The Golden Fleecing (1940)

A $50,000 life-insurance sale puts mild-mannered Henry Twinkle on the fast track at Ajax Insurance Company. Now he can marry his girl and climb the corporate ladder -- just as long as the insured party, Gus Fender, enjoys a long life. Unfortunately, it turns out Gus is a racketeer with an army of gat-carrying rivals. So Henry gets an order from his apoplectic boss: keep Gus alive! Lew Ayres, the popular star of the Dr. Kildare films, hones his comedy skills as hapless Henry, plunged into a world of gangsters and molls. Lloyd Nolan, who enjoyed a 50-year career in film and television, portrays Gus with appropriate menace. Olympic wrestler-turned-actor Nat Pendleton (The Thin Man) stands out as one of Gus's dimwitted henchmen. And among the screenwriters is renowned American humorist S.J. Perelman (Monkey Business, Horse Feathers). "Sprightly little screwball yarn" (Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide).