La droguería de los líos

This may be one of the best of the Wheeler&Woolsey comedies. Their particular brand of broad comedy has regrettably gone out of style in the 21st century and their movies are seldom shown nowadays - except on good old reliable TCM. Like their other films it is loaded with puns and outlandish circumstances and you have to be a fan of that genre, or at least a fan of W&W.

No need to recap the plot, such as it is. It's the usual improbable scenario, this one about coming to the aid of an old lady with a failing drug store and turning it into a howling success. It features Jason Robards Sr. as the villain, who has an uncanny resemblance to his son, especially the voice and mannerisms. there are even a couple of tuneful but long forgotten songs. Whether you're a fan or not this is a good comedy in any era.

******** - Website no longer prints my star ratings.

Another big hit for the comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, Caught Plastered is set in a drugstore the boys take on to save a nice old lady from the clutches of the local charming crook, played by Jason Robards Snr.

All the usual elements are here - wisecracks, double takes, a song and dance number, the perky Dorothy Lee - and the film is really rather good. The plot takes advantage of the fact that Prohibition was still very much in force, and the opening titles have a cartoon train rushing through the landscape.

Highly recommended.

Tommy Tanner (Bert Wheeler) and Egbert G. Higginbothom (Robert Woolsey) are out-of-work vaudevillians. They encounter a crying old lady on the tram. She recently lost her husband and is about to lose the family drug store. The guys offer to help her save the place. She has 30 days.

Apparently, Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey are a vaudevillian comedy team back in the day. That's what they look like and act like. I'm sure that they have a full stage act of setups and punchlines, one after another. It's fine, but it's not so exciting cinematically. They need to add more physicality to their bits.

This was only the second Wheeler & Woolsey film I managed to watch when it aired on American Movie Classics back in the '90s (The first was Kentucky Kernels). All I remembered from back then was a duet of Wheeler and Dorothy Lee singing while the latter was drunk. This was made during both Prohibition and before the Production Code was strictly enforced so gags are depicted that probably would have not passed muster just a few years later. It's largely during the last 30 minutes that things really take a hilarious turn but there's plenty of amusing scenes throughout. So on that note, I recommend Caught Plastered.

Two failed vaudevillians take on the task of helping a sweet old lady save her rundown drugstore from foreclosure. Reinvigorating the establishment with a lunch counter & live radio broadcast, they soon have the business thriving. However, when a crooked businessman attempts to smear the place as a speakeasy, will the boys be able to trace the bootleg liquor, or simply get CAUGHT PLASTERED?

Wheeler & Woolsey are in top form in this sadly neglected comedy. (Bert Wheeler is the curly-headed fellow, Robert Woolsey is the skinny, bespectacled one.) Always much fun to watch, they've got great dialogue here and they keep it coming rapid fire. Their gags at the expense of the drugstore patrons (society lady, nasty kid, effeminate gentleman, demanding diners) are often hilarious. Once very popular, it's a shame this delightful duo has been virtually forgotten.

Frequent co-star Dorothy Lee is still kewpie-doll cute. Lucy Beaumont is darling as the little old lady. Jason Robards Sr. is effective as the suave crook.