The Poor Rich (1934) Review: A wonderfully messy 30s farce

You should definitely watch The Poor Rich tonight if you have a soft spot for 1930s comedies where everyone talks at the exact same time. But if you cannot stand old-fashioned stage plays where people constantly hide behind doors, you will probably hate it and turn it off after ten minutes.

The plot is a total mess about two broke siblings, played by Edward Everett Horton and Edna May Oliver, trying to look wealthy. They hire some incredibly incompetent locals to act as their servants because some fancy British snobs are coming to visit.

And oh, then a fake Hindu prince shows up with a blackmail scheme. It is exactly as chaotic as it sounds 🌀.

Edward Everett Horton is doing his usual thing here, and honestly, I never get tired of it. You get the fluttering hands, the worried sighs, and that classic look of a man who just realized he left the stove on.

He is just so good at looking completely stressed out.

And then you have Edna May Oliver. Her face always looks like she just sucked on a very sour lemon, which makes her the perfect match for Horton's nervous energy.

There is a great scene early on where they are trying to clean up their dusty old mansion. It feels so dirty you can almost smell the old paper and wet carpets through the screen.

The movie has some amazing random cameos too. Look closely and you will spot a very young Walter Brennan and even Ward Bond popping up in tiny roles.

It is like a treasure hunt for people who watch too many old films. Actually, the weird casting decisions here kind of reminds me of how they handled genres back then, like in Chandu the Magician which also had that strange mix of serious actors and goofy comedy.

The whole fake prince subplot is where the movie gets incredibly silly. John Miljan plays the prince with a turban and an accent that seems to change every three minutes.

It is totally politically incorrect today, of course, but it is played so broadly it feels more like a cartoon than anything else.

The pacing gets a bit slow in the middle. There is a dinner scene that goes on about two minutes too long, where people just keep passing plates and making awkward small talk.

I found myself staring at the background extras instead of the main actors during that part. One guy in the back is just aggressively chewing his food and looking at the ceiling.

But when the farce actually kicks into high gear, it is genuinely funny. The physical comedy is super fast and everyone is shouting over each other.

It is not some grand masterpiece, but it is a very cozy way to spend an afternoon. Just do not expect any deep messages here. It is just funny people running around a big house, and sometimes that is all you really need.