Red Lights Ahead (1936)

Directed by: Roland D. Reed Pa Wallace (Roger Imhof), an ardent member of the Whales, is offered a chance to invest $5,000 in a gold mine by the head of the Whales, Grand Harpoon F. Q. Whitney (Sam Flint). Mrs Wallace (Lucile Gleason) is opposed but the four Wallace children, Willie (Frank Coghlan Jr.), George (Ben Alexander), Edna (Paula Stone) and Mary (Ann Doran) are all for it, on the premise that if Pa makes some easy money, they can continue to loaf. Grandpa (Andy Clyde), a kindly but meddling old soul also arrives for a visit. Money begins to roll in but not as fast as the children spend it. The bubble bursts when the police arrest Whitney and his accomplice Nordingham (Addison Randall) as swindlers involved in a pyramid scheme. Stone broke and without the money to pay the mortgage Pa put on the house, the clan moves back to their small, old home. The children come through and knuckle down down to work to help the family recover. Then, Grandpa tells them that the gold mine never existed and the monthly checks had been coming from him, as he was anxious to prove that they weren't just loafers. Runtime: 67 min