Diplomaniacs

This riotous, politically incorrect classic has a lot in common with the Marx Brother's film "Duck Soup". Consider: (1) Both films were released in 1933. (2) Both films had a strong anti-war message to them. (3) Both films starred Louis Calhern and Edgar Kennedy. (4) Both films had hilarious musical numbers in them. A film that is unjustly forgotten today, it has a lot of bizarre, but wonderful moments in it. The film opens with Wheeler & Woolsey as barbers on an Indian reservation. The Indians recruit the boys to attend the Geneva Peace Conference and convince all of the other countries to pledge to end war. However, the owners of an ammunition company sets out to stop them. A delight!

Not that I've seen them all, but considering the sorry comic quality of the many W&W films that I have seen, I'm personally delighted with this one and consider it their best. And most likely the scripting from Mankiewicz and Myers is the reason. They'd written the wacky insanity known as "Million Dollar Legs" (W.C. Fields) just before and kept up the same level of lunacy when they put this one together. A good thing because the loopy script provides W & W with plenty of funny moments removed from their usual stale vaudeville banter. The story itself is, like 'Million Dollar Legs,' almost indescribable. It's basically W&W as barbers on an Indian reservation(!) who end up going to the Geneva peace conference on behalf of the Indian tribe, with all manner of insane nonsense happening along the way. This nonsense includes: an Indian who speaks with an Oxford accent; arrows that fly in and out of the action from nowhere; a valet who exits out of a porthole instead of the door; Hugh Herbert playing a Chinese conspirator(!); people speaking and singing in pig Latin; Woolsey kissing a woman who swallows his smoking cigar; Edgar Kennedy playing the leader at the peace conference but wielding a tommygun; and a bomb exploding that transforms the cast into black-faced minstrels. Compared to their usual routinely handled and written comedies, this one is from another planet. It's a welcome place, and full of laughs.

DIPLOMANIACS is a really really funny 1933 film drawing happy comparison to Marx Bros and Euro-operetta farces of the Depression era. Deliberately as silly as possible with every race stereotype copping a hilarious racist pre code raspberry... even the squadron of French maids who un dress W&W out of their nighties and into hideous check streetwear and stovepipe hats. Everyone cops it and every character is playing unrestrained lunacy to the hilt. Instead of me carrying on about it, make sure you read the 'moviediva' link in the external comments panel along with the very informative other comments here. There is a wealth of information and insight into this forgotten but genuinely hilarious comedy team who seemed to toss very camp humor, cross dressing, insults, demented songs and skirt chasing into every conceivable mix in all their films. I have managed to see about 7 of their films and this so far is the best, fastest and outrageous. They often screen on late night TV in Australia where one channel seems to have almost every RKO pic from 1929-1946. DIPLOMANIACS has a terrific cast and a strong music score. I also love the Monogram pic of 1934 KING KELLY OF THE USA which joins this and DUCK SOUP with MILLION DOLLAR LEGS which you can read all about in other comments and the moviediva link. Enjoy!

"Diplomaniacs" is a funny, uneven and very politically incorrect film. It also happens to be one of Wheeler & Woolsey's better movies. It's also very, very unusual in many ways. There's even more singing than usual, cute Dorothy Lee (who is in nearly every one of the boys' films) isn't in this one, and it has a very, very dark ending...surprisingly dark for a comedy.

The story begins with the pair lamenting their opening up a barber shop on American Indian land. The natives don't have beards and don't need their services...but they do, for some inexplicable reason, want Willy and Hercules (Wheeler & Woolsey) to represent them at the Geneva peace conference. After all, they wonder why the Indian nation isn't being represented and they want peace. However, a baddie (Louis Calhern) is bent on preventing the pair from addressing the conference, as he wants war...though they never really say why!

The film is, like "Duck Soup" from the Marx Brothers (which debuted a few months later), a film that is actually deadly serious. It makes fun of the peace conferences of the day because they pointed out that these conferences really achieved nothing to protect mankind...and the film even ends on a very, very dark note. In many ways, it's very intelligent in addressing this YET it also is very dopey and filled with tons of jokes...many of which fall a bit bit flat. It's also very unusual in that the film's dialog is often sung. Overall, a good film that occasionally misses the mark...but also often succeeds.

By the way, I need to address the proverbial elephant in the room with this film. It is filled with politically incorrect stuff that will horrify some viewers. Hugh Herbert plays a Chinese man, the American Indian tribesmen are walking stereotypes and are ridiculous...and the final scene at the peace conference is a giant black-face number!! It is offensive....a product of its times, of course! But, all in all, I still enjoyed it in spite of everything....but you should be forewarned.

Chiefly because of Joseph L. Mankiewicz' free-association punning dialogue and his gags based on literal interpretations of clichés (not to mention the presence of Hugh Herbert), this comes across as a low-rent MILLION DOLLAR LEGS, Mankiewicz's manic comedy of the previous year. But Wheeler, Woolsey and White are no substitute for Fields, Oakie and Roberti! Unlike the earlier film, this follows a simple stage structure, with conventionally placed songs and musical numbers. The pre-Code elements--scanty costumes and the occasional off-color line ("They didn't want to sign, but we made 'em. The women were tough at first, but we...")--haven't got any freshness. There's a certain interesting tension between the cerebral Mankiewicz word-play dialogue and its absolutely mindless delivery by these journeymen comics, and it has what would be described as a "breezy" pace, so it's enjoyable to watch. But to say that it may be of the best Wheeler-Woolsey films doesn't take it very far.