Peach-o-Reno (1931)

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

You'll get twice the bang for your buck with the law firm of Wattles and Swift (Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey) who not only will make sure you get a great alimony settlement, but some unforgettable entertainment as well. It doesn't matter that the husband of the woman they are representing is after them with a gun (Wheeler disguises himself in drag for that issue) or that the daughter is interested in him romantically as well. Wise-cracking Woolsey gets the dance of his life when he is whirled around by Wheeler in a fury and at one point seems to be a saw-dust dummy. The law office they work in closes for business and re-opens with the push of a button by book cases turning into liquor shelves, desks turning into roulette wheels and a whole bar coming out of the wall, already stocked with drinkers. The ultimate pre-code comedy with lots of sexual innuendo, "Peach O'Reno" may not be an accurate depiction of divorce, and with Wheeler and Woolsey, you may have a hangover afterwards, but it will certainly be fun filing for it.

I guess humor, like beauty, is in the eye (ear) of the beholder. Wheeler and Woolsey are two of my favorite funnymen but Peach-O-Reno contains some of the oldest and stalest jokes ever put on film. I'll bet they were funnier in 1932, but here it is 2011 and some of the material fell flatter than a pancake despite their best efforts and that of the supporting cast.Joseph Cawthorn and Cora Witherspoon are the old married couple trying to get a divorce, after a hilarious scene at their 25th wedding anniversary party which turns into an argument and a trip to Reno. They are excellent and very funny when on screen - maybe they should have given these two old pros more screen time. Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee have a good song and dance number and Wheeler himself is quite good impersonating a floozy to aid Cawthorn's cause for divorce. There is some good fun here and there and I have a hard time knocking Wheeler and Woolsey in any case, but maybe "Peach-O-Reno" should have been seen in 1932 and then stored in a vault somewhere. It came as a two-fer with "Girl Crazy" - maybe I'll have better luck with that one.

This is an odd outing for Wheeler and Woolsey. The first half of the movie is excellent--very funny, well-paced and clever. However, towards the end, the film falters very badly. The plot just disappears and it's a rather goofy free for all that just seemed rushed--like the film was taking too long to complete so they just hastily tossed together a not especially enjoyable but very goofy finale.The film begins with the boys actually a success. In most of their films they are out of work and without a penny to their names. Here, they are both lawyers(!) and making a killing in Reno handling divorces. The problems are that their ethics are a tad suspect and the other divorce lawyers are mad because the boys are stealing all their business--and they want revenge.During this first half of the film, there are two major plots. First, an older man and woman have decided to divorce--much to the consternation of their grown daughters. The couple really do love each other and the daughters are working to reunite them--while Wheeler represents the father and Woolsey represents the mother and the boys both have a vested interest in keeping them apart. The other plot is far from cerebral but is also very, very funny. A crazy guy (Mr. Crosby) has vowed to kill Wheeler because of the divorce that took away the man's wife (Wheeler was the attorney for the wife). So, Wheeler goes in drag to avoid being killed (and for other reasons which aren't worth exploring here) for a very long but well played scene. I've seen him play women in other films but he was amazingly good at playing a woman--even singing like one. It got really funny when Crosby himself fell for her/him!! The way this all ended was also pretty funny--with a great punchline. Sure, it ain't sophisticated but it is pretty good--one of the best drag sequences in comedy history.So far, so good. But when the feuding couple go to court the plot just falls apart. The judge is one of the very same lawyers who hates Wheeler and Woolsey and he has vowed throughout the film that IF he becomes a judge, he'll never grant any of their clients a divorce and will make their lives miserable. However, when the case comes up, the new judge seems to have completely forgotten this. Then, the trial becomes even crazier and more nonsensical than if the Marx Brothers had done it. While this MIGHT have worked, it did not fit in with the first half of the film and this team just could not pull it off--it just was way outside their range. Plus, the writing really, really sucked (a term I don't often use--but it is appropriate here). It was like the boys were just winging it.Despite this bad ending, the film still has a lot to recommend it. Funny and different, had the film not crumbled apart late, it would have clearly been one of the team's best.

Into the third year of the Wheeler-Woolsey partnership with RKO, this little gem, running at just over an hour, gives us Wattles and Swift, the divorce lawyers (with a bus laid on to ferry likely divorces from the railway) who just happen to run a casino by night (!).To get himself out of a scrape with a vengeful gun totin' husband, Bert Wheeler dolls up as the silliest drag act you'll ever see (Mae West had nothing on this blonde broad!); little Dorothy Lee gets to join him in another great song n' tap routine; and Robert Woolsey chomps cigars and makes his usual line of lecherous wisecracks. Watch out for a wonderful number mid-way where the boys dance together with Bert still dragged up; and a useful way to store those casino chips! Really funny...