AllMovie

According to the original studio press releases, contentious Columbia president Harry Cohn not only produced Pleasure Before Business but directed it as well. In truth, Frank Strayer was the director, though he undoubtedly danced to the crack of Mr. Cohn's whip. Jewish comedian Max Davidson stars as a prosperous cigar manufacturer who suffers a nervous breakdown. Ordered to take a rest by his doctor, Davidson gets his chance when his wife inherits an enormous sum of money. The previously parsimonious hero goes on an uncontrolled spending spree, culminating in a trip to the racetrack where he puts his entire fortune on a 40-to-1 shot. It is at this point that Davidson discovers that his wife's inheritance was a hoax, and that he's flat broke -- and will be a whole lot flatter and broker if his horse loses. But things turn out OK for Davidson, who's learned the hard way that even a successful cigar maker can be full of empty smoke.