These Wheeler and Woolsey features seem to be gettin' better as time rolls on, for CRACKED NUTS has to be one of the funniest films I've seen at least since SOMETHING OF VALUE. True I hadda fast forward through the musical number which was about as entertaining as little Sally Sue's tap dancing recital, but the rest of the action is pretty good and keeps your spirits high.
Hokay, it ain't like I was really rolling on the floor laughing 'til it hurt, but like a lotta my fave sixties sitcoms it worked out well as sorta a pseudo drama with lighthearted gags thrown in and a plot that really ain't that bad, at least one that you could compare with THE HIDING PLACE.
Bert Wheeler plays a scatterbrained rich kid in love with perennial W/W leading lady Dorothy Lee who, when persuaded by his creepy butler (played by BORIS KARLOFF), heads out to a small Central Amerigan country in order to lead a revolution and thus become ruler. Little does he know but his old time pal Woolsey had just won the crown in a dice game which puts the chums somewhat at odds. In between, they get to rehash some great vaudeville routines and toss in a few somewhat smart gags into what coulda been yet another three AM snoozer on your favorite local tee-vee station.
Besides the appearance of Karloff at his wicked best, eternal dowager Edna Mae Oliver turns up as Lee's stodgy aunt while none other than the great Ben Turpin makes a cameo as the (what else but) cockeyed airplane pilot appointed to bomb Wheeler and Woolsey during the film's upsidaizy climax. Personally I found it all fine and even if you hate cornball (like I don't) you might be able to squeeze some fun outta it whilst settling back and eating snacks. You'd do yourself good to eyeball this long-forgotten frolic that conjures up more fun memories of growing up watching old mooms like this more thsn repeated viewings of THE WIZARD OF OZ ever could!
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