Romance on the Run

Donald Woods is a freelance insurance investigator in this one. He is told to recover a valuable necklace and traces it to Craig Reynolds and his moll, Grace Bradley.... and recovers a paste imitation. This sets police lieutenant William Demarest on his tail, in cooperation with the insurance company's Girl Friday, Patricia Ellis. The pursuers wind up in Cincinnati, and on their way to New Orleans.... but who actually has the jewels keeps shifting.

It's a fast and speedy Republic Pictures comedy, under the direction of Gus Meins. Although some of the situations are stock -- including some Kentucky hillbillies who think Demarest is a revenue agent -- it's handled in a light-hearted manner, and the leads behave charmingly throughout. Demarest is wasted in a role that any of a dozen "dumb cop" specialists could have handled, but Eddie Brophy is good as Woods' thuggish manservant. It's not a classic, but it is constantly amusing.