In 1931 William Haines was still a top 5 box office star and it's easy to see why with this fast and funny talkie version of GET RICH QUICK WALLINGFORD, which was filmed in 1921 with Sam Hardy.Haines is perfectly cast as the fast-talking conman who meets his match in Leila Hyams. It's love at first sight for Haines as he and his team (Jimmy Durante and Ernest Torrence) descend on a small town so he can pursue Hyams and swindle the local banker, who is trying to swindle Hyams' father.The entire cast is quite good in this early talkie and Haines is very handsome and funny as he maneuvers his swindle and closes in on Hyams. Durante is funny is a very early film role. Torrence, a big star character actor in silent films (DESERT NIGHTS) is also excellent here. Hyams is beautiful.Co-stars include Guy Kibbee as the cop, Clara Blandick and Walter Walker as the parents, Hale Hamilton as the banker, Rober McWade as Tuttle, Henry Armetta as the barber, Lucy Beaumont as the cleaning lady, Charles Moore as the shoeshine boy, and Edwin Maxwell as the telegram boss.This is a rare film but worth looking for to see the great William Haines in his prime.

James Rufus Wallingford, master swindler, returns to America - cheating suckers & dodging the law. But then he falls in love with the daughter of an old man he wants to defraud. He needs to watch his step, or there won't be any NEW ADVENTURES OF GET RICH QUICK WALLINGFORD.William Haines was perfectly cast as a smooth-talking operator in this, his fastest-moving, most densely plotted film. Leila Hyams is cute as his love interest, but she doesn't have a lot to do but look pretty or distressed. Clara Blandwick, as her mother, acts like a tough old customer. Guy Kibbee is fun as the detective waiting for Wallingford to slip-up. As Haines' accomplices in crime, Ernest Torrence and pickpocket Jimmy Durante are especially good. This was Durante's film debut and he soon would be a top Hollywood star.By the way, for many decades this movie (based on a character already established in short stories in Cosmopolitan Magazine & a couple of silent films) held the distinction as the Hollywood film with the longest title.