Grandpa Goes to Town (1940) Reviews

Venerable character actor Harry Davenport (best remembered as Dr. Meade in Gone with the Wind) takes center stage in the "Higgins Family" entry Grandpa Goes to Town. The story gets under way when Joe and Lil Higgins (James and Lucille Gleason) invest their life savings in a frontier hotel. Upon arrival, the family discovers that the establishment is smack dab in the middle of a ghost town that hasn't seen a human face in years. Fortunately, Grandpa Higgins (Davenport) discovers gold on the property, leading to a spectacular upsurge in business-and a bit of unexpected trouble from a few unsavory types. In keeping with its policy of hiring the losers of Joe Louis' heavyweight championship bouts for their films, Republic Pictures provides a sizeable role in Grandpa Goes to Town for Louis' latest victim, Arturo Godoy, who appears in a dance sequence with his attractive wife Ledda. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi