Henry Fonda is broke and it's kind of funny in Spendthrift (1936)

Is it worth the time?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s movies where people lose millions of dollars like they lost their car keys, then Spendthrift is a fun enough way to spend an hour. You probably shouldn't watch this if you want a deep drama or a realistic look at poverty. It's for people who like Henry Fonda's face and don't mind a plot that moves like a runaway train.

Henry Fonda plays "Towny" Middleton. He starts the movie with 20 million dollars and honestly, he's just too nice about being broke. Most people would be screaming, but Towny just kind of shrugs and buys more stuff he can't afford.

There is a horse named Black Mamba. It's a cool name for a horse, especially since this was way before Kobe Bryant. Towny sells his polo horses just to enter this filly in the Kentucky Derby. It's one of those movie moves where you know exactly what is going to happen, but you watch anyway.

The race scene at Churchill Downs is actually pretty tense for an old movie. But then the jockey just... falls off. Literally just falls off the horse. It's so sudden it made me blink twice to make sure I saw it right. Towny loses everything right then and there.

Then we get Sally, the gold digger. She is played by Pat Paterson and she is extra. She and her dad are basically professional moochers. They meet Towny when he’s down and Sally decides she’s going to marry the "millionaire" even though he's mostly just a guy with a nice suit and a lot of debt now.

They get married on a train. There is a lot of kissing in a private train car which feels very 1936. But the honeymoon is where it gets crazy. Sally spends twelve thousand dollars on clothes. In the middle of the Great Depression! I had to look up the inflation on that—it's like she spent a quarter of a million dollars on hats and dresses while her husband was bouncing checks.

Towny tries to tell her they are broke, and she just throws a tantrum. It’s one of those scenes where you just want to reach into the screen and tell Henry Fonda to run away. He doesn't, though. He buys her a Rolls Royce instead. Why, Towny? Why?

The movie feels a bit like Racing Romance but with more complaining. There’s a trainer named Boots who is clearly the person Towny should be with. She actually cares about the horse and doesn't spend 12k on silk scarves.

One of the weirdest parts is Uncle Morton. He has dyspepsia, which I guess was a very popular plot point back then. He's just a grumpy rich guy who hates everyone because his stomach hurts. His valet, Bill, ends up being the secret MVP of the whole story.

Bill eventually bugs a car. Like, he puts a listening device in Sally's car so the Uncle can hear her talking about how she's just waiting for him to die. It's a very high-tech move for a movie from 1936. The audio quality of the "bug" is suspiciously good, too.

There’s a moment where Towny gets evicted and finally decides to get a job. He doesn't just get a normal job, though. He becomes a famous sports broadcaster. It happens so fast. One minute he's a hobo, the next he's got a microphone and a career.

The ending is pretty wild. He's broadcasting the big race and uses the radio airwaves to propose to Boots. I wonder if that was allowed back then? It’s a very public way to dump your ex-wife and get a new one.

I liked the scenes with the horse more than the romance. The horse seemed more sensible than most of the humans. Valerie "Boots" O'Connell is a great name for a character, by the way. It sounds like someone who actually knows how to handle a stable.

The movie gets a bit messy near the end with the divorce and the Reno trip. Everything just sort of resolves itself because the script says it has to. It's not the best movie Fonda ever made, but he’s still charming even when he’s being a total idiot with his money.

• The jockey falling off is still the funniest part.
• The valet Bill is the only person with a brain.
• Sally's hats are actually pretty impressive.
• The uncle's stomach problems are mentioned way too often.

Overall, it’s a lightweight watch. It’s the kind of thing you put on a Sunday afternoon when you don't want to think too hard about the economy. Just don't take financial advice from Towny Middleton.