The Family Next Door

Rose Pierce is tired of life in a small town where her husband George earns a living as a plumber, and she dreams of moving up into society. When her mouthy son Sammy hears that an electric railroad will run through town, Rose decides the family can strike it rich by buying land along the route. George laughs, but Rose and Sammy notice Cora Stewart, a wealthy widow, withdrawing her savings and assume she wants those lots. Acting without George's knowledge, mother and son secretly sink the family bankroll into the property, setting off a sequence of comedic misunderstandings and domestic clashes as their scheme collides with small town realities.

Directed by Joseph Santley and released in 1939, the film was created from material by Mortimer Offner and features a cast led by Hugh Herbert, Joy Hodges, Eddie Quillan, Ruth Donnelly, and Benny Bartlett.

Box office records for this modest comedy are scarce. No reliable worldwide gross is readily available, and contemporary trade reports suggest it was a routine studio release rather than a major moneymaker.

The Family Next Door hasn't left a large footprint in popular culture, but it captures a certain 1930s comic sensibility. Hugh Herbert's eccentric persona provides the kind of side-splitting mannerisms audiences of the period expected, and the plot reflects prewar fascination with modernization, real estate fads, and social climbing.

Contemporary and modern responses treat the picture as light entertainment rather than a classic, the vote average resting at 5.2 out of 10 from a small number of voters. Themes include aspiration, family tension over money, and the foolishness of get-rich schemes, all played for laughs through misunderstandings and character-driven banter.