"Womanhandled" stars Richard Dix as Manhattan playboy Bill Dana (no relation to the 1960s TV comedian of that name). While visiting Central Park, he rescues bratty little Percival (Eli Nadel) from the lake -- some nice location shooting here -- and then he meets the boy's aunt: the blonde and beautiful Molly (Esther Ralston). Striking up a conversation with Molly, Bill mentions that his Uncle Lester owns a ranch out west. This leads Molly to believe that Bill is a rootin'-tootin' Westerner ... and she's impressed. Of course, Bill doesn't set her straight on her mistake.
This being a very contrived comedy, Bill goes out west to Wind River, Texas, hoping to get some genuine cowboy experience so he can impress Molly. At Uncle Lester's ranch, he discovers that all the cowboys have left to get jobs in cowboy movies (which pay better), and taken their horses along. Bill and Lester manage to round up a few swaybacked nags (with clearly visible ribs) and a few two-legged varmints to play cowboy. Comic actor Tammany Young looks absolutely hilarious in an ill-fitting cowboy get-up.
Bill's got some cowboys, he's got some horses. Now he needs Indians. Bill prevails upon the African-American laundress and her family to slap on some warpaint and pretend to be Red Indians.At this point "Womanhandled" enters the delirious realm of double-decker racial stereotypes. There's some "yassum" dialogue in the intertitles while these stereotypical blacks impersonate stereotypical Amerindians. Of course, Bill says that they're Blackfeet.
Just when Bill is all set to play cowboy, suddenly Molly shows up with her bratty nephew and her strait-laced Aunt Clara in tow. This is a pretty good set-up for a comedy, but after setting up its premise the film dissolves into dumb jokes. Gregory La Cava, an expert comedy director, is saddled with poor material here.
There's some 'book-end' material at the start and close of the movie, involving a couple of vaudeville-ish comical tramps who live in Central Park. I really dislike it when humour is at the expense of homeless people. I'll rate "Womanhandled" 3 points out of 10.
