After some of the cutest animated film credits ever filmed (visuals of a train moving to the movie's theme song), Wheeler and Woolsey disembark from the train they've snuck a ride on only to be caught by the train company inspector (Charles Middleton). These two con-artists manage to get away, sneak onto a trolley (with the help of an "inspector" button they've found) and meet sweet but sad little old lady Lucy Beaumont. Comforting the old dear, they find out that she's on the verge of loosing her drug store and being forced to go to an old ladies home. Like any other con artists do, Wheeler and Woolsey offer to help her out, get a home made meal and a roof over their head. Before you know it, business is booming, but the villain (Jason Robards Sr.) out to take over the little old ladies' store has sold them alcoholic lemonade which becomes the hit of the neighborhood.
"I think somebody's passing a flask around here!", wise-cracking Woolsey notes. The local police chief's daughter (Dorothy Lee), now sweet on Wheeler, has drunkenly interrupted Wheeler's radio musical number ("I'm that Way About You After All", the song version of the music we heard over the credits) and Beaumont must quickly make a decision about her future. Will Wheeler and Woolsey prove that Robards deceived them? Most likely, but not before the boys give us their typical routine of pre-code gags, many of which are funny, a few of are not.
One funny exchange happens between Woolsey and a little boy where Woolsey asks the little boy what he plans to be when he grows up. "I'm not going to be a sissy like you!", the boy states. Much of Wheeler and Woolsey's dialog had to be toned down after the production code came in, which makes this one a bit racier than the later ones. In fact, some of the drug store set skits are similar to what W.C. Fields would later do in his 1934 comedy classic "It's a Gift". The scene where Middleton comes in and the boys must quickly disguise themselves is a truly wonderfully funny moment.
Beaumont can be a bit cloying as the sweet old lady who seems to cry over the drop of a hat. The scene where the boys put on a little show for her is a bit uncomfortable. I like the feistier old lady who popped up in a similar story in an "Our Gang" short, although I felt sorry for Beaumont's predicament. Robards is a sly villain; All he is missing is a mustache to twirl. There is a really cute scene between Wheeler and Lee involving a phone booth that is strangely romantic. It is ironic that Wheeler and Woolsey were forgotten for decades until their films began popping up on the old version of American Movie Classics and now frequently play on TCM. They prove, like the Peter Allen song, "Everything Old is New Again".
"I think somebody's passing a flask around here!", wise-cracking Woolsey notes. The local police chief's daughter (Dorothy Lee), now sweet on Wheeler, has drunkenly interrupted Wheeler's radio musical number ("I'm that Way About You After All", the song version of the music we heard over the credits) and Beaumont must quickly make a decision about her future. Will Wheeler and Woolsey prove that Robards deceived them? Most likely, but not before the boys give us their typical routine of pre-code gags, many of which are funny, a few of are not.
One funny exchange happens between Woolsey and a little boy where Woolsey asks the little boy what he plans to be when he grows up. "I'm not going to be a sissy like you!", the boy states. Much of Wheeler and Woolsey's dialog had to be toned down after the production code came in, which makes this one a bit racier than the later ones. In fact, some of the drug store set skits are similar to what W.C. Fields would later do in his 1934 comedy classic "It's a Gift". The scene where Middleton comes in and the boys must quickly disguise themselves is a truly wonderfully funny moment.
Beaumont can be a bit cloying as the sweet old lady who seems to cry over the drop of a hat. The scene where the boys put on a little show for her is a bit uncomfortable. I like the feistier old lady who popped up in a similar story in an "Our Gang" short, although I felt sorry for Beaumont's predicament. Robards is a sly villain; All he is missing is a mustache to twirl. There is a really cute scene between Wheeler and Lee involving a phone booth that is strangely romantic. It is ironic that Wheeler and Woolsey were forgotten for decades until their films began popping up on the old version of American Movie Classics and now frequently play on TCM. They prove, like the Peter Allen song, "Everything Old is New Again".