"Cracked Nuts" *** (out of ****)"Cracked Nuts" (1931) is a forgotten political satire starring the equally forgotten comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey.
"Cracked Nuts" deals with a revolution in a small European country. In Europe, in the 1930s, this was actually quite typical. The spread of Communism and Fascism was emerging. Look at the Weimar Republic and the seeds were starting to be planted for the Spanish Civil War in 1931. "Cracked Nuts" attempts to present these serious issues with a smile.
I first saw "Cracked Nuts" many years ago. I was just starting to discover the work of this comedy team. At first viewing I disliked the film. I wrote a review on amazon and was under the impression the film didn't take the satire far enough. I was also surprised the film didn't present Wheeler and Woolsey as a team. They are, at first, rivals and don't share the screen until a half hour into the picture (after this film RKO would break up the team and try each man solo. This didn't work so they were teamed up again). And the movie is only 63 minutes long!
But after a second look I see I may have been a bit too harsh. Maybe the years cooled my heels. Whatever the reason I came away feeling I didn't give "Cracked Nuts" a fair shake. I still feel the movie doesn't go far enough in its satire but changed my mind as far as Wheeler and Woolsey not having enough screen time together. While the movie does delay their meeting, when they do pair up their scenes work. And the situations involving them separately are funny and amusing enough to keep us interested.
Bert Wheeler stars as Wendell Graham. He inherited $500,000 but managed to squander it all. He is now only left with $100,000. But money is not important to him. He is deeply in love with Betty (Dorothy Lee) and plans to marry her. She doesn't mind if Wendell loses all his money. They will get by on love. In the 1930s this was actually a popular sentiment given the depression. Pay attention to popular music of the era, songs like "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and "I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You)".
The problem is Betty's Aunt Minnie (Edna May Oliver) objects. She thinks Wendell is a loser and demands Betty stay away from him. Wendell will never amount to anything in her eyes. Betty deserves better.
This motivates Wendell to accomplish something to show Minnie she is wrong about him. But what exactly can Wendell do? Fortune strikes when Wendell learns of a revolution going on in Europe. He is greeted by a revolutionary (Boris Karloff) who informs him if he finances the revolt he will be made a king. Wendell agrees.
Meanwhile Robert Woolsey plays Zander Ulysses Parkhurst, "Zup" for short. We first meet "Zup" in a gambling casino where he is playing dice with King Oscar (Harvey Clark), whom "Zup" doesn't realize is a king. King Oscar loses his crown in a bet making "Zup" the new leader of the country. What "Zup" doesn't know is it was all a plan devised by the king to get out of the country before the revolt begins.
That is pretty much the set-up of the film. The premise does sound promising but "Cracked Nuts" never really goes overboard. This should have been another "Duck Soup" (1933). Wheeler and Woolsey would come back to similar material in the comedy "Diplomaniacs" (1933), their funniest film and one of the all time great comedies. Nothing in those movies made sense and I mean that in the best possible way. Those films took a no holds bar approach. They thrived on chaos. They were a slap in the face to social and political order. "Cracked Nuts" by comparison feels too tame.
Still I must admit the film does have some funny moments. Wheeler and Woolsey do have a lot of chemistry together. This was their sixth picture at RKO, so they had established a formula which worked. The team engages in their normal sexual innuendos and wordplay. Their best moment may be when looking at a map where their armies are placed and discuss the names of the towns. One town is called "What" and is next to "Which". If you aren't thinking of the famous Abbott & Costello routine "Who's On First", it's only because you don't know it. It also resembles the banter Groucho and Chico engaged in.
Another good moment is the opening sequence. Wendell sneaks into Betty and Minnie's apartment but instead hides in the bathroom just as Minnie was about to take a shower. And the dice scene with "Zup" and King Oscar is funny.
But for all the good moments I still have to go back to the movie's faults. Dorothy Lee is surprisingly given nothing to do. She usually played a sweet naive love interest to Wheeler. Her character was a contrast to Wheeler & Woolsey's suggestive wise-cracks. She plays the same kind of character here but she has very few scenes. She and Wheeler also do a duet together (a staple in their comedies) only here there isn't anything memorable about the song or their dancing. However, Edna May Oliver, a very popular character actor of the times, does have some nice moments.
Directing credit is given to Edward F. Cline. He worked often with W.C. Fields, directing "The Bank Dick" (1940, which I have reviewed) and "Never Give A Sucker An Even Break" (1941). He also directed "High Flyers" (1937), Wheeler & Woolsey's last film together and was behind the God-awful Olsen & Johnson (another forgotten comedy team) comedy "Ghost Catchers" (1944). Though as I have said before. With the ego of these comics a director probably never "directed" them. His job was mainly to keep everything in frame and keep the creative stuff to the comics.
If "Cracked Nuts" does work a lot of has to do with the writing. One of the writers was Ralph Spence who wrote the Laurel & Hardy comedy "Flying Deuces" (1939), the Ritz Brothers picture "The Gorilla" (1939) and two much better Wheeler & Woolsey comedies "Peach-O-Reno" (1931, I have reviewed it) and "Caught Plastered" (1931). The other writer was Al Boasberg. Unfortunately the films he wrote for the team are among their weaker efforts; "Silly Billies" (1936) and "The Nitwits" (1935). Though he did work with Buster Keaton on two of his best; "The Battling Butler" (1926) and "The General" (1926).
These writers understand what makes for a good Wheeler & Woolsey comedy. My feeling has always been the team's best films were the ones where plot came second and comedy routines came first. Too much plot slowed them down and restricted them. They needed room to do their comedy. "Cracked Nuts" understands this but doesn't go far enough with it.
On a scale of Wheeler & Woolsey's films I would say "Cracked Nuts" is better than "Silly Billies", "Mummy's Boys" (1936) and "The Rainmakers" (1935) but not quite as good as "Diplomaniacs", "Peach-O-Reno" or "Hips, Hips, Hooray" (1934).
Sadly "Cracked Nuts" is no longer in circulation on VHS and has not been put on DVD. Your only luck may be if TCM plays it. They have played Wheeler & Woolsey comedies in the past. If you can find the film it is worth a look.
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