Lum & Abner: Classic Small-Town Comedy

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.

Moving Picture Co Disbanded

Originally Aired: March 14, 1938
Lum #7, "Moving Picture Co Disbanded,"
The Pine Ridge Motion Picture Company comes to an abrupt halt when Lum and Abner discover their newly purchased camera can only shoot silent pictures, which are no longer marketable. As the partners gather at the Jot'em Down store, their attention shifts to Squire Skimp's oil derrick erected on Abner's property. Lum suspects the whole operation is just a stock-selling scheme, especially since Squire has no drilling equipment and built the derrick with flimsy lumber. Both men regret investing two hundred dollars in the venture, joining other townspeople like Cedric, who sold his prized varmint dog to buy stock.
The situation becomes more complicated when Grandpa Spears arrives with troubling news. Sister Simpson is threatening to sue Lum and Abner over a contract she signed to work on the now-cancelled picture. While Lum dismisses the Pine Ridge Moving Picture Company as dissolved and brushes off Sister Simpson as a troublemaker, the partners may have legal complications ahead. Meanwhile, the community buzzes with other news, including the arrival of Ruf Wilkerson's new baby boy.

Volcanoes-Rotation of Earth

Originally Aired: March 11, 1938
Lum #6, "Volcanoes-Rotation of Earth," Abner minds the Jot'em Down Store while Lum travels to the county seat to view their first motion picture footage. Young Cedric Weehunt stops by, eager to see the films and confessing he secretly photobombed a romantic proposal scene by making faces in the background. The lighthearted atmosphere shifts when Abner receives a frantic phone call from his wife Lizabeth, who is terrified because Squire Skimp plans to drill an oil well in their side yard.
Pearl, their educated daughter, has warned her mother about volcanoes and the molten fire supposedly burning at Earth's center, convincing Lizabeth that the oil drilling might puncture through and create a volcanic eruption right in their yard. Despite having purchased an interest in the well himself, Abner tries to calm her fears while admitting he finds such book learning nonsensical. The conversation spirals into a comical debate between Abner and Cedric about what holds the Earth up in space, with Cedric puzzling over a calendar image of Atlas supporting the globe and wondering what Atlas himself stands on.

Squire’s Promotions Oil Well

Originally Aired: March 9, 1938
Lum #5, "Squire's Promotions Oil Well," finds Lum and Abner celebrating what they believe is a brilliant business maneuver. The pair has traded the oil rights on Abner's property to Squire Skimp in exchange for being released from their managerial contracts, which would have cost them ten percent of all their earnings for a year. Lum calculates they've essentially saved themselves $100,000 if their new motion picture company makes a million dollars. The duo is convinced they've outwitted the Squire, knowing full well there's no oil on the property—just a spot where Elizabeth spilled kerosene in the backyard.
Meanwhile, production on their picture is temporarily stalled as they await the development of their first scenes, shot at Sister Simpson's place with actress Hortense Brogan. However, tensions emerge when Lum learns that his co-stars have complained about his unusual acting technique of backing away during scenes to steal focus from other actors. The strategy backfired spectacularly when Lum backed completely out of camera range during Sister Simpson's long speech, disappearing from the shot entirely.

Lum’s Movie to Begin Filming

Originally Aired: March 7, 1938
Lum #4, "Lum's Movie to Begin Filming,"
The movie camera has arrived in Pine Ridge, and Lum Edwards is ready to begin production on his first motion picture. Lum has written an elaborate story where he plays Count Frederick the White Knight, a hero who saves his country and wins permission to marry Hortense Brogan. However, there's a complication: Squire Skimp has opened a theatrical agency and signed management contracts with nearly everyone in town, including Lum and Abner, before the partners realized they could set their own salaries as owners of the Pine Ridge Motion Picture Company.
As Lum enthusiastically describes his screenplay to his partner Abner Peabody, it becomes clear his plot borrows heavily from historical events like Paul Revere's ride. Abner grows increasingly frustrated as he struggles to find a role for himself in the production, with Lum offering him only the menial job of holding his horse. The situation grows more awkward as Lum gives the best parts to others, including making Squire Skimp the king, while Lum dreams of winning multiple Academy Awards for his Pine Ridge production.

Squire Theatrical Agent

Originally Aired: March 4, 1938
Lum #3, "Squire Theatrical Agent," Lum abandons the Jot 'Em Down Store to focus on his new Pine Ridge Motion Picture Company, frantically making arrangements before the camera arrives the next day. While Grandpappy Spears and Abner discuss Lum's increasingly erratic behavior at the store, they worry that he's "going Hollywood" and barely takes time to eat anymore. Lum has changed his plans from an expensive war picture with camels and elephants to a love story where he'll play the hero saving Cedric's sister, Catherine Hortense Brockway. However, he can't locate his secretary Cedric, who has the appointment book, leaving Lum unsure when he's supposed to do anything, including eat lunch.
The situation grows more complicated when Lum discovers that Squire Skimp has signed up everyone in town as their theatrical agent, meaning Lum must hire all actors through Squire. As Lum brainstorms increasingly absurd rescue scenarios—from tying Catherine to railroad tracks to saving her from a ten-story burning building—he eventually considers making himself a scientist who invents a world-destroying substance, only to be talked out of using it by his leading lady.

Writing Script for War Movie

Originally Aired: March 2, 1938
Lum #2, "Writing Script for War Movie," finds Lum Edwards consumed with grandiose plans for the Pine Ridge Motion Picture Company's first production. While his partner Abner waits at the Jot 'Em Down Store growing increasingly frustrated, Lum is out hunting for a white horse to ride in the war picture he's writing himself. In his script, Lum has cast himself as a hero general who captures entire armies single-handedly and marries a queen, while relegating Abner to the lowly role of his orderly who must keep his boots greased.
As Grandpap Spears and Abner discuss the situation, Abner's irritation builds. He reminds Grandpap that he owns half the company stock and deserves to be a general too if Lum gets to be one. When Dick Huddleston stops by trying to find Lum and talk some sense into him about wasting their twelve hundred dollars in savings, he warns that they can't compete with Hollywood and don't know the first thing about making pictures. Meanwhile, phone calls come in about white horses as word spreads about Lum's quest, and the ambitious production continues to take shape despite everyone's skepticism.

Pine Ridge Moving Picture Co

Originally Aired: February 28, 1938
Lum #1, "Pine Ridge Moving Picture Co,"
Lum and Abner have pooled together $1,200 to launch the Pine Ridge Motion Picture Company, and excitement fills the Jot 'Em Down Store as they plan their first production. While continuing to run their general store until the venture proves successful, Lum busily telegrams Hollywood for secondhand camera equipment and works to find the perfect story for their debut film. Abner, who has $600 invested, worries about costs and returns, but Lum assures him they'll save money wherever possible before moving on to "super gigantic colossal" productions.
The partners debate which story to film, considering everything from Gone with the Wind to the Chicago Fire before settling on their own version of the popular Snow White. Lum proposes outdoing the original with "Snow White and Eighteen Dwarfs," casting local Pine Ridge residents in the roles. Doc Miller, Sneezy Jim Williams with his hay fever, and the perpetually sleeping Luke Spears are all assigned parts, while Abner insists on playing Dopey since he has more money invested than Cedric Weehunt. As they finalize their casting, Lum reveals his own plans to play the prince opposite Catherine Brogan's Snow White.

Squire Returns for Trial With New Business Venture

Originally Aired: September 27, 1935
In Lum & Abner #205, "Squire Returns for Trial With New Business Venture," tension fills the air as Lum awaits the return of Squire Skimp, the smooth-talking promoter whose fraudulent mining stock scheme has landed Lum in legal hot water. With his trial looming next week, Lum's only hope for acquittal is to produce Squire as evidence. When Constable Abner returns from the county seat with the prisoner, Lum and Grandpappy Spears are shocked to discover that Abner has allowed Squire to stop at his own house unguarded. Lum immediately assumes the worst, certain that the notorious conman has escaped out the back door.
Despite Lum's fury and Grandpappy's skepticism, Abner insists that Squire came willingly and even claims to be innocent of any wrongdoing. The wily Squire maintains that the mine is legitimate and blames Lum's mismanagement for the troubles. As Lum steams over Squire badmouthing him behind his back, he prepares for a confrontation when Squire arrives at his door, determined to make the silver-tongued promoter admit his guilt.

Tulsa Police Arrest Squire

Originally Aired: September 26, 1935
Lum & Abner #204, "Tulsa Police Arrest Squire,"
Lum faces a potential penitentiary sentence for violating the Blue Sky Law after selling worthless stock in Squire Skimp's fraudulent silver mine. Despite having paid back all the stockholders with his own money, Lum is still technically guilty of selling fraudulent stock. His only hope for acquittal rests on apprehending Squire Skimp, who has fled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and bringing him back to Pine Ridge to testify that he was the true instigator of the scheme. Dick Huddleston has contacted the Tulsa police chief for help locating Squire, and he encourages Lum to hire a lawyer, suggesting young Tom Parker, the son of W.L. Parker.
At Dick's store, Lum struggles with worry and self-pity as his trial approaches. Dick delivers an impassioned speech about the dangers of feeling sorry for oneself, urging Lum not to give up. Dick reminds him that he even invested two hundred and fifty dollars in the mine himself, which proves he believed the stock was legitimate. With federal court convening the following week, time is running short to locate Squire and mount a proper defense.