Caught Plastered

Bert and Robert are out of work Vaudeville comedians bumming their way through life when they run into a sad little old lady who owns a down-on-its-luck drug store. They feel sorry for her and decide to help her out, creatively. However a local do-gooder (I never really trusted the type) wants to quickly buy the drugstore for his own purposes. And if you think he looks like Jason Robards Jr., he should because it's his father! Dorothy Lee, the cutest cupie doll since Betty Boop, sweetens this concoction by being not only the police chief's daughter, but the object of both Bert and Mr. Robards Sr.'s affection. Will the boys save Granny? Will Bert & Dorothy sing a duet? Will they all stay sober? See this fun and short comedy for yourself. I recommend it!

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.

I have reviewed quite a few Wheeler and Woolsey films and, for the most part, I have been pretty tough on them. I have not particularly enjoyed most of the films, though there have been a few relatively bright spots in their otherwise bleak careers. However, with CAUGHT PLASTERED I have finally found them in a genuinely enjoyable film that I can heartily recommend. It was a very pleasant surprise, as the earlier films seemed to have too much singing and the later ones were just dull. This one works.

The film begins with the boys out of work. However, they things are even worse for a sweet old lady who they soon meet. It seems that her drug store is about to be taken away, as it's heavily in debt. Wheeler and Woolsey promise her they can turn things around and go to work for her. Shockingly, they do make a genuine success of the store--mostly because they did what makes most drug stores popular--they emphasized everything other than drugs! In fact, they don't even know how to fill out a prescription and in the one case where they actually get one, Woolsey runs to the nearest drug store to get it filled! While there is some singing in the film, it fits into the movie well and doesn't dominate. Wheeler sings a couple cute songs with Dorothy Lee, but they actually work well and are quite catchy. Also, a major plus in this film is that the team actually sticks with a plot!! In so many of their other films, the plot seems incidental...at best! Overall, the film is polished, funny and makes the best use of the team's talents. Who'd have thought that Wheeler and Woolsey could actually make a very good film?!

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.

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.