Cracked Nuts (1931) - Wheeler and Woolsey's Messy Kingdom Comedy

Is it worth the watch?

If you have a soft spot for early 1930s slapstick and guys who talk way too fast, you’ll probably find this charming. People who hate puns or grainy audio should stay far away from this one. 🏃‍♂️

It is a movie for people who like to see how comedy worked before everyone got so polished. It's messy and loud.

The story is basically about a guy named Zander who wants to marry this girl. But her aunt, played by the wonderful Edna May Oliver, won't let it happen unless he is someone important. 👑

So Zander decides the easiest thing to do is go to a small kingdom called El Dorado and become the King. Simple enough, right?

The problem is his friend Peewee already won the kingdom in a crap game. Peewee is played by Robert Woolsey, who spends the whole movie with a cigar stuck in his face. 🚬

I honestly love the energy between these two. It feels like they are just making it up as they go, even though I know it was scripted.

The pacing is kind of all over the place. One minute they are talking about marriage and the next there is a literal revolution happening in the streets.

Speaking of the revolution, keep your eyes open for Boris Karloff. This was just before he did Frankenstein and he plays a guy named Boris who wants to blow everything up. 💣

He has this intense look in his eyes that feels way too serious for a movie this silly. It is actually kind of funny how scary he is compared to the main characters.

There is a scene with a map that goes on for a long time. They keep pointing at things and saying nonsense words and it made me laugh way more than it should have. 😂

The jokes are very hit or miss. Some of the puns are so bad they actually hurt, but that is part of the fun with Wheeler and Woolsey.

The sets look like they were made of cardboard and leftover theater curtains. You can almost feel the dust coming off the screen when they run around.

I noticed that the sound is a bit rough in some spots. You might have to turn your volume up to catch some of the faster insults they throw at each other. 🔊

The plot with the bomb is just ridiculous. It’s one of those old-timey round black bombs with a fuse sticking out.

It’s a lot more energetic than something like A Bird in the Hand. That one feels a bit slower compared to the chaos here.

I also liked seeing Dorothy Lee. she has this very specific 1930s energy that makes everything feel like a big party. 🎈

The ending is a bit of a scramble. It feels like they realized they were running out of film and had to wrap everything up in five minutes.

It reminds me a bit of What Happened to Jones in the way that everything just keeps escalating. Things just keep getting worse for the characters until it finally stops.

There is a weird bit where they talk about a "peace conference" that feels very dated. But I guess that's what you get with a movie from 1931.

If you look closely at the crowd scenes, half the people look like they aren't sure why they are there. It's great.

I wouldn't call this a masterpiece or anything. But it is a very honest piece of entertainment from a different era.

It's better than a lot of the dry stuff from that time. It doesn't try to be smart, it just tries to be loud. 📣

Check it out if you want to see Karloff before he was a household name. Or if you just like guys in funny hats fighting over a throne they didn't earn.

It's short, it's weird, and it's definitely cracked. 🥜

• The cigar smoking is constant.
• The bomb looks like a cartoon prop.
• Edna May Oliver is the secret MVP.
• Boris Karloff is actually intimidating.

I think I liked it more than I expected to. Even with the bad jokes.