Cracked Nuts (1931) User Reviews

cracked kingdom romp

[didi-5 · 7/10 · 1 May 2006]

Wheeler and Woolsey made this romp about revolutions, assassinations, and romantic shenanigans, with a supporting cast including Dorothy Lee (who doesn't have much to do), Edna May Oliver (funny in fits and starts but not on screen enough), Boris Karloff (unmemorable), and Ben Turpin (cross-eyed as ever).

There are some cute and funny bits - the opening sequence with Wheeler and the elevator; the 'What' and 'Which' sequence with the map; the flying bombs; the aunt and the shower; and so on.

The one musical number for Wheeler and Lee is awful, nowhere near their usual standard, and actually becomes tedious and irritating very quickly.

'Cracked Nuts' is mildly diverting but not particularly good as a whole; it is one of the team's weaker efforts. Although W&W are always good value and entertaining, their co-stars have a poor script to work with and not much of a plot.

A poor man's Duck Soup

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 11 September 2016]

Wheeler and Woolsey are an acquired taste, for sure, but I've liked all their films so far. Their jokey, hokey vaudeville style somehow makes me laugh even (or maybe especially?) when the jokes are lame. The groaning is part of the enjoyment. As always, the happenings are extremely silly- this time with Wheeler and Woolsey competing to be king of a small nation that is not so desirable to lead, and the hilarity takes no prompting to ensue. Many old jokes that have been re-used mercilessly and no doubt pre-date Edwardian times; many dumb jokes that no one dared to use again; and sometimes even a good one, (my fave, "He's the most absent-minded man in the kingdom. Last week he put a cigarette to bed and threw himself out the window.") Dorothy Lee, who was especially good in Half Shot at Sunrise, is also good in this one, to a lesser extent. She and Wheeler form the ultimate sticky-and-sweet-as-molasses couple. Edna May Oliver is the perfect comic foil to, well, just about everyone. It is especially enjoyable when things turn violent vaudeville style.

And if you find yourself thinking that this reminds you of Duck Soup, remember this film came two years before that one. Recommended if you have worked up a taste for Wheeler and Woolsey or think you might be able to do so.

Hail, Hail El Dorania

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 12 December 2007]

Getting there first, exploring grounds that the Marx Brothers covered so thoroughly in Duck Soup are the RKO team of Wheeler&Woolsey who get themselves mixed up in the politics of some backwater country in South America in Cracked Nuts. Bob Woolsey wins the throne of El Dorania in a crap game and spends the rest of the film trying to avoid assassination plots cooked up by disgruntled general Stanley Fields.

Woolsey's partner Bert Wheeler has his own problems in the romance area. He's in love with Dorothy Lee, but he's got to deal with her formidable aunt, Edna May Oliver. Wheeler is the schnook of the team, playing parts that Eddie Cantor and later Danny Kaye would do with far more acclaim.

Cracked Nuts might not be all its cracked up to be. I'd certainly rate Duck Soup over it. Yet it does have its moments, particularly the last attempt at Woolsey's life by Ben Turpin, dropping bombs during a ceremony.

It's a film that can stand on its own merits. But I wish Edna May Oliver had more screen time. She's a favorite of mine and I've never been disappointed with her in any performance. She's reason enough to see Cracked Nuts.

Poor W&W

[Michael_Elliott · 26 February 2008]

Cracked Nuts (1931)

* (out of 4)

This was my second Wheeler and Woosley flick and it'll probably be my last for a while. This film has pretty much been forgotten except it does feature Boris Karloff is one of his non-monster 1931 roles. In the film, Woosley wins the throne of a small country in a dice game but gives it to Wheeler who wants it to impress the aunt of his girlfriend. I somewhat enjoyed the duo's Mummy's Boys but this film here was just dreadful. There were a few funny lines but the rest of the film was rather hard to get through. Karloff is wasted as is Dorothy Lee. One interesting aspect is Lee who does some voice effects, which would later be used by Curly of The Three Stooges.

Cracked Nuts was another funny Wheeler & Woolsey flick

[tavm · 7/10 · 26 June 2019]

This Wheeler & Woolsey comedy smacks of both The Marx Brothers and Abbott & Costello since it takes place in a mythical country that always has conflict and has a routine reminiscent of "Who's on First?" (though it may also resemble the "Why a Duck?" routine from the Marxes' The Coconuts). Wheeler has bought the country to finance a revolution and Woolsey has bought the previous king's crown. Among the supporting players-usual leading lady Dorothy Lee as Wheeler's love interest and once again they do a romantic song, Edna May Oliver as her mother who doesn't approve of the union, Ben Turpin as cross-eyed as ever, and Boris Karloff as one of Wheeler's butlers though his voice sounded different from what I'm used to when I first heard him here. This might have been before his break-out turn as The Monster in Frankenstein since both this and that are from the same year. In summary, I laughed plenty at Cracked Nuts so that's a recommendation.

The country these two nuts want to rule should change its name to Macadamia.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 15 August 2014]

Wheeler and Woolsey were a mixed bag in the minds of the public, but today, they have been re-discovered after decades of obscurity, first thanks to the old version of "American Movie Classics", then of course, "Turner Movie Classics", where they live on today. Only a few of their movies made it out onto VHS during the heyday of that disappearing media, and a few ("Dixiana", "Half Shot at Sunrise", "Hook, Line and Sinker") ended up on the public domain. Laser Disc manufacturers saw a market for their films ("Imagine Entertainment" back in the early 1990's) and a majority of their movies ended up there as well. Fortunately, as VHS sales have dwindled and Laser Discs have seemed to fallen off the face of the earth, the Warner Brothers Archive (ironic, since all but one of their features came from RKO Radio) has released pretty much all of their films, about ten of them into a special set, the rest individually.

"Cracked Nuts" is one of their best early films, as it is very elaborate and sort of ahead of its time. It pre-dates "Duck Soup" by two years, and one comedy routine (concerning the town of "Watt") was a decade before Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First?". Wheeler and Woolsey here play old pals who run into each other in a Ruritanian country still under the old monarchy but threatened by constant rebellion. Both are rivals for the throne and are pitted against each other thanks to former king Stanley Fields and two trouble-making rebels, one of them played by Boris Karloff. Ironically, two years after this, they would appear in a similar film, "Diplomaniacs", which saw them representing Native Americans at a Warsaw peace conference.

Here, Wheeler gets the romantic story, paired with Dorothy Lee and fighting for her affections with her possessive aunt, the always amusing Edna May Oliver. Wheeler and Lee get to do a song and dance routine here which results in a kick-fest between the two of them and the imperious Oliver, a parody of the slap dance sequences Wheeler and Woolsey had done as far back as the original "Rio Rita" on Broadway and on film. The slapstick highlight of the film is a sequence where King Woolsey (as "King Zup") is seated outside his palace as the cross-eyed bomber Ben Turpin drops missiles on him and Wheeler desperately tries to protect his pal. Some of the comic asides between Woolsey and former queen Leni Stengel miss their target, but then a few land straight on. "Cracked Nuts" may not have the same impact as "Duck Soup", but there are moments when it almost reeks of genius.

First-rate comics, second-rate script.

[ilprofessore-1 · 6/10 · 18 July 2020]

Wheeler and Woolsey were a first-rate comic team, now forgotten by most, who churned out a great number of money-making comedies for RKO in a brief period from 1930-1937. Until Fred and Ginger came along, they were the top earners for the studio. Sadly, they were often saddled (as they are here) with second-rate material. In this one, they don't get together until almost half an hour into the story, and even when they do, the jokes are pretty bad. They are surrounded with a top cast of players who would go on to better things-Boris Karloff and Edna Mae Oliver, as well as excellent comic support from Stanley Fields as the heavy and Leni Stengel as the vamp. Bert Wheeler's partner here, as she was to be in many of their films to come is the adorable ingenue Dorothy Lee, who doesn't get much to do. The only song she and Wheeler do is badly staged. There are some excellent Ruritanian sets by the studio's art director Max Rée, and a few spirited marches by Max Steiner in his pre-Warner Bros. days. Most of the fault beyond the script belongs to one of the Keystone Cops, Eddie Klein, who directed with a heavy hand. W&W would get better direction and better scripts in the years to come.

Is this supposed to be funny?

[backtraxmusic · 2/10 · 21 May 2022]

This movie is getting close to being 100 years old. Other movies from the era like the ones by the Marx Brothers and Three Stooges are still funny, yet this movie falls so flat. Maybe it was considered witty and topical when it came out now it seems like an antiquated relic from a long gone era.

Provided you like comedies with very few laughs, then perhaps this film is for you

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 13 December 2007]

The film began with Wheeler sneaking into the apartment of his girlfriend. Her aunt (Edna May Oliver--a person too talented for this film) didn't like Wheeler--a sentiment I can easily relate to. The aunt decided to take this bland young lady abroad to get her away from Wheeler. They left and Wheeler invested in a revolution in a small mythical kingdom because they promised to make him their king. At about the same time, Woolsey was in the same small mythical kingdom and he was made king. So when Wheeler arrived, it was up to the boys to fight it out, but they refused because they are already friends--which greatly disappointed the people, as killing and replacing kings is a national pastime.

I am a huge fan of comedy from the Golden Age of Hollywood--the silent era through the 1940s. I have seen and reviewed hundreds, if not thousands of these films and yet despite my love and appreciation for these films I have never been able to understand the appeal of Wheeler and Woolsey--the only comedy team that might be as bad as the Ritz Brothers! Despite being very successful in their short careers in Hollywood (cut short due to the early death of Robert Woolsey), I can't help but notice that practically every other successful team did the same basic ideas but much better. For example, there were many elements of this film reminiscent of the Marx Brother's film, DUCK SOUP, yet CRACKED NUTS never made me laugh and DUCK SOUP was a silly and highly enjoyable romp. At times, Woolsey talked a bit like Groucho, but his jokes never have punchlines that even remotely are funny! In fact, he just seemed to prattle pointlessly. His only funny quality was that he looked goofy--surely not enough reason to put him on film. Additionally, Wheeler had the comedic appeal of a piece of cheese--a piece of cheese that sang very poorly! A missed opportunity was the old Vaudeville routine later popularized by Abbott and Costello as "who's on first" which was done in this film but it lacked any spark of wit or timing. In fact, soon after they started their spiel, they just ended the routine--so prematurely that you are left frustrated. I knew that "who's on first" had been around for many years and used by many teams, but I really wanted to see Wheeler and Woolsey give it a fair shot and give it their own twist.

Once again, I have found yet another sub-par film by this duo. While I must admit that I liked a few of their films mildly (such as SILLY BILLIES and THE RAINMAKERS--which I actually gave 6's to on IMDb), this one was a major endurance test to complete--something that I find happens all too often when I view the films of Wheeler and Woolsey. Where was all the humor?!

Mr. Wheeler & Mr. Woolsey Are At It Again

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 18 February 2001]

A couple of CRACKED NUTS find themselves mixed-up in a Latin American revolution.

Wheeler & Woolsey, America's greatest forgotten comedy team - Burt Wheeler was the short guy with curly hair, Robert Woolsey had the spectacles & cigar - find themselves in a film with as inane a plot as any they ever made. Which is all to the good as far as the Boys are concerned, as it gives them ample opportunity to sling the dialogue at each other, fast & furious. They are never boring & always funny (their El Dorinda map routine, with fierce general & villain Stanley Fields, will remind viewers of the Brothers Marx).

Unfortunately, their co-stars are given few lines with any life. Dorothy Lee is, appropriately, Wheeler's love interest, but she gets little to do except look kewpie-doll-cute. The formidable Edna May Oliver does what she can in the role of Miss Lee's dragon aunt, but she deserves much better dialogue to be really effective. Interestingly, there is no interaction between her character & Woolsey, as might be expected. Far better roles would await Miss Oliver in years to come & she would not disappoint.

Boris Karloff appears as a financier trying to foment revolution. Once again, his lines let him down & give him very little to work with; he gives no hints in this RKO film as to the legend he would very shortly become at Universal Studios. Movie mavens will recognize Silent Cinema comic Ben Turpin as the cross-eyed bombardier.

Wheeler & Miss Lee sing ‘Dance And The World Dances With You.'

A bevy of one liners equal harmless fun

[bbmtwist · 5/10 · 11 September 2008]

While not their best, this harmless 65 minute feature puts Wheeler and Woolsey dead center, rather than using them in supporting roles. It's no great comedy, but is quite pleasant and passes the time. It's really a series of two person one liners. Woolsey is constantly amusing opposite Leni Stengel as Queen Carlotta (Have you ever seriously considered marriage? she asks. Certainly, he replies, that's why I'm single.) We know we're in for chuckles when the first gag is a visual one- the camera moving in on the apartment house where Aunt Minnie stays - the name is Venus De Milo Arms. As Aunt Minnie announces, "Stop talking while I'm interrupting you." we spin into the plot, nicely laid out by other reviewers on this site. Outstanding is the battle plan sequence, where towns are named "What" and "Which," etc., while Woolsey fumes in exasperation.

Lots of fun, especially the concluding bombing sequence. "As Caesar says, All roads lead to rum."

(Groan)

[GManfred · 19 April 2012]

That's the way they do it in comic strips when a bad joke takes place. In that case, "Cracked Nuts" would be festooned with these literary exclamations, due to the great number of bad jokes. I take a back seat to no one in my admiration for Wheeler and Woolsey, but this picture must represent the nadir of this very funny comedy team's association.

The inane screenplay is not very good, about Wheeler becoming the king of a mythical kingdom, of which Woolsey is already the king. You can see a very young-looking Boris Karloff as one of his advisers, and also one of Hollywood's best character actresses in Edna May Oliver, who steals most of the scenes she's in. There's a good song and dance number between Wheeler and his girlfriend, Dorothy Lee.

And that's about it in this very disappointing, unfunny comedy. This one is a far cry from "Half Shot At Sunrise", which is one of their best.

Boris Karloff joins Wheeler and Woolsey

[kevinolzak · 5/10 · 28 March 2021]

1931's "Cracked Nuts" (shooting title "Assorted Nuts") was the 6th (out of 21) feature comedy from the extremely popular team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, first paired in the stage and screen versions of "Rio Rita" in 1929 serving up the prototype for the films of Abbott and Costello. The duo should perhaps be considered a trio since adorable Dorothy Lee was Wheeler's regular dancing/singing partner in 13 of their vehicles, 6 for 6 with her appearance here as Betty Harrington, Edna May Oliver typically cast as her disapproving Aunt Minnie, sending Bert's Wendell Graham away from the Venus De Milo Arms Hotel to seek fame to go with his fortune in the far off land of (fictitious) El Dorania. This is the point where Boris Karloff enters at the 8 minute mark, conveniently named Boris, an anarchist required to lure in suckers to finance various revolutions on behalf of corrupt General Bogardus (Stanley Fields). As it happens, the new monarch of El Dorania is Zander Ulysses Parkhurst (Woolsey), an old friend of Wendell's, who won his position in a crap game, only meeting each other by the midway mark. Wendell has to earn his keep by assassinating his pal, but in his reluctance to do so a bomber pilot is hired to do the job, played by Mack Sennett veteran Ben Turpin minus his familiar mustache, in a rare talkie appearance. RKO obviously had plans to split up W&W in an attempt to double their profits, and while they spend the first half working apart, both would earn a solo vehicle in due course, Wheeler's "Too Many Cooks" (with Dorothy Lee) doing as poorly as Woolsey's "Everything's Rosie," after which they remained a team until Robert Woolsey's death in 1938. Boris Karloff had only just completed Howard Hawks' "The Criminal Code" when he started work on this comedy, 5 minutes screen time essentially playing it straight without going for laughs, a decent showing with his star on the rise. Bert and Bob enjoy a few good moments, especially a bit featuring the towns of What and Which ("that's the town where General Diddy died" "Diddy?" "yes he did!"), and they even refer to the pilot as 'Cross Eyed Ben' for the benefit of audience members who may not recall Turpin, who actually took out an insurance policy with Lloyds of London against his eyes uncrossing!

vaudeville team makes FUN adventure film

[ksf-2 · 8/10 · 12 December 2007]

Cracked Nuts is a Wheeler and Woolsey vaudeville-type comedy made during the downward spiral of the depression. The patter, jokes, and non-stop puns come out quickly, with pauses for audience laughter (in the first half of the film). The jokes start right from the beginning, even during the opening credits. Look for Boris Karloff, who had already made 60 movies by 1931. Director Ed Cline had been directing comedies since 1916, so he certainly knew his business. He had also directed most of the W C Fields movies, which explains the great comedic timing. Character actress Edna May Oliver is Aunt Minnie, who always played the disapproving, prim & proper matriarch in Tale of Two Cities, Little Women, and tons of other movies. Beautiful Dorothy Lee, with her big expressive eyes, plays Betty Harrington, and had already made several movies with Wheeler & Woolsey, so she knew their timing. German actress Leni Stengel plays Carlotta. Fun, if a little dated, (note the blocks of ice being delivered at the start of the movie) it has the feel of an Abbott & Costello film. Although the plot and jokes are the stars here, unlike in an A & C movie, where it was more about the stars. It was made prior to the Hays Code, and except for a gay reference at about 23 minutes in, it is not at all sexual or naughty, although there are opportunities, since the king wears a kilt... This 1931 version does not seem to be related to the 1941 film of same name, which was also directed by Ed Cline. For an even funnier Wheeler and Woolsey film, watch Peach O Reno...

The movie I was looking for

[aschachte · 9/10 · 10 November 2015]

Back in the 80's I was flipping through channels and I found this movie. I didn't know what it was but I knew it was funny. I caught it in the middle and they never said the name of the movie. I've been looking for it since and nobody knew what I was talking about. So if there's someone else out there in my shoes, I'm going to make a review that will be searchable. Because right now there's NOTHING on the internet like what I'm about to write.

(minor spoilers) Twin cities of Amos and Bamos. We'll call Amos "B" and Bamos "A". That's so you don't get confused.

Then they ended up drinking 100 year old hooch. Zup said you need to respect old age.

At another point, Wendell said something wrong and Zup said, "Don't you know the King's English?" And Wendell said, "No. Is he English?" And of course Zup wants to be executed by something modern like an airplane. They accommodate him and he sits in a royal airplane bombing target chair.

Weird stuff, but good.

Now that I've provided something for a search engine to find, hopefully anyone else out there frantically looking for this movie will be able to find it. I just watched the whole thing on TCM, uninterrupted. Nice.

Overall I found it to be really good. Like a cross between a Marx Bros and an Abbot and Costello movie. I was never in on the whole "Wheeler and Woolsey" thing but now I might just give them a chance.

A lot of their banter when looking at the miniature battlefield was textbook Abbot and Costello. But the overall absurd situation was pure Marx.

Also of note, the mean aunt is introduced very early in the movie. About 10 words in and you'd swear she was Endora from Bewitched. She sounds like Endora but she looks like Carol Burnette. She is neither of these.

Boris Karloff has a bit part in this movie as an opportunistic scam artist. The one guy calls him Boris. It looked like it might have been a mistake but they missed it in editing so they just went with it. He was already an established actor by then and he made a kagillion movies in 1931. I'm guessing it was easier just to leave it in than to try to get ahold of Karloff and get him to re-shoot that one scene. It didn't take anything away from the story, so if it was me I'd have just left it in as well.

Korny gags, silly puns, unbelievable situations. If you like this sort of light-hearted romp, then you might just enjoy Cracked Nuts. Plus it's just a little over an hour long. They crammed a lot of funny into a short space.

Oh, I also FFed over most of the song and dance scene at the bottom of the staircase. I've never been one for that sort of thing. But at one point it looked like the guy stumbled back, lunged forward again, and began singing way too close to the girl's ear. If you look at the mechanics of that one move it looks pretty goofy. And she began laughing at him, leading me to think it wasn't planned.