DbcultAccessing Vault...
5.4/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Too Many Cooks remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
You should watch this today if you have ever had an argument with your partner in the middle of an IKEA. It is for anyone who has felt their soul leave their body while a parent gave them "unsolicited advice."
If you are looking for a high-speed slapstick movie where people are falling off buildings, you will probably hate this. It is much more about the slow, grinding annoyance of family politics.
Bert Wheeler plays Albert. Usually, he is half of a famous duo, but here he is mostly on his own, and he looks exhausted from the first frame. 🏚️
The whole plot is just Albert and his fiancée Alice (Dorothy Lee) trying to build a house. It sounds sweet, right? Wrong.
Every time they look at a blueprint, a new relative pops out of the woodwork. It is like a zombie movie but instead of eating brains, the monsters want to tell you where the dining room should go.
There is this one uncle who just won't stop talking about the "foundation." I don't even think he knows what a foundation is. He just likes the word.
The movie does this thing where the family members are always leaning into the frame. It makes the screen feel crowded and claustrophobic, which is exactly how Albert feels.
I noticed that the house itself is almost like a character. You see it go from just a few wooden beams to a nearly finished building. 🔨
It is actually kind of cool to see how they built houses back in 1931. No power tools, just a lot of guys in hats hitting things with hammers.
At one point, Albert loses his job because he is too busy worrying about the house and the relatives. This part felt weirdly dark for a comedy.
His boss is a total jerk. He basically fires him because Albert is "distracted." Like, yeah, his mother-in-law is literally redesigning his life, give the guy a break! 😤
This movie feels like a filmed play, which happens a lot with these early talkies. It's not as experimental as something like Behind Office Doors which came out around the same time.
The camera doesn't move much. It just sits there and watches people yell at each other in the woods.
There is a scene where they are all standing in the rain. You can tell it is just a hose off-camera. The actors look genuinely miserable, not just "movie" miserable.
I found myself really rooting for Albert to just kick everyone off the property. He doesn't, though. He is too nice, or maybe just too tired to fight back anymore.
If you have seen Pack Up Your Troubles, you might recognize the rhythm of the jokes. It is that very specific 1930s style where a joke is told, and then everyone waits a second for the audience to laugh.
Sometimes the silence after a joke is longer than the joke itself. It is a bit awkward. But in a charming way?
I liked the ending, even if it was a bit too tidy. Everyone is suddenly impressed by Albert's hard work.
It’s a bit fake, honestly. In real life, those relatives would have just found something else to complain about. "The roof is the wrong shade of grey, Albert!"
It’s a short movie, which is a blessing. It doesn't overstay its welcome like a real-life family reunion does.
If you are into old-school RKO comedies, give it a look. It is better than a lot of the forgotten stuff from that era, like The Cave Inn, mostly because the central problem is so relatable.
We all just want a house. And we all want our parents to stay in their own houses. 🏠
Wheeler is good here. He has this shaky voice that makes him sound like he’s on the edge of a nervous breakdown. I think he was actually acting, but he might have just been annoyed by the script.
Anyway, it is a solid 70 minutes of people being annoying to each other. If that’s your thing, you’ll love it.
IMDb 6.2
1930
Community
Log in to comment.
