The Magnificent Dope

This picture misfires in an attempt to give Fonda the same kind of role as James Stewart in 1939's MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON or Gary Cooper in MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936). Fonda, however, is not just a big, rawboned guy. No, he is a big, rawboned lazy guy from Vermont who works during the short New England summer renting boats, then settles in for the long winter and waits for summer again. He has no ambition and prides himself on that, so when aggressive Ameche, who heads a Dale Carnegie-type school, runs a contest to find the nation's biggest loser (in order to help his own failing business), Fonda is chosen to get the big $500 prize as well as a free course...