AllMovie

Frank Craven, the actor-playwright best known for his performance as The Stage Manager in the original Broadway production of Our Town, was star, screenwriter and director of Columbia's That's Gratitude. The avuncular Craven plays fly-by-night stage producer Bob Grant, who inadvertently saves the life of small-towner Thomas Maxwell (Arthur Byron). The grateful Maxwell invites Grant to move in with his family, which he does, rapidly wearing out his welcome. Finally booted out of the Maxwell household, Grant takes Tom's homely but sweet-voiced daughter Dora (Mary Carlisle) with him, giving her a cosmetic makeover and turning her into a big star -- and thereby repaying his host's kindness in a most roundabout fashion. Director Craven should have told actor Craven to stop overacting, while actor Craven should have demanded better lines from writer Craven.