Peach-O-Reno

Perhaps DIPLOMANIACS is their unsung classic, while COCKEYED CAVALIERS might be considered their most lushly produced. There is much to be found in HALF SHOT AT SUNRISE; KENTUCKY KERNELS; THE NITWITS; and HIPS! HIPS! HOORAY!, but for my money, PEACH O'RENO is my favorite Wheeler & Woolsey picture. I never knew about these two, but after my Dad mentioned that they had been his boyhood favorites, I took a close look at their stuff. The first thing that hooked me was the music, for in most of their work, there is at least one terrific song, usually performed by the unsung, underrated genius Bert Wheeler, and his very pretty, very unpretentious partner, Dorothy Lee. Wheeler was not just a good comic and good dancer, he was a clever, gifted dancer, and an inspired, original comedian. A notable 1920s "star of tomorrow," Bert Wheeler's singing was just a fabulous extra. When we are lucky, the songs in his pictures are extended by way of a comic verse for Bob Woolsey, a rather wacky character man who will confuse many until they realize that despite the glasses and the ever present cigar, he is not George Burns. The two were teamed by the legendary Flo Ziegfeld for RIO RITA, and they came along as part of the package when RKO filmed it, with Dorothy Lee selected by Wheeler himself (she appeared as part of the team 13 times). PEACH is that type of film you always hope you'll find along the way – a picture you can recommend to anyone and you can depend on a positive reaction. PEACH can be compared, foot for foot, to any of the best Marx Brothers, I think it is that funny, that unexpected, and that entertaining. Just simply accept Wheeler & Woolsey as Divorce Attorneys, and you too can buy into this inspired satire on the divorce game in Reno, circa early Depression. Divorce? Well, you bet this is pre-code, and when these lawyers need to hire a correspondent, they just dress up Bert Wheeler, who will amaze you with this brilliant turn. Not content to merely parade or mimic, Bert's naughty, slightly debauched femme fatal should place him among America's comedic giants. There have been good drag acts on film, but very few have offered the detailed, inspired, finely-tuned portrayal served up here! In addition, Wheeler taps, the music is fun, the supporting cast is uniformly game and marvelous, the W & W schtick (trick settings, trick costumes, trick photography) is often a delight, the script is crackling, and although her best lines were cut by the censors way back when, we get a rare appearance by Broadway great Zelma O'Neal (GOOD NEWS; FOLLOW THRU!) as Woolsey's opposite.

The family of Joseph Cawthorn (Joe) and Cora Witherspoon (Aggie) are sitting down to a meal to celebrate their 25 years of marriage. Included at the family meal are the couple's daughters Dorothy Lee (Pru) and Zelma O'Neal (Pansy). Well, shortly after a toast to the happy couple, things descend into all-out warfare with the parents vowing to divorce and heading to Reno as quickly as possible to make it a reality. Cue W + W who specialize in divorcing couples. They have a rival company that works across the road - Jackson, Jackson, Jackson & Jackson - and there is an ongoing one-upmanship for business. W + W have the upper hand as they arrange for busloads of customers to be collected from the train station as soon as the unhappily married individuals arrive in Reno. Both Joseph and Cora arrive at the office of W + W but their daughters chase after them as they don't want the divorce to go through. Will things end happily? Well, what do you think?

It's a comedy with a couple of entertaining dance segments that includes a catchy song performed by Wheeler and Lee, but it is the dancing that really entertains. Watch Lee - she is brilliant! The dance performed by W + W is also very entertaining. I've watched a few W & W comedies and this is my favourite so far. Wheeler makes a very good woman in drag - I usually hate films where men dress up as women but Wheeler pulls it off on this offering and is funny with it.

Their lawyer business turns into a successful nightclub in the evenings with the push of various buttons and female office administrators becoming nightclub hostesses. It is very impressive. And funny. Unfortunately, some of their jokes are too obvious and the end courtroom sequence is too drawn out so falls a bit flat after the good work that had been done up to that point.

Just as sure as you can tell your left sock from the right after you wear them for a week, I'm sure you will like this movie, which is filled with laughs and song and dance numbers. The court room scene is a blast and the high light of the film is the song Niagara Falls To Reno performed by Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee.

A pair of shady Nevada lawyers become involved in the uproarious divorce proceedings of a strident PEACH-O-RENO.

Comics Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey, who starred in a string of popular comedies from 1929 to 1937, return with a funny look at the peculiar goings on--divorces & casinos--in the Nevada city of Reno. The Boys (Wheeler is the little fellow with curly hair; Woolsey is the skinny guy with cigar and glasses) toss out one wisecrack after another in this Pre-Code concoction. The film's hilarity reaches its zenith (or nadir, depending on the viewer's sensibilities) during Wheeler's extended drag sequence, which includes an uproarious dance number with Woolsey. Disguised as a very merry widow, Wheeler challenges Charles Ruggles in CHARLEY'S AUNT (1930) as the best female impersonator of the early talkies.

Young Dorothy Lee, Wheeler's very frequent cinematic love interest, is Kewpie Doll cute as always, but she's really given very little to do until quite late in the film when she perches on a grand piano for her requisite song with Bert. Getting better lines is Zelma O'Neal as Lee's blunt talking sister.

The girls' divorce-seeking parents are nicely played by Joseph Cawthorn & Cora Witherspoon. Other performances of note are given by Arthur Hoyt as the Boys' nervous Nellie secretary; Mitchell Harris as a gun-happy gambler intent on plugging Wheeler; and Sam Hardy as the conniving judge who presides over the chaotic courtroom scene which ends the film.

Movie mavens will recognize corpulent Harry Holman in an uncredited role as Witherspoon's outmaneuvered divorce lawyer.

Joe and Aggie Bruno get into a terrible fight at their 25th wedding anniversary. They both decide they want a divorce and separately go to Reno. There they both end up at the law office of Wattles (Bert Wheeler) and Swift (Robert Woolsey), where the boys dispense marital justice in bulk.

In most Wheeler and Woolsey comedies, the boys are broke and trying to set up a con to better their situation. Here they are already thriving, so much, in fact, that the law firm across the street is trying to put them out of business - Jackson, Jackson, Jackson, and Jackson. Let's just call them the Jackson Four.

Complications include the Jackson Four up to no good, the ex-husband of a former client who wants to shoot Wattles and Swift for handling his wife's divorce, and the two grown daughters of the Brunos coming to Reno to try and stop their parents from divorcing. Like so many Wheeler and Woolsey comedies, this builds from controlled chaos in the beginning to full blown mayhem in the courtroom scene finale.

Wheeler and Woolsey have always been a hot or cold taste for most film buffs. They were basically a less acerbic version of the Marx Brothers sort of humor, made more palatable for the small town senses. They are basically at their best when telling a few racy jokes and doing a song and dance, but they are not trying to be comedy greats, just pleasant entertainers. If you don't buy into their relaxed sort of charm, they aren't going to win you over. But their pre-code films, including this one, do work quite well, and of their post-code films, the only truly awful one is MUMMYS BOYS, and that's because it has no musical numbers.

I'd consider this one to be one of their best.