Earthworm Tractors

Earthworm Tractors is a 1936 American film directed by Ray Enright[1] and starring Joe E. Brown and June Travis. The film is also known as A Natural Born Salesman in the United Kingdom.

Earthworm Tractors
Film still with June Travis and Joe E. Brown
Directed byRay Enright
Produced bySamuel Bischoff (producer)
Hal B. Wallis (executive producer)
Written byHugh Cummings (writer)
Richard Macaulay (writer)
Paul Gerard Smith (writer)
Joe Traub (writer)
William Hazlett Upson (stories)
StarringJoe E. Brown
June Travis
CinematographyArthur L. Todd
Edited byDoug Gould
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • July 24, 1936 (1936-07-24)
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film is based on characters created by William Hazlett Upson in a series of stories that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. The series featured Alexander Botts, a natural-born salesman, and the Earthworm Tractor Company, and was inspired in part by Upson's actual work experience with the Caterpillar Tractor Company.

Plot summary

In this slapstick romantic comedy, Alexander Botts is egged on by his sweetheart Sally to do great things, so he writes a letter to the Earthworm Tractor Company, and is hired as a salesman. He gets fired more than once, but is rehired by getting orders. He falls in love with Mabel, daughter of cranky Sam. Eventually, he proves a super salesman by selling many tractors to Sam, and wins Mabel's love.[2]

Cast

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

References
  1. Variety film review; July 29, 1936, page 14.
  2. Harrison's Reports film review; July 25, 1936, page 119.


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