Meet The Mayor

Obviously filmed several years before its 1938 release, Meet the Mayor serves as a vehicle for popular Broadway comedian Frank Fay. Unfortunately, Fay's smug, self-satisfied line deliveries had never played well on screen, and didn't here. The star is cast as Spencer Brown, elevator operator in a backwoods hotel. As the community's resident philosopher, Brown's support is highly coveted in the upcoming mayoral race. The outcome of the plot is decided by a hidden recording device developed by Brown's friend and confidante Harry Bayliss (George Meeker in a rare sympathetic role). Fulfilling the film's leading-lady obligations is Ruth Hall, who by the time Meet the Mayor hit the screens had retired to become the wife of cinematographer Lee Garmes.