Traveling Saleswoman (1950)

In the late 1940s - early 1950s, Columbia Pictures enjoyed a great deal of success with a series of slapsticky feature films built around the talents of such gifted funsters as Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, William Bendix and Jack Carson. In this tradition, Columbia's Traveling Saleswoman is a showcase for the delightful Joan Davis. The star plays Mabel King, who heads westward to sell her father's soap. Tagging along is Mabel's erstwhile beau Waldo (Andy Devine). In the course of the film's 74 minutes, Mabel wins over a hostile Indian tribe, makes short work of an outlaw named Cactus Jack (Joe Sawyer) and a saloon chirp named Lilly (Adele Jergens), and even gets to warble a song or two in her own inimitable fashion. Traveling Saleswoman was produced by Tony Owen, who later prospered as producer of a long-running TV sitcom starring his wife, Donna Reed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi