Working girl Mary Ellen Stack lives in poverty in New York with her parents and kid brother. They decide to sell their dilapidated home and make a go of it in California. To make the journey, Mary Ellen purchases a slightly used automobile from the local junk dealer. Little does she realize that it is the first car ever built by the Tourist Motors Company, and they are offering a substantial ($10,000) reward for it. When word gets out that the prized automobile is on the road, treasure hunters all over the country head out in hot pursuit of it -- while the Stack family is completely unaware that the solution to all their money problems is literally right underneath their noses...
Rubber Tires is a charming comedy directed by Alan Hale, Sr., who is best known to film fans as a character actor. He had winning supporting parts in classics such as It Happened One Night (1934), Stella Dallas (1937), and The Sea Hawk (1940). Hale also memorably played Little John to both Douglas Fairbanks' and Errol Flynn's archers in Robin Hood (1922) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). His son, Alan Hale, Jr., is recognizable to generations of TV viewers as the Skipper on Gilligan's Island (1964-1967). Gorgeous leading lady Bessie Love got her start with D.W. Griffith, who cast her in his epic Intolerance (1916). She is best remembered for her role in the science fiction extravaganza The Lost World (1925) and her Academy Award nominated turn in The Broadway Melody (1929). Frank Coghlan, Jr., or "Junior Coghlan" as he is called here, was a popular child star during the silent era. As a young adult he played his most famous role: Billy Batson in the Republic serial Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941).Rubber Tires was released under the alternate name Ten Thousand Rewardin Britain.