Caught Plastered

A beautiful print for 1931. Dorothy Lee.gets drunk and sings with Bert in a musical moment of wonder. Wheeler was a genuine romantic lead opposite Lee with Woolsey as avuncular liaison to Mother whose business picks up with the right kind of medicine. There are no slow spots in the 69 minutes this takes. There are several laugh out loud moments. Amidst a stream of consciousness like "Those moth balls are no good. I've never hit a moth with one yet. Still I'm glad I didn't. Because if I did the moth would cry and I can't stand to see a moth ball." The comparison to Burns and Allen is closer than most. The cast is loaded with characters unburdened by Code limitations e.g. Woolsey hooks up briefly with a flirtatious book buyer whose prurient interest ultimately a book can't satisfy, as Woolsey explains to her, losing the customer.

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.

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.

CAUGHT PLASTERED (RKO, 1931), directed by William A. Seiter, is a rare find on television these days. It stars the once popular but highly forgotten comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, Wheeler as the dizzy character with a talent for singing and dancing; Woolsey the one with the glasses, cigar and wisecracks like comedian Groucho Marx, but nobody can top the old Grouch. Wheeler and Woolsey play a couple of drifters who help out an old woman (Lucy Beaumont) save her drug store from a crook (Jason Robards Sr.). Dorothy Lee, who appears in almost all of the W&W comedies, once more plays Bert's love interest. They supply the catchy tune, "I'm That Way About You."

I enjoy this movie mainly because I remember it being the very first Wheeler and Woolsey comedy I've seen (back on Turner Network Television in 1989). Some people might refuse to watch these guys today on the basis that they don't know who they are. Unfortunately, because their comedies seldom made the late show lineup on commercial television stations back in the 50s, 60s or 70s, W&W never became immortal as the Marx Brothers or Laurel and Hardy, but when given a chance, one can see how good their comic timing can be and how good these two guys are together. True, their latter films in 1936-37 were not up to par, but if anyone wants to see them at their comedic best, watch either CAUGHT PLASTERED or what many consider their funniest outing, HIPS, HIPS HOORAY (1934). For now, CAUGHT PLASTERED is worthy for film buffs of 1930s comedies. Silly to be sure, but quite funny. Great attention grabber: Check out to the opening credits with cartoon train rolling down the track with the wheels in the persona of Woolsey's eyes and glasses, and that wacky music intro. Wheeler and Woolsey were amusing as comedy teams go, and worth rediscovering today.

Formerly presented on American Movie Classics prior to 2000, it's presently shown, but not often enough, on Turner Classic Movies. (**)