Safety in Numbers (1938 film)

Safety in Numbers is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Malcolm St. Clair and starring Jed Prouty, Shirley Deane and Spring Byington. It was part of Twentieth Century Fox's Jones Family series.

Plot

Jones family patriarch John Jones is convinced by swindlers that the town swamp contains valuable mineral deposits. The ruse is exposed when some local youth fall into the swamp. The townspeople raise a ruckus and the matter is resolved satisfactorily.

Cast

Reception

New York Times film critic Frank S. Nugent notes the formulaic foundation of the Jones Family series and “the obviousness of their scripts.” Mr. Jones (Jed Prouty) is “up to his neck in swindlers” and the family's welfare is put at risk, as in all Jones saga films. Ma Jones (Spring Byington) offers advice on her radio program, and the youngsters, Jack and Lucy (Kenneth Howard and June Carlson, respectively) “puzzle” over matters of elopement and matrimony. Nugent concludes that it would be difficult “to deny the friendliness and likability of their pictures.”

Notes

References

• Dwyer, Ruth Anne. 1996. Malcolm St. Clair: His Films, 1915-1948. The Scarecrow Press, Lantham, Md., and London.
• Nugent, Frank S. 1938. THE SCREEN; The Globe Keeps Up With the Joneses in the Family's Latest Homespun Comedy, 'Safety in Numbers' New York Times, September 6, 1938. https://www.nytimes.com/1938/09/06/archives/the-screen-the-globe-keeps-up-with-the-joneses-in-the-familys.html Retrieved 17 June 2024.

Bibliography

• Bernard A. Drew. Motion Picture Series and Sequels: A Reference Guide. Routledge, 2013.

External links