THE VILLAIN STILL PURSUED HER (1940) Hugh Herbert, Anita Louise & Alan Mowbray | Comedy | B&W

The Villain Still Pursued Her is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Edward F. Cline and starring Billy Gilbert and Buster Keaton. It is a parody of old stage melodramas but is based primarily on The Drunkard, a 19th-century prohibitionist play by William H. Smith that had also been lampooned in other productions, most notably in the 1934 W. C. Fields comedy The Old Fashioned Way.

The overall format of the film is that of a stage play, with much dialogue spoken directly to the camera.

Buster Keaton is notable in a speaking but minor supporting role as Dalton, a family friend.

SYNOPSIS
A widow and her daughter face eviction from their cottage by an unscrupulous lawyer named Mr. Cribbs, who reveals their dire financial situation and suggests that Mary, the daughter, should seek work in New York.

Mary encounters Cribbs lurking outside her home, but she hides from him. Meanwhile, a young man named Edward Middleton, known for extolling the virtues of an alcohol-free life, stops to help an injured bird. Cribbs questions Middleton, and Mary intervenes and quickly falls in love with him.

Mary and Middleton marry, but Cribbs tricks Middleton into drinking rum, leading Middleton down a path of alcoholism. Eight years later, Middleton has become a severe drunkard, hiding whiskey bottles and exhibiting destructive behavior, even chopping down his father's cherished cherry tree.

In New York, Middleton's life as a destitute drunkard continues while Cribbs tries to involve him in criminal schemes. Meanwhile, Mary and her daughter live in poverty after her mother's death. Cribbs harasses Mary, but she is rescued by William Dalton.

Middleton faces arrest due to his drunkenness but is saved by a whimsical pie fight. He encounters philanthropist Frederick Healy, who helps Middleton commit to sobriety by signing a pledge. Cribbs manipulates Middleton into forging Healy's signature on a check, but Dalton exposes the scheme, leading to Cribbs' exposure and Middleton's redemption with a certificate of sobriety.

CAST & CREW
Hugh Herbert as Frederick Healy
Anita Louise as Mary Wilson
Alan Mowbray as Mr. Cribbs
Buster Keaton as William Dalton
Joyce Compton as Hazel Dalton
Richard Cromwell as Edward Middleton
Billy Gilbert as Announcer
Margaret Hamilton as Mrs. Wilson
Diane Fisher as Julia
Franklin Pangborn as Bartender
Charles Judels as Dubois
William Farnum as Vagabond

Director: Edward F. Cline
Writers: Elbert Franklin, Ethel La Blanche
Producer: Harold B. Franklin
Cinematography: Lucien Ballard
Editing: Arthur Hilton
Music: Frank Tours
Production Company: Franklin-Black Productions
Distribution: RKO Radio Pictures
Release Date: October 11, 1940
Running Time: 66 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Box Office: $96,000