written by Lewis R. Foster and starring Charlie Ruggles, Marjorie Rambeau, Charley Grapewin, Broderick Crawford, Billy Lee and Evelyn Keyes. It was released on March 31, 1939 by Paramount Pictures.^[1][2]

Sudden Money
Directed by	Nick Grinde
Written by	Lewis R. Foster
Produced by	William C. Thomas
Starring	Charlie Ruggles Marjorie Rambeau Charley Grapewin Broderick Crawford Billy Lee Evelyn Keyes
Cinematography	Henry Sharp
Edited by	Ellsworth Hoagland
Music by	Sam Coslow John Leipold Leo Shuken
Production company	Paramount Pictures
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	March 31, 1939 (1939-03-31)
Running time	66 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

When the Patterson family wins $150,000 in a sweepstakes, family patriarch and frustrated drummer Sweeney decides to reassemble his old college ragtime band. Sweeney's wife Elsie enrolls in an art school, eager to become a painter. Her brother Doc begins gambling on horse races. The Pattersons' daughter Mary attends an expensive boarding school while son Junior is enrolled in a military academy. Grandpa Casey disapproves, believing that the family should be more careful with the windfall.

A young woman named Yolo joins Sweeney's band and immediately creates problems. Her jealous ex-convict boyfriend punches Sweeney in the nose. Elsie's art teacher disappears with her tuition fee. Mary's new beau Johnny Jordan and his father are appalled by the family's behavior, and she is expelled from school. The family slowly returns to poverty.

Grandpa Casey, proven right about how the family handled its fortune, wins a small cash prize himself, and the family once again devises grand plans.

Cast

• Charlie Ruggles as Sweeney J. Patterson
• Marjorie Rambeau as Elsie Patterson
• Charley Grapewin as Grandpa Casey Patterson
• Broderick Crawford as Archibald "Doc" Finney
• Billy Lee as Junior Patterson
• Evelyn Keyes as Mary Patterson
• Phil Warren as Eddie Dunn
• Joyce Mathews as Yolo
• Richard Denning as Johnny Jordan
• Mary Parker as Ellen
• Richard Tucker as Mr. Rodney Hinds
• James Burke as McPherson
• Charles Halton as Mr. Wixby
• Ethel Wales as Miss Perkins
• Alex Melesh as Prof. Armand Tito
• John Gallaudet as Phil Stokes
• John Kelly as Butch
• Homer Dickenson as Herbie
• Joe Yule as Joe
• Billy Engle as Peewee
• Douglas Wood as Mr. Jordan
• Eddie Marr as Diamond
• Donald Kerr as Ted
• William B. Davidson as Sam
• Emory Parnell as Cop

Reception

In a contemporary review, the Los Angeles Times called Sudden Money "an unusually good 'program' picture" and wrote: "When the money leads to disaster, and the entire family discovers it is better off right back where they started, the audience also finds it has been well entertained with a movie that rates top billing on any double bill."^[3]