Pot o’ Gold (1941)

My Review

“Pot o’ Gold” is a romantic musical comedy film starring James Stewart and Paulette Goddard, based on a popular radio show of the early 1940’s. The story has Stewart falling in love with Goddard, whose family is an avowed enemy of his uncle, unbeknowst to him. (There are shades of Bill Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” here.) Director George Marshall (“The Ghost Breakers” 1940) put together a mediocre film with terrible production values and a formulaic storyline. The script by Andrew Bennison and Monte Brice could have done with a rewrite.

The supporting cast includes Horace Heidt, Charles Winninger, Mary Gordon, Jed Prouty, Charles Arnt, Dick Hogan, James Burke, and Art Carney in an uncredited part as the radio announcer. The barely watchable “Pot o’ Gold” was a modest success at the box office for producer James Roosevelt (son of FDR and U. S. Congressman from California, 1955-1965), James Roosevelt Productions, and United Artists.