Cockeyed Cavaliers

One of the funniest films ever made, Cockeyed Cavaliers is an absolute riot of side-splitting mayhem from its inventively sung-dialogue start to its wild boar wow of a finish. For once, Woolsey is not over-shadowed by his partner. In fact, here he is by far the dominant figure. Not only does he get to romance glorious Hot Toddy (of all people), but he's equally hilarious in song and dance. And the way he cleverly appropriates Garret and Spence's additional dialogue to make it seem like an inspired series of ad libs (maybe it actually is) made me roll in the aisle. Oddly, whilst he shares many wonderful slapstick routines with Wheeler, the main stooge for his verbal jousts is Noah Beery, who enjoys the grandest time of his life as a buffoonish heavy. I never dreamed that Noah Beery (who spent most of his career playing the sort of roles brother Wallace rejected) had the makings of a such a splendid clown. The rest of the players led by the vibrant pocket Venus, Dorothy Lee, and rounded out by Robert Greig doing full justice to his dyspeptic duke, are a credit to RKO's unsung genius of a casting director. And as for the work of Mark Sandrich, take your choice of superb, sensitive, skillful and smooth. Other credits (special bows for the photographer and editor) are equally adept, while production values rate as literally out of this world.