Mr. Wheeler & Mr. Woolsey Are At It Again
A couple of CRACKED NUTS find themselves mixed-up in a Latin American revolution.
Wheeler & Woolsey, America's greatest forgotten comedy team - Burt Wheeler was the short guy with curly hair, Robert Woolsey had the spectacles & cigar - find themselves in a film with as inane a plot as any they ever made. Which is all to the good as far as the Boys are concerned, as it gives them ample opportunity to sling the dialogue at each other, fast & furious. They are never boring & always funny (their El Dorinda map routine, with fierce general & villain Stanley Fields, will remind viewers of the Brothers Marx).
Unfortunately, their co-stars are given few lines with any life. Dorothy Lee is, appropriately, Wheeler's love interest, but she gets little to do except look kewpie-doll-cute. The formidable Edna May Oliver does what she can in the role of Miss Lee's dragon aunt, but she deserves much better dialogue to be really effective. Interestingly, there is no interaction between her character & Woolsey, as might be expected. Far better roles would await Miss Oliver in years to come & she would not disappoint.
Boris Karloff appears as a financier trying to foment revolution. Once again, his lines let him down & give him very little to work with; he gives no hints in this RKO film as to the legend he would very shortly become at Universal Studios. Movie mavens will recognize Silent Cinema comic Ben Turpin as the cross-eyed bombardier.
Wheeler & Miss Lee sing Dance And The World Dances With You.'
Wheeler & Woolsey, America's greatest forgotten comedy team - Burt Wheeler was the short guy with curly hair, Robert Woolsey had the spectacles & cigar - find themselves in a film with as inane a plot as any they ever made. Which is all to the good as far as the Boys are concerned, as it gives them ample opportunity to sling the dialogue at each other, fast & furious. They are never boring & always funny (their El Dorinda map routine, with fierce general & villain Stanley Fields, will remind viewers of the Brothers Marx).
Unfortunately, their co-stars are given few lines with any life. Dorothy Lee is, appropriately, Wheeler's love interest, but she gets little to do except look kewpie-doll-cute. The formidable Edna May Oliver does what she can in the role of Miss Lee's dragon aunt, but she deserves much better dialogue to be really effective. Interestingly, there is no interaction between her character & Woolsey, as might be expected. Far better roles would await Miss Oliver in years to come & she would not disappoint.
Boris Karloff appears as a financier trying to foment revolution. Once again, his lines let him down & give him very little to work with; he gives no hints in this RKO film as to the legend he would very shortly become at Universal Studios. Movie mavens will recognize Silent Cinema comic Ben Turpin as the cross-eyed bombardier.
Wheeler & Miss Lee sing Dance And The World Dances With You.'
- Ron Oliver
- Feb 17, 2001