An investigator is asking Mrs. Gubbins about a William Foster, who was a friend of her stepson Jimmy. Both are listed as killed in action during the Great War. It is Armistice Day, 1918, and the war is over. Who should be strolling down the street but Jimmy Gubbins, Bill 'Jones' and another man who has lost his memory. They are ghosts as the official records list them as dead and not as escaped P.O.W's. Jimmy's mother is not happy to see that Jimmy is still living as she has been spending the death benefits, but she is happy to see Bill as there is a large reward for him. No one knows much about the third one, called 'Spoofy', except that he can steal anything at anytime and that gets everyone is trouble.
Acting
Beryl Mercer's gloriously greedy Mrs. Gubbins stealing every scene.
Writing
Macabre premise played for laughs — death benefits as romantic obstacle!
Director
Thornton Freeland
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during the brief 1929 window before the Hays Code clamped down, this film's casual amorality — death fraud, theft as quirk, maternal greed — would be unthinkable just five years later.
Joan Bennett's fourth film; she'd later become a noir icon in Fritz Lang's 'Scarlet Street.' Robert Montgomery similarly outgrew these lightweight roles to become a major star-director.
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