Hits and Bits of 1938

Little Sonny Brown returns to his wretched poverty-stricken home one day to find that his father has expired in his cups. Sonny trudges forth and falls by the wayside. Mr. and Mrs. Chatterton drive by in their auto with their little daughter Clara. They carry him home then place the boy in Clara's beautiful room, still fast asleep. The imaginative little fellow, who has never known the love and kindness for which he craves, dreams a most beautiful dream, in which he goes to the Court of Prince Make Believe.

Billiard nut Michael McCue arrives home intoxicated where his wife greets him with a shower of knives, forks and plates, which he skillfully dodges before she slams the door on him. He nods off on the hall sofa into a most beautiful if fantastical dream. He is back in the billiard parlor with his trusty cue and the pair go through some mad adventures until he is awoken by his wife, sorry for her harsh treatment.

Lewis, a brilliant young inventor, is keen on creating a time machine to find his mother, who abandoned him in an orphanage. Things take a turn when he meets Wilbur Robinson and his family.

Billy Hopkins, due to the fickleness of Blanche, his fiancée, develops a jealous rage when the fat Harry openly flirts with Blanche. Johnnie advises Billy to do some flirting of his own, and comments that Sonia Curbs can make any girl "green-eyed." Sonia willingly agrees to carry out the proposed plan.

Suffering from aphasia after being conked on the head, a man is coerced into robbing his fiancée's home.

This ceremony requires greenbacks but the groom came up short.

Bryce Gilbert convinces his daughter, Virginia, that she should not elope with a casual boyfriend and sends her to Italy to stay with his fiancée, Duchess Bianca.

Upon striking oil on his farm, Silas T. Pettingill (Charles Eldridge) moves to Park Avenue at the behest of his social-climbing wife Maria (Kate Blancke) and daughter Helen (Emmy Wehlen). But like Jiggs in the comic strip, Pettingill never loses his common touch, and one evening he goes out on a toot with his new chauffeur Hubert Stanwood (Paul Gordon).

In the aptly named Slowtown the townspeople don’t even have sufficient energy to "up and die." Mayor Van Poke, in office for the last 15 years, is so slow he can't get out of his own way. His daughter Dolly is the prettiest girl in town though. The frustrated sexton puts an ad in the paper for a Mayor that will put the Pep in Slowtown. Peter Pep, whose middle name is Speed with a capital S, gets the job thanks to his galvanizing presence. He puts pep into everything and everyone, even into Dolly's heart and they fall in love. Dolly makes a spirited stand for her father, but Peter wins out. In celebration Peter Pep marries Dolly, and they are off on their honeymoon in a cloud of dust.

Short comedy

Amy Lindel, a church choir singer, goes to the city to pursue a singing career, but finds herself only able to get cabaret gigs. She then becomes entangled in a situation involving stolen diamonds, and is saved by the "good guy" whom she later marries.

On her way to rehearsal, chorus-girl Betty stops to rescue a bird from the clutches of a boy with a bean-shooter. Jim Derwent, son of the theater owner, is passing in his car and sees the girl boxing the boy's ears while her aunt looks about for a policeman, and he stops to see what's wrong. He recognizes Betty, and after explanations, Jim drives them to her home, where the bird is cared for. On her arrival at the theater the stage manager bawls her out and fires her, but Jim gets his dad to countermand the manager's decree. The next day Jim calls, more to see Betty than the bird, and a charming romance is soon underway. After a "night out," the leading lady calls in sick and Betty has the chance to take her place. She makes good, and the former leading lady is deposed. But Betty soon has the opportunity to become Jim's own leading lady, and when he promises to love her pets as well, she becomes his bride.

A couple of rowdy gamblers, a cowboy, and a woman undercover.

"'Boxcar' Simmons, a tramp, represents himself as a mining millionaire in a small town. The population accepts him at his own valuation, and two of the town's 'slickers' make desperate efforts to 'take him for his roll.' One of their schemes is to sell him a worthless ranch, but he turns the tables on them by making them believe that the ranch is a veritable bed of silver ore, and then, after they buy it, he presents the major part of the proceeds to the girl who owns the place and with whom he had fallen in love." (Moving Picture World, 24 Jun 1922, p. 736.)

Heiress Mary Anderson feigns poverty during her romance with struggling artist Bruce Haldeman, however her status-conscious mother puts an end to the affair. Mary secretly goes to Bruce's studio, misconstrues the situation with one of his models and tells Bruce she hates him. Upset Bruce wants to destroy his portrait of Mary, but the model stops him, enters the painting in an art contest, and explains the mix-up to Mary's father. Mr. Anderson then meets with Bruce and Mary's persistent suitor Smythe Addison pretending he has lost his fortune. Smythe quickly drops out of contention for Mary's hand, but Bruce remains eager. Resolving their differences Bruce finds out during the planning of the wedding that he has won the art contest, finding overnight fame as a painter.

Identical orphaned twins Rosalie (Mollie King) and Susan (Mollie King), are adopted by two aunts and live in separate households. Susan develops as a poor, wholesome farm girl, and Rosalie becomes a wealthy snob. Susan's beau, Ted Harper (Creighton Hale), confuses the girls' identities, but Susan wins his love after preventing Rosalie from eloping with scoundrel "Slick" Harry Ives (Jerome Lawler).

Miles Machree (J. Warren Kerrigan) meets Irish-American Sheila Lynch (Fritzi Brunette) when she travels through Ireland with her father (James O. Barrows). Soon after the Lynch's return to the States, Miles follows, and through his uncle's connections, gets a job on the New York City police force.

A singing couple gets their own television show, and the strains of putting on a TV show every week starts to jeopardize their relationship.

Itinerant Scot performers: One daughter of a veteran trouper weds a ne'er do well and dies in childbirth.Her spendthrift man goes but later returns to bleed the old man out of remaining savings.Another daughter makes good as a singer.

Heiress Rhoda Canby is badgered by her eccentric relatives Uncle Silas, Aunt Elizabeth, and Cousin Hepzibah. She falls in love with writer Irving Mason, who believes Rhoda to be the heiress' secretary, and courts her as chauffeur "Henry Smith." Accompanied by her African-American nurse Aunt Chloe, Rhoda runs away from home. Irving, meanwhile, is abducted. Upon reading of the supposed suicide of Irving Mason, Rhoda assumes the role of widow and visits his hometown. There she is befriended by Irving's uncles and goes to work in the family's general store. Irving escapes his captors and surreptitiously returns home, but is surprised to find himself presumed dead and Rhoda his widow. When the family store catches fire and Irving saves Rhoda, their true identities are revealed, after which they are married.