Good movie but grossly overrated

Excellent but underrated film

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I have a soft spot for this one. Paulette Goddard is that spot. She looks great and this is one of the first times I have seen a movie where she sings. The plot is pretty much a standard musical type of plot.Jimmy Haskell (Stewart) has a music store which is going out of business. (Only time I have seen Jimmy carrying a banjo). His Uncle, C.J.Haskell offers him a chance to earn a Pot O'Gold after he goes under with his health food business. So Stewart comes to town and meets Molly McCorkel (Goddard) her ma (Mary Gordon) and family orchestra to find his Uncle. Well, it turns out the Uncle is in a feud with the McCorkles and Jimmy tosses his way into it with a tomato (no, not Goddard, a real one from the produce stand).From here, the plot goes into overdrive with lots of music and harping from CJ who dislikes music. Because of the independent production company -James Roosevelt Productions -the sound track in mono is quite crude sounding. The spirit of the story and the talent of the cast makes this an okay film. This is the first uncredited role of Art Carney, who would go on from here to become a famous sewer worker.The music slows the plot at times, but at less than 90 minutes at least it does not stop things and the music is good despite the sound and Stewart and Goddard do their own music - here are the credits - Hi, Cy, What's A-Cookin'? (uncredited) Written by Henry Russell and Louis Forbes Performed by various characters Pete the Piper (uncredited) Written by Henry Russell Performed by Paulette Goddard with Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights When Johnny Toots His Horn (uncredited) Written by Hy Heath and Fred Rose Performed by James Stewart A Knife, a Fork and a Spoon (uncredited) Written by Dave Franklin Performed by Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights Do You Believe in Fairy Tales? (uncredited) Music by Vee Lawnhurst Lyrics by Mack David Performed by Larry Cotton with Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights Broadway Caballero (uncredited) Written by Henry Russell Performed by Paulette Goddard with Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights It is a bit of a mystery where this was filmed, but all the shots appear to be inside a studio.

Musical comedy starring James Stewart as a harmonica player who falls for Paulette Goddard and her musical family while trying to hide that their sworn enemy is his uncle (Charles Winninger). Jimmy apparently thought this was his worst film. It's certainly not his best. The script is weak and the chemistry between Stewart and Goddard is non-existent. Also you can only deal with Charles Winninger yelling so much. Between him and Mary Gordon playing one of her typical loud-mouthed Irish matriarch roles, you really get sick of these characters fast. The songs are frequent and entirely forgettable. The whole thing looks and feels cheap. All that being said, Jimmy and Paulette are still great stars that are likable individually even if they aren't believable as a couple. Bears strong similarities to another Stewart film, You Can't Take It with You, although that's an obviously superior classic in every way.

If you are the sort that has a fetish for a particular era, as did I the swing era, you will recognize the musical fare in Pot 'O Gold as the most jumped up and comercialized representation of swing imaginable. It's highly unlikely that all of the actors actually knew how to play their instruments. The scene where a whole gene-pool of Irish suddenly whip out chromatic harmonicas is telling, if not excessively "cute." With a frozen happy-face throughout, Paulet Goddard sinks to her lowest as the lip-synching big-band diva. I happen to worship her, so I'll buy the excuse that she really needed the money. This is Hollywood at its anti-realism worst. I wanted to strangle those prodigy kids in the Haskell music shop as they ripped through their classical repertoire like nickelodians on crack. I guess that tags me for what I am--a grouch and a "Tone Snob!" Still, everyone is young and cute in this film The Irish stereotypes are endearing in their, uh, Irish way. The darkies keep to the background except for approximately 10 seconds of true talent where they are allowed to grin and shuffle a bit.

"Pot o' Gold" is such an obscure movie that it is possibly known only to the true aficionados of the motion picture industry. Based on a radio giveaway program of the same title, this musical comedy stars my favorite actor James Stewart as the harmonica-playing James Hamilton Haskel (Jimmy for short), who owns a floundering music shop that becomes a free-for-all practice venue for aspiring young musicians. Costarring is the most-likely-forgotten commercial bandleader Horace Heidt along with his Musical Knights, who rehearse at a boarding house owned by the benevolent Ma McCorkle (Mary Gordon), whose daughter Molly (Paulette Goddard) sings with the band. Next-door to this melodic funhouse is the health food factory owned by Jimmy's uncle Charlie (Charles Winninger), who absolutely despises music. (Ironically, Charles Winninger was a trombonist in real life.) The director of this fun little picture is George Marshall, who also directed Mr. Stewart and Mr. Winninger in the more successful musical comedy Western "Destry Rides Again" (1939).My favorite scenes from "Pot o' Gold" include the following. As Jimmy walks down the street carrying his suitcase, he is astonished to find some of the working class (e.g., icemen, Chinese launderers, and shoe shiners) singing along with Horace Heidt's band, which can be heard from Ma McCorkle's rooftop. At the jail, Jimmy and his cell mates have a wonderful time as they sing "When Johnny Toots His Horn" and dance to Jimmy's harmonica playing (some of you Three Stooges aficionados out there will notice supporting actor Bud Jamison, who had a fine singing voice himself, portraying one of the cell mates); Jimmy's singing voice during this scene is also quite pleasant to listen to. At the dinner table, Jimmy is given a lively musical induction into the McCorkle clan. And when Jimmy first observes Horace Heidt's band in rehearsal, he secretly whips out his harmonica and joins in; the band realizes what a commodity it has in Jimmy and allows him to sit in on another arrangement involving an entire chorus of harmonicas.James Stewart considered "Pot o' Gold" to be the worst movie ever in which he appeared. Certainly, it does not even compare with, say, "Vertigo" (1958) or "The Naked Spur" (1953). It is also a shame that all the various swell musical numbers in this film are very much forgotten and that Stewart & Paulette Goddard supposedly did not get along very well on the set. But "Pot o' Gold" is still an enjoyable movie nonetheless, even if it does not rate among the more significant movies of Mr. James Stewart.