The Chestnut Hill Film Group will screen two lesser-known 1930s comedies Jan. 28 for its Tuesday Nights at the Movies program at Woodmere – “Peach-O-Reno,” starring the team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, and “Million Dollar Legs,” featuring W.C. Fields.
First, some context about Wheeler and Woolsey. Wheeler was a vaudeville comedian, Woolsey was a comedic actor who toured in plays. They met in the 1927 Broadway show “Rio Rita,” had good comedic chemistry, and stole the show. A movie adaptation followed in 1929, and the team made 20 more films together until Woolsey’s untimely death in 1938. Wheeler continued to work, but mostly on stage, rarely in movies.
Like most comedy teams, they were opposites who complemented each other. Short, high-voiced Wheeler played the naïve childlike character, gravel-voiced Woolsey was taller and played the cocky, wisecracking cynic. Audiences loved them. Between films, they toured and packed theaters worldwide.
Why are they forgotten today? A combination of Woolsey’s early death and the fact that their films were too risqué for early television kept the team out of the spotlight, until 50 years - and several generations - later, cable channels began to televise their movies. They were talented performers whose work deserves recognition.
In “Peach-O-Reno,” Wheeler and Woolsey play divorce lawyers Wattles and Swift, practicing in Reno, Nevada. (The film’s title is a pun on the 1930s slang term “peacherino,” which means a person or thing that is especially attractive, liked, or enjoyed). Married couple Joe and Aggie Bruno have quarreled and want the lawyers to handle their divorce. Wattles decides that Joe must be seen publicly with another woman to provide grounds for divorce. A former Wattles client, Ace Crosby, comes to the office, seeking revenge on Wattles for giving him a divorce against his will. Wattles escapes Crosby by dressing in drag, posing as the other woman Joe needs to be seen with to facilitate the Bruno divorce.
There are other complications. A rival law firm is threatening Wattles and Swift’s business by offering cheaper divorces. And, the Brunos two daughters come to Reno to stop their parents from getting divorced, but end up falling in love with Wattles and Swift.
If this all sounds pretty goofy, it is. The plot is pure farce, and the film is full of puns, wisecracks, slapstick, musical numbers, and an overall sense of zany fun. Some of the jokes are dated now, but it’s still entertaining and a good sample of Wheeler & Woolsey at their best.
“Million Dollar Legs” is a bizarrely funny film set in the mythical country of Klopstokia, where all the women are named Angela and all the men are named George. An American brush salesman, MiggTweeny (Jack Oakie), is visiting the country, meets a girl named – What else? – Angela (Susan Fleming), and they immediately fall in love. Angela is the daughter of Klopstokia’s president (W.C. Fields), whose administration is suffering financially. As the president’s main asset is his physical strength, Tweeny decides to recruit a team of athletes to compete in the Olympics.
The team representing Klopstokia, a place filled with strange characters with unusual abilities, is quickly assembled. However, the president’s cabinet members are conspiring to overthrow him, and they hire a spy, Mata Machree (Lyda Roberti), to seduce the Klopstokian Olympic team (yes, all of them) and set them against each other. The team members have a violent brawl over Mata, after which they’re too exhausted to compete in the Olympic events. Klopstokia still wins in the end, but you’ll have to see the movie to find out how.
“Million Dollar Legs” is unique. Few 1930s movies ever attempted the same kind of wildly surreal humor. Fields, though still early in his film career, is very funny. Comic actors of the time including Ben Turpin and Hugh Herbert add extra laughs. But it’s the outrageous Polish comedian Lyda Roberti who really steals the show. The film is filled with so many strange and unpredictable jokes that description here would be futile.
While today’s comedies focus more on social commentary, it’s good to be reminded that Hollywood once made movies like these, full of escapism and silliness for its own sake. If you need to forget your troubles, these films are guaranteed to help.
Tuesday's screening begins at 7 p.m. with an intermission between films. It’s free, but donations are encouraged. Woodmere is at 9201 Germantown Ave.
