Mummy's Boys is a dusty, weird 1930s comedy that mostly works

Is it worth your time?

If you like old-school slapstick and don't mind some very dated jokes, you should watch this today. It is great for a rainy afternoon when you don't want to think too hard.

Fans of classic comedy duos will find it charming. People who hate repetitive gags or slow-burn 1930s pacing will probably want to skip it.

The movie starts with Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey as ditch diggers in New York. They are literally just digging a hole in the ground when they decide to go to Egypt.

They see a newspaper ad about an expedition and just... go. It is that kind of movie logic where things happen because the script says so. 🤷‍♂️

The whole "curse of the tomb" thing is the main hook. Ten people have died already, which you'd think would scare them off, but they are too broke to care.

I noticed the dirt in the opening scene looks way too clean. It looks like bags of potting soil from a hardware store rather than a New York street.

Robert Woolsey wears those iconic round glasses. I kept waiting for them to fall off during the desert scenes, but they are glued on his face I swear.

His delivery is so dry it makes the Egyptian desert look like a swamp. He has this way of talking that feels like he's telling a secret even when he's yelling.

Bert Wheeler is the more emotional one. He whines a lot, but his energy keeps the movie from falling asleep in the middle.

There is a scene where they are in the desert and the wind is blowing. You can tell they are just standing in front of a big fan because their hair moves but the background stays perfectly still.

The movie gets much better once they actually get inside the tombs. It has that spooky atmosphere that reminded me a little bit of the tension in The Iron Claw, though way less intense obviously.

The Supporting Cast

• Willie Best plays the 'scared' character.
• He has some of the best facial expressions in the whole film.
• Even when the jokes are old, his timing is actually pretty sharp.
• The villains are mostly just guys in hats looking suspicious.

One thing that bothered me was the sound. Sometimes the music is way louder than the people talking.

I had to turn my volume up and down a few times. It’s an old movie thing, I guess.

There is a recurring gag about them being hungry. It goes on for a bit too long.

I think they spent about five minutes talking about food while they were supposed to be worried about a murderer. It’s funny at first but then you just want them to move to the next room.

The sets for the Egyptian tombs are clearly just wood and plaster. If you look closely at the walls when they bump into them, the stones shake slightly. 🏺

It adds a weird charm to it. You can tell a bunch of people were working hard on a small budget.

"We're not looking for trouble, we're looking for money!"

That line basically sums up the whole plot. It's a very simple motivation.

I enjoyed the scene where they are trying to sleep in the tent. The shadows are actually pretty creepy for a comedy.

It felt a bit like the atmosphere in The White Desert, where the environment is the real enemy. But here, the enemy is mostly just their own clumsiness.

The ending is very abrupt. They solve the mystery, the bad guy is caught, and then it just... ends.

I felt like there was a missing scene where they actually get the treasure. Or maybe they didn't have enough film left to shoot it?

It’s not a masterpiece like some other films from that era. But it’s got a personal rhythm that keeps it moving.

It’s imperfect and the jokes don't always land. But when they do, it’s a nice reminder of why people liked these two guys back then.

Overall, if you like seeing people get scared of their own shadows, it's a solid watch. Just don't expect it to change your life.