The Cuckoos

Made during the early talkie era, this was only Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey's second movie after Rio Rita. Along with them is usual leading lady Dorothy Lee and Jobyna Howland who is hilariously mismatched with Woolsey as she towers over him! Many fine musical numbers and comedy routines abound including one about a keg of beer which W & W try to take from U.S. customs to Mexico during this Prohibition period. There's also a funny sequence of Wheeler in drag. And there are three two-strip Technicolor musical numbers that must have been awe-inspiring when first presented to 1930 audiences. So on that note, I recommend The Cuckoos

Wheeler and Woolsey had made one previous movie together, RIO RITA. RIO RITA was a musical extravaganza and in this film the standout performances were by Bebe Daniels and Wheeler and Woolsey. In fact, the audience response was so positive to the boys that RKO immediately signed them to star in THE CUCKOOS--another musical with comedy interludes. While similar to RIO RITA, it's very different from their later films because there is so much singing--and many of their later films had none. Now some singing might not have been a bad thing. The songs Wheeler and Woolsey sang were pretty cute and they were amazingly good dancers--showing their vaudeville heritage as song and dance men. Even Bert Wheeler's sweet "I Love You So Much" number was quite pleasant--even if it was without Woolsey and was a love song. Unfortunately, there were 2983 songs in the film (I counted them--trust me on this) and after a while it just became a distraction from the comedy--a MAJOR distraction. HUGE song and dance numbers like "Tap the Devil Away" were big, colorful (with two-color Technicolor for several dance numbers, such as this one) were particularly annoying and pointless. You really can't blame the boys for all this--this is what RKO wanted and musicals were hugely popular in 1930.

As for the comedy, Wheeler and Woolsey were better than normal--far less annoying than in some of their later outings and it's just a shame they didn't have more chance to do their stuff. I particularly liked the bedroom scene where EVERYONE seemed to keep interrupting their sleep. It was a bit reminiscent of the later stateroom scene in the Marx Brothers' A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. Also, although it's a big icky, the scene where Wheeler dresses in drag and seduces the gypsy men is funny as well.

The boys star as phony psychics who get into trouble just south of the border (in Mexico). They hang out in the world's weirdest casino, as it has huge Busby Berkeley-style song and dance numbers and the gambling seems almost unimportant! They bumble into a kidnapping plot and Wheeler also gets on the bad side of an evil Gypsy (a popular group to hate back in 1930). Why Gypsies were in Mexico and living right next to the casino is anyone's guess.

A real early one for vaudeville team Wheeler and Woolsey. and oh. my. god. SOOOOO many song and dance numbers. each time we go into another song, the reel has been colorized, and they show cuckoos in a cuckoo clock. Personallyl, i would have preferred a stronger, tighter script, and less singing, but that's a personal preference. There ARE a couple really clever bits in here, and of course, they play around with word phrasing. and also show some flesh on the dancing girls. This was only 1930, so even though most of the film takes place in mexico (theoretically), the costumes really are quite skimpy. Co-stars Dorothy Lee and Jobyna Howland. it's pretty good if you stick with it to the end, very similar to a Marx brothers film. lots of horsing around and a love story in between the chases, falls, and knife fights. Directed by Paul Sloane, who had worked with Edison from the earlly days, then moved to other studios. Pretty good. can't go wrong with a Wheeler and Woolsey film.

A kidnapped heiress & a daring pilot. A wicked baron & an evil gypsy king. A wealthy matron & a cute young Romany. Not to mention a couple of fake psychics who are as crazy as THE CUCKOOS in any clock.

This ancient musical was Wheeler & Woolsey's 2nd film (Bert Wheeler is the little curly-haired guy; Robert Woolsey is the skinny bespectacled one). The Boys are always fun to watch, and they've got some good songs, but when they're off screen the film groans badly. However, it must be said that the massive Jobyna Howland is a great Dumont-esque foil for them & more than holds her own.

The Boys' frequent kewpie-doll co-star, Dorothy Lee, is on hand - and in Wheeler's arms. Ivan Lebedeff is OK as the villain. The romance between June Clyde & Hugh Trevor is dull stuff.

Three early Technicolor scenes are included and they are easy on the eyes. Some of the musical numbers seem to exist solely for the purpose of exhibiting the RKO chorus girls in various stages of undress.

Wondering what a band of Eastern European gypsies are doing in Northern Mexico? In films like this you don't ask questions like that...

In their follow-up to their hit film debut, Rio Rita (1929), with Bebe Daniels and John Boles, W&W star in another stage musical--this time with less success. The plot is stupid and some of the scenes seem to have no connection to whatever storyline is being played out. But W&W are fun, there are a couple good songs ("I Love You So Much"), and the comedy bits are dated but funny. Following the formula of the day, there are young lovers, Hugh Trevor and June Clyde, and a comedy foil--here the wonderful Jobyna Howland. At 6 feet tall and in heels, Howland towers over W&W and works especially well with Robert Woolsey. Some of the jokes are surprisingly risqué, Howland's character is named Fannie Furst (wrong in the IMDb listing as Hurst). As usual, pretty Dorothy Lee is on hand as Wheeler's girl friend. Two technicolor sequences, one featuring Lee in an elaborate production number in hell. Lee and Howland joined W&W in other films; Tall Hugh Trevor (not bad considering the cluck role he has) died a few years after this film following surgery. If you like W&W, you'll like The Cuckoos.