Squire Gives Money Back

Originally Aired: March 16, 1938

Lum #8, "Squire Gives Money Back,"

The Pine Ridge Motion Picture Company faces a financial crisis when Lum and Abner discover their recently purchased camera can only shoot silent pictures. After trying to abandon the project, they find themselves trapped by contracts with local actors who threaten to sue for the remainder of their pay. Squire Skimp, acting as manager for the actors and collecting ten percent of their earnings, eagerly encourages the legal threats. To minimize their losses, Lum devises a clever solution: fulfill the contracts by filming the entire picture in a single afternoon, paying everyone by the day and keeping costs to around one hundred dollars.

Meanwhile, tensions escalate over another of Squire's schemes. Lum and several townspeople have invested heavily in Squire's oil well project, but Lum now suspects it's just another con. The drilling equipment appears suitable only for water wells, not oil, and Squire shows no signs of actually drilling. As Squire approaches the Jot 'Em Down Store, Lum prepares for a confrontation about the fraudulent investment that has cost the community twelve hundred dollars.