Absolutely Fantastic

A different way of telling a story

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

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.

Lots of clever jokes, chuckles, men in drag. Sight gags and the usual fare for Wheeler and Woolsey, even some filthy one liners in here if you pay attention. A couple of those jokes would have been snipped right out when the film code started being enforced just a couple years later. This one is all about going to Reno for a quick divorce, with the two men cast as Wattles and Swift, divorce lawyers, with some surprises thrown in. At one point, the two "attorneys" represent opposing sides in one divorce case, but it's really all about getting their jokes out as fast as they can. Watch for Cora Witherspoon, who was in Bank Dick with W.C. Fields. I thought this was a riot, even if it's extra short at just 63 minutes. The jokes and timing in this one hold up better than some of their other oldies. Directed by William Seiter, who had made tons of comedies with ALL the Hollywood greats. I recommend it - its a fun one!

A pair of shady Nevada lawyers become involved in the uproarious divorce proceedings of a strident PEACH-O-RENO.Comics Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey, who starred in a string of popular comedies from 1929 to 1937, return with a funny look at the peculiar goings on--divorces & casinos--in the Nevada city of Reno. The Boys (Wheeler is the little fellow with curly hair; Woolsey is the skinny guy with cigar and glasses) toss out one wisecrack after another in this Pre-Code concoction. The film's hilarity reaches its zenith (or nadir, depending on the viewer's sensibilities) during Wheeler's extended drag sequence, which includes an uproarious dance number with Woolsey. Disguised as a very merry widow, Wheeler challenges Charles Ruggles in CHARLEY'S AUNT (1930) as the best female impersonator of the early talkies.Young Dorothy Lee, Wheeler's very frequent cinematic love interest, is Kewpie Doll cute as always, but she's really given very little to do until quite late in the film when she perches on a grand piano for her requisite song with Bert. Getting better lines is Zelma O'Neal as Lee's blunt talking sister.The girls' divorce-seeking parents are nicely played by Joseph Cawthorn & Cora Witherspoon. Other performances of note are given by Arthur Hoyt as the Boys' nervous Nellie secretary; Mitchell Harris as a gun-happy gambler intent on plugging Wheeler; and Sam Hardy as the conniving judge who presides over the chaotic courtroom scene which ends the film.Movie mavens will recognize corpulent Harry Holman in an uncredited role as Witherspoon's outmaneuvered divorce lawyer.

Perhaps DIPLOMANIACS is their unsung classic, while COCKEYED CAVALIERS might be considered their most lushly produced. There is much to be found in HALF SHOT AT SUNRISE; KENTUCKY KERNELS; THE NITWITS; and HIPS! HIPS! HOORAY!, but for my money, PEACH O'RENO is my favorite Wheeler & Woolsey picture. I never knew about these two, but after my Dad mentioned that they had been his boyhood favorites, I took a close look at their stuff. The first thing that hooked me was the music, for in most of their work, there is at least one terrific song, usually performed by the unsung, underrated genius Bert Wheeler, and his very pretty, very unpretentious partner, Dorothy Lee. Wheeler was not just a good comic and good dancer, he was a clever, gifted dancer, and an inspired, original comedian. A notable 1920s "star of tomorrow," Bert Wheeler's singing was just a fabulous extra. When we are lucky, the songs in his pictures are extended by way of a comic verse for Bob Woolsey, a rather wacky character man who will confuse many until they realize that despite the glasses and the ever present cigar, he is not George Burns. The two were teamed by the legendary Flo Ziegfeld for RIO RITA, and they came along as part of the package when RKO filmed it, with Dorothy Lee selected by Wheeler himself (she appeared as part of the team 13 times). PEACH is that type of film you always hope you'll find along the way – a picture you can recommend to anyone and you can depend on a positive reaction. PEACH can be compared, foot for foot, to any of the best Marx Brothers, I think it is that funny, that unexpected, and that entertaining. Just simply accept Wheeler & Woolsey as Divorce Attorneys, and you too can buy into this inspired satire on the divorce game in Reno, circa early Depression. Divorce? Well, you bet this is pre-code, and when these lawyers need to hire a correspondent, they just dress up Bert Wheeler, who will amaze you with this brilliant turn. Not content to merely parade or mimic, Bert's naughty, slightly debauched femme fatal should place him among America's comedic giants. There have been good drag acts on film, but very few have offered the detailed, inspired, finely-tuned portrayal served up here! In addition, Wheeler taps, the music is fun, the supporting cast is uniformly game and marvelous, the W & W schtick (trick settings, trick costumes, trick photography) is often a delight, the script is crackling, and although her best lines were cut by the censors way back when, we get a rare appearance by Broadway great Zelma O'Neal (GOOD NEWS; FOLLOW THRU!) as Woolsey's opposite.