Mummy's Boys (1936) User Reviews

Mummy's Boys And The Professor's Daughter

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 21 November 2009]

Long before Abbott&Costello were teaming up with all the Universal horror characters, over at RKO Wheeler&Woolsey took their turn at the horror genre with Mummy's Boys.

They introduce it with a plot gimmick straight out of the Depression. The guys are digging ditches at what looks like a Works Progress Administration Project. And they're not getting along too good with that. But Woolsey spots a newspaper advertisement where diggers are sought for an Egyptian expedition. He correctly reasons why not put their newly acquired skills towards something positive and see an exotic part of the world.

The guys sign on to an expedition headed by Frank M. Thomas who has the idea to take the treasures that were dug up in the last expedition back to Egypt and the tomb they came from because they're bringing bad luck. An unusual string of fatalities keep happening to those who were on that first expedition, a lot like what was happening to folks who were on the famous King Tut expedition in the Twenties. Wheeler gets an additional reason for coming along, he gets stuck on the professor's daughter, Barbara Pepper.

Of course in Egypt and on the trip going there, the boys get in all kinds of trouble. My favorite is how they get tangled up with desert sheik Francis McDonald and his harem.

Moroni Olsen as another archaeologist gets a chance to do a great crazy act in the end, something different from a character actor who usually had quite serious roles.

It's not quite as good as either the A&C horror spoofs or some of the earlier Wheeler&Woolsey work, but Mummy's Boys will generate more than a couple of laughs.

Pretty cornball--even for Wheeler and Woolsey

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 14 January 2010]

Wheeler and Woolsey are a comedy team that is an acquired taste--and one I have never yet fully acquired after seeing about 15 of their films. A few are pretty good (such as CAUGHT PLASTERED and PEACH-A-RENO), but these seem to be the exception. Most are amazingly corny, though those towards the end of their career seem to be among the worst (their final film, HIGH FLYERS is just terrible).

As MUMMY'S BOYS is their second to last film, it, too, is clearly not among their best work. By this late stage in the career of the act, all too often the boys seemed to make cornball wisecracks that they laughed at--as if to tell the audience when it was supposed to be funny. The old silly situations and good writing were definitely not apparent in this film! It's a shame, too, as you'd think the idea of having the team go to Egypt and deal with mummies would be sure comedy gold. A living mummy might have breathed some life into the film. Instead, it's just the tale of a maniac who delights in killing off members of a previous expedition.

The film begins with the boys digging ditches. When they find an ad for diggers for an Egyptian expedition, they think this should be a cinch. Instead of joining the expedition, though, much of the time they seem to be off on their own--mostly getting into trouble. Most of which, by the way, is only mildly funny at best. Along for the ride is the walking stereotype, Willie Best. Fortunately Best is more restrained than usual, so he is less likely to offend the sensibilities of modern viewers. However, his 'scared black man' routine is a pretty shabby stereotype and a sad indictment of the times.

Overall, not a bad film but also not a very good one either. If you like old-time comedies, it's mildly amusing and you could do worse. However, if you don't like or aren't familiar with these sort of films, DON'T watch this one--it surely won't convert you into a fan of the genre. In particular, Wheeler's routine of taking naps to remember things he forgot wears thin VERY fast.

By the way, you may notice that Dorothy Lee is not in this film or several of the later Wheeler & Woolsey films. Oddly, however, she was the leading lady in all their early films. The only other team that repeatedly used the same leading lady were Hope & Crosby, though they made far fewer films.

Wheeler and Woolsey are no Indiana Jones.....

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 10 September 2014]

Wheeler and Woolsey are lazy ditch diggers who sign up for an archaeological dig under an Egyptian curse. These two nitwits, cuckoos, cracked nuts and cockeyed cavaliers are caught plastered before they even arrive in Egypt. The whole group of explorers are being stalked by mysterious turbaned men (that's how you know they're Egyptians) who have apparently already killed several of the people from the previous exposition. Will the two reluctant participants become the next victims? Will poor Willie Best ever explain how he got aboard the ship hidden under some crates (except to give us the joke that he was from Cairo....Cairo, Illinois that is...)?

One of the lesser funny Wheeler and Woolsey films, this had great potential for some laughs involving the boys, and all we get are the two hiding from a sheik with five wives chasing them around for flirting (and then the two disguising themselves as Egyptian women to avoid his wrath with predictable results) and the chase between the two and the villain once their identity is revealed. This sequence takes place in the most unrealistic looking tomb which is so neat that it looks like it came with maid service. This is a rare opportunity to see the future "Mrs. Ziffel" (Barbara Pepper) in her svelte years, playing the ingénue who takes over Dorothy Lee's place as Wheeler's love interest. While the bulk of her film work had her as an Iris Adrian type tough girl (check out "Murder He Says" for evidence of this), she truly was once a lovely young starlet long before she started chasing around Arnold the Pig.

Wheeler and Woolsey films are a mixed bag, and being a fan of their work, I missed the usual amount of Woolsey's clever malapropisms and sardonic comments on the action surrounding him. This also lacks the usual musical number associated with their films, but I really think we could have done without dancing mummies or Harem girls. They were obviously getting a bit stale, although their last two films made in 1937 were slightly better than this one.

Another sorry dud from Wheeler & Woolsey

[vandino1 · 23 January 2006]

This was the third to last film made by the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey and it's pretty weak stuff. Totally forgettable. As an Egyptian Mummy curse movie it at least has a dark and mysterious look to it, and is ably directed, but this is a comedy and it has the bad luck of having the "laughs" provided by W & W. Unless you have a fondness for stale vaudeville patter, you're not going to find much humor from the work of this trying team. There is a reason these guys are mostly forgotten: they weren't funny. But, oh, do THEY think they are. In film after film, including this one, the duo practically burst out laughing at their own antics. And this film was a financial flop when it came out; so much so that RKO even fired the director Fred Guiol right off the lot. He only managed to keep a career in Hollywood because of his pal, director George Stevens. Amazingly, this stale muffin was written by THREE writers. As one critic put it at the time: "Mummy's Boys" is a seven reel comedy that is eight reels too long." I would like to add that there is one Wheeler & Woolsey comedy that, to me, was actually pretty funny: 'Diplomaniacs.' It has a zany Marx Brothers feel to it and is very reminiscent of W.C. Fields' wacky film 'Million Dollar Legs.' Even Wheeler & Woolsey could score once, in my book.

Deservedly lost in the sands of time.

[BA_Harrison · 1/10 · 12 September 2022]

This is the first film I have seen starring Wheeler & Woolsey, and it'll probably be my last, the painfully unfunny comedy duo failing to make me laugh even once. Clearly under the illusion that they're of the same calibre as Laurel and Hardy and The Marx Brothers, the guys deliver their stale brand of vaudeville humour with energy and confidence, but their act only serves to irritate, Bert Wheeler being particularly grating with his repeated forgetfulness.

I only watched this one because I am a horror movie completist, and I had hoped for some zany 'mummy on the rampage' fun. What I actually got was a dire murder mystery, devoid of originality, laughs, and excitement. The plot sees ditch-diggers Stanley Wright and Aloysius Whittaker (Wheeler & Wollsey) hired as excavators on an expedition to Egypt, where archaeologist Phillip Browning (Frank M. Thomas) intends to return artefacts taken from the tomb of King Pharatimes, thus avoiding becoming another victim of the Pharoah's curse.

The low point of the film for me was an attempt at comedic wordplay, the characters unable to say the phrase 'twenty miles as the crow flies'. It's the kind of thing that Bob Hope or Danny Kaye might possibly have made work, but Wheeler and Woolsey have no chance and the result is embarrassingly inept. I'm sure you will have your own 'worst moment' from the movie - there are plenty to choose from.

The film doesn't even have the decency to feature a real mummy (the killer wraps himself in bandages to pretend to be a mummy), expects us to believe that Browning's pretty daughter Mary (Barbara Pepper) would be romantically interested in an absent-minded idiot like Stanley, and includes the obligatory stereotypical 'scared black man' (Willie Best).

Wheeler & Woolsey Go Crazy In Egypt

[Ron Oliver · 7/10 · 4 June 2000]

Two zany ditch diggers join an expedition intent on returning a cursed treasure to the burial chamber of Egyptian King Pharatime. But when a crazed killer starts spreading comedic terror in the tomb, who will come rescue the MUMMY'S BOYS?

This starts out as a suspense tale, with mysterious deaths & a Pharaoh's curse, but it soon becomes a typical Wheeler & Woolsey comedy (Bert Wheeler is the one with the curly hair; Robert Woolsey has the cigar & spectacles). The Boys are always fun to watch and this film is no exception, even if the plot is exceptionally silly. Unlike Laurel & Hardy, who relied heavily on slapstick & physical humor, Wheeler & Woolsey's comedy derived largely from the dialogue. Their best bit here: the `twenty miles as the crow flies' routine.

Barbara Pepper is Wheeler's love interest here; Willie Best adds to the craziness.

Bad Karma to Look in the Mummy's Tomb !

[cshep · 7/10 · 23 October 2005]

Fun vehicle for Wheeler and Woolsey as they attempt to return contents to a possibly cursed tomb near Cairo. Clever dialog highlights the zaniness as the boys twist and turn across the ocean and into the mysterious desert !!! There is of course the criminal element who are intent on promoting the Curse of the Tomb for their personal gain.

Willie Best is their guide and Barbara Pepper the romantic interest. She was Doris Ziffel # 1 in the "Green Acres" series.

Fred Guiol does a good job of directing, keeps a good pace and action evenly spaced. He also directed "Duck Soup" with Laurel and Hardy.

Woolsey looks like a poorman's George Burns, and Wheeler has the innocent charm and high voice. Bert Wheeler also from Paterson , New Jersey as Lou Costello. Enjoyable fare !!!

minor league Wheeler and Woolsey

[didi-5 · 7/10 · 25 April 2006]

Although Mummy's Boys has its moments, and although it always a pleasure to see Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey in a film, this one is really minor league after their run of greats in the pre-code early 1930s.

Here the boys play loafers who go to Cairo to help on an archaeological dig, aided and hindered by the lumbering Willie Best, a sort of poor man's Stepin Fetchit, and distracted by Barbara Pepper, a low level love interest for Bert, who has a habit of forgetting things here rather than stealing things as he did in Cockeyed Cavaliers.

Although Woolsey's reactions were predictable and a bit tiresome by this stage in the series, little Wheeler is as charming and cute as ever. There is no musical number, which is a shame, as the film drags somewhat without the distraction of some song 'n' dance.

Not the best W&W, and perhaps not the one to start with, but worth a look.