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It's No Laughing Matter Synopsis

Hi Judd, poet, postmaster and philosopher, is the sunshine of the village, a veritable doctor of happiness. His right arm the little world of the village leans on, the kind words he scatters broadcast reap their harvest of love for the old postmaster and the verses he writes (sometimes when he should be working) proclaims him the wit of the village. And because of the verse writing Mrs. Judd is often discouraged. Hi confides in his daughter, Bess, that he often stands in awe of Mrs. Judd when she catches him pencil in hand, with the woodpile untouched and the chores not done. But Bess is consoling and when Hi is not around she makes a collection of the verses and sends them on to a great newspaper. Theirs is a peaceful life that must have its dramatic climax and it all descends upon them at once. Jim Skinner, an unscrupulous, grasping old miser, holds the mortgage on the house and also has designs upon Hi's position as postmaster. Then the bank fails and shadows hang low. In the meantime drama is stirring within their home. Bess who had thought she cared for Hal, the station master is under the spell of Sam who has come from the city to be the new ticket agent. Hi, dubious of his character and regretting his daughter's change of heart, before it is too late, finds a picture of Sam, his wife and their baby. Hi recognizes in the wife, Belle, the long-missing daughter of Mother Wilkins, a widow of the village whose home has burned and who would have suffered privation had it not been for the generosity of Hi. He sends for Belle, making her believe the money and message come from Sam and when Sam is confronted with the wife and baby he sees there is nothing to be done but face the unexpected situation. The mortgage is due. Heartbroken, they are preparing to leave the little home when word comes from the newspaper: "Verses accepted, send them as fast as you can write them." Thus ends the story. Hi, with his $500 check from the newspaper pays off the mortgage, the future holds its promise; Mother Wilkins is happy with her daughter and the little baby, and Hal and Bess are engaged to be married.

Home Synopsis

Envious of the wealth of her classmates at the fashionable boarding school to which her parents struggled to send her, Millicent Rankin hides the fact that her father is a plumber. She invites her friend Beatrice Deering to her home, which she describes as lavish, for the vacation, but thinks that Beatrice will refuse. The embarrassment Millicent feels when she receives a wire that Beatrice is coming causes her mother pain, but when Millicent's sister becomes ill with scarlet fever, Millicent goes instead to Beatrice's country residence where she hopes to meet a rich husband. At the Deerings', Millicent is soon disappointed with society's mores. After almost succumbing to the advances of Elmer Lacy, who secretly is carrying on an affair with Beatrice's stepmother, Millicent protects Mrs. Deering's reputation by humiliating herself. When she learns that her mother is ill, Millicent rushes home and discovers happiness with her family and her old sweetheart.