Summary
Jimmy O'Connor is a total mess who relies on his secretary, Sally, to do his actual job at a meat packing company. After a disastrous circus stunt involving a scared elephant and a mouse, he gets fired, gets rehired, and keeps digging his own grave with increasingly bad publicity ideas. It is a messy, fast-moving comedy about a guy who needs a serious reality check and the woman who finally gets tired of waiting for him to grow up.
Synopsis
Happy-go-lucky Jimmy O'Connor, a publicist for the Marlowe Meat Packing Company, continually relies on Sally Johnson, his secretary and sweetheart, to keep him organized and do his work when he neglects it. She has the idea to publicize E. W. Marlowe's products as producing courage and power, and Jimmy relates the idea to Marlowe. Impressed with Jimmy's slogan--"Eat Meat and Rule the World"--Marlowe agrees to let him organize a circus to be broadcast on the radio from the Marlowe department store's window. Despite the objections of Ralph Andrews, a fellow publicist who is in love with Sally, Jimmy hosts the stunt, and it goes awry when an elephant is scared by a mouse and wreaks havoc. Marlowe fires Jimmy the next day, but is forced to rehire him as the publicity agent of his mistress, Pola Wenski, when Jimmy finds out about the illicit relationship. Jimmy escorts Pola home to celebrate and spends the night on her couch after he passes out. Sally is infuriated by what she considers to be yet another example of Jimmy's insensitivity, and the couple squabble when he reappears. He tells her to listen to the radio to hear his latest brainstorm, and when she does, Sally is aghast to learn that Jimmy is publicizing Pola by spreading the story that she is in love with an unnamed notorious gangster whom she has never met. That night, Pola's nightclub is packed with gangsters, all hoping to be the beloved of the pretty singer, and Pola becomes enamored of tough Slug Morgan. Slug's men throw Jimmy and Marlowe out of the club, and Marlowe fires Jimmy once again. The next morning, Jimmy announces to Sally, who was at the club with Ralph during the incident, that he is opening his own agency and therefore needs nothing from Marlowe or her. Sally is then hired by Marlowe to fill Jimmy's old job, and as her success grows, so do Jimmy's unpaid bills. Sally visits Jimmy in his office and, seeing that he is destitute, tries to give him an account, but the headstrong Jimmy refuses to accept. Sally reprimands Jimmy for being selfish and ungrateful, then says she is through with him. Jimmy moves to the West Coast, and, after weeks of looking for work, ends up as a meat packer at a company similar to Marlowe's. The weeks pass as he saves money and is humbled by his experiences. Meanwhile, Sally accepts Ralph's proposal of marriage, even though she admits she still loves Jimmy. One of Jimmy's co-workers tells him it is not too late to win Sally back, and Jimmy returns to the East Coast to start over. He first goes to Marlowe and asks for a job. Jimmy explains to Marlowe that he is not the smart aleck he once was, and Marlowe tells him to report to the head of the publicity department. Jimmy is surprised to find that Sally is the department head, but he assures her that he understands what he lost and that he will work hard to regain it. He is discouraged when he sees her engagement ring, but after Sally tells him not to give up so easily, he asks her to marry him and she accepts. The reunited couple kiss as Ralph walks into the office.
Review Excerpt
"Is it worth your time?
If you like those snappy, slightly frantic 1930s comedies where people talk really fast and make terrible life choices, you’ll probably have a good time with Jimmy and Sally. It’s light, it’s breezy, and it’s a little bit of a disaster—just like the main character. If you need your movies to be serious or have some kind of profound message, stay far away.
Jimmy is the kind of guy who thinks “Eat Meat and Rule the World” is a genius slogan. He’s the guy who would definitel..."