Too Many Cooks

"Too Many Cooks" is a very unusual film. While Bert Wheeler had already made quite a few movies with Robert Woolsey, here in this film RKO decided to split up the comedy team and have Wheeler star in a film only with Dorothy Lee...a cute young lady who frequently appeared as Wheeler's love interest in the Wheeler & Woolsey flicks. Considering this was the only Wheeler film without Wooley during Woolsey's lifetime, you can only assume that the film wasn't a big success. As for me, I never really liked Wooley's sort of humor...and I think it's actually one of Wheeler's best films.

The story finds Albert (Wheeler) and Alice (Lee) in love and planning on getting married. Life looks grand for the pair and they soon start planning on building a dream house which should be ready by the time they marry. However, their wonderful plans start to come unraveled when family gets involved. Her family is full of many pushy and obnoxious folks who spend all their time telling the couple what to do and how they should change their house's blueprints. His only family member is Uncle George...and he's no better. He insists it should be built his way...and if not, George is going to fire Albert!! Not surprisingly, soon the plans for the wedding are up in smoke and Albert and Alice are miserable.

While the story is a bit simplistic (especially the ending), the film is quite enjoyable. It's also a wonderful film for ALL young couples to watch so as to avoid the pitfalls of pushy family and unclear expectations! It also works well because you just can't help liking Wheeler and Lee's characters...they are adorable and so sweet that their plight really gets to you. A winner...and I wish the pair had made more films without Woolsey considering the result!

By the way, while this is a very good film, I certainly cringed at seeing Roscoe Ates and his god-awful stuttering shtick. It was embarrassing and rather mean-spirited...and very popular in its day.

This sentimental but endearing 1931 Radio film was based on a successful 1914 Broadway play by the writer/actor Frank Craven, best remembered now as the Stage Manager in both the play and film of Thornton Wilder's OUR TOWN. Bert Wheeler, here for once without his long-time comic partner Robert Woolsey, is perfectly cast in the Harold Lloyd mode as an All-American nice guy. He is partnered with the ever-adorable Dorothy Lee, his co-star in many an RKO film to come. They are, as always, delightful and believable together; one is only disappointed that they do not break out into song and dance as they did in many a W&W RKO feature. They are surrounded here by a cast of small-town character actors, foremost of all, the excellent Robert McWade as Uncle George. Although McWade would go on working for another seven years, he was never given a part as good as this again. He would have made a superb Frank Capra bad guy, but others more famous got those parts instead.

Even though this movie was made in 1931, which I agree, was a long time ago, this movie is hilarious, insightful, and well worth anyone's time. There are many topics that are very current today, and always will be, that are portrayed in the movie and worth considering; such as family interference, relationship priorities, clarity of purpose, and self assuredness. And all of this is done is a humorous and light hearted manner. The opinions of family members regarding the new house and getting their way are so hilarious, yet timeless. I think the video, for the time, is very good. The audio is very 1930's, but that makes it all more fun. The actors are very convincing and do an exceptional job of portraying their characters.

Just watch and enjoy. I can't wait to watch again and again. I may be opinionated, but it is one of the most refreshing movies I have seen in a long time, and I watch a lot of old movies.

1931's "Too Many Cooks" was RKO's failed attempt to double their profits by splitting up their greatest asset, the comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, into separate features, Wheeler here, Woolsey following in "Everything's Rosie." Delightful Dorothy Lee, present in 14 of their 20 RKOs, was just as indispensable, happily retained for this dated property from actor/playwright Frank Craven, remembered by horror buffs as Dr. Harry Brewster opposite Lon Chaney in 1943's "Son of Dracula." Bert and Dorothy were unhappy during the filming, but their real-life affection for each other carries the picture through to the end, as an engaged couple building their dream home on a vacant lot in a rural area in upstate New York, 63 miles from NYC. He finally meets her extended family, all rather pushy and disapproving of him, while she reacts negatively to his wealthy uncle's plan to move in with them once the house is finished (Dorothy's best friend is played by Sharon Lynn, best remembered for Laurel and Hardy's "Way Out West," while Ruth Weston followed this with "The Public Defender," opposite Richard Dix and Boris Karloff). There's actually little else to the story, too close to reality to be amusing, Bert Wheeler's fairly straight rendition quite unlike anything else he did on screen, a role that was better suited for the domestic Hal Roach comic Charlie Chase. Dorothy Lee is as adorable as ever, and like Bert is called upon for a serious performance that makes one yearn for a little song and dance patter to lighten the unfunny mood. Always a good match, their wonderful on screen chemistry survives intact, but watching the hopeful lovebirds giving in to the demands of others is hardly surefire material for laughter; still, it may just be superior to Woolsey's "Everything's Rosie," which virtually by default is clearly the funnier of the two. After this, RKO dropped any further solo vehicles for Wheeler and Woolsey and teamed them for their 7th feature, "Caught Plastered," again with Dorothy Lee.

This film version of Frank Craven's stage play moves at a snail's pace, does not have a funny line of dialogue, and it's few physical gags fall flat. My favorite man-child, Bert Wheeler, stars without his then partner, Robert Woolsey, in a straight role. He has no chance to shine. His usual love interest, Dorothy Lee, is his co-star. Neither Wheeler nor Lee were much in the acting department; they are musical comedy stars. The film would have been lifeless with any cast, but using Wheeler and Lee without at least one musical number is a crime. There isn't even a background score. Not a note of music is heard until the final title card. The film could have been funny if Wheeler had been permitted to play the bewildered man-child which he was famous for. It could have benefited by casting Woolsey in the part played by the bland Hallam Cooley. Wheeler was capable of working without Woolsey and he proved this after Woolsey's untimely death. However, this film started with a flimsy foundation and required much re-vamping to make it an acceptable vehicle.