Lew Lipton Movies

Were it not for the deplorable Silly Billies, Mummy's Boys might well have been the weakest of the Bert Wheeler-Robert Woolsey comedies. The boys are cast as ditch diggers Stanley Wright and Aloysius Whittaker, who sign on as "excavators" for an archaeological expedition into Egypt. What our heroes don't know is that their destination, the tomb of King Pharantine, carries a deadly curse which has apparently claimed the lives of nine previous explorers. It turns out that the deaths have actually been caused by a member of the first Pharantine expedition, who has systematically poisoned his colleagues so that he can lay claim to all the tomb's treasures. The film wraps up with a slapstick chase through the surprisingly well-illuminated tomb, with Stanley and Aloysius doing their best to protect heroine Mary Browning (Barbara Pepper) from harm. Many of the best gags have nothing to do with the wearisome plotline, but even these lack the zip and spark of Wheeler & Woolsey's earlier routines. The film's best performance is rendered by Moroni Olsen as the maniacal, bug-eyed murderer (whose guilt is obvious the moment he's introduced to the audience!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The most intriguing aspect of the 1932 Bert Wheeler-Robert Woolsey romp Hold 'Em Jail was that it was co-scripted by legendary humorist and frequent Marx Bros. contributor S. J. Perelman. The film bears a slight resemblance to the like-vintage Marx/Perelman collaboration Horse Feathers, in that both pictures are climaxed by a zany football game sequence. But while Horse Feathers is set at a college, Hold 'Em Jail takes place behind the cold gray walls of Bidemore Prison. Edgar Kennedy, Bidemore's warden, is all geared up for an impending all-prisoner football game; alas, his team is woefully short of talent. Kennedy puts out a call to Bidemore's "alumni," one of whom is nightclub-owner John Sheehan. When novelty salesmen Wheeler and Woolsey show up at Sheehan's club, the owner frames the two goofs on a robbery charge so that they'll be carted off to Bidemore and recruited for the football team. W&W make themselves at home in jail, securing jobs as trustees so that Wheeler can romance Kennedy's pretty daughter Betty Grable (who was 16 at the time, and looks it), while Woolsey pitches woo at Kennedy's homely sister Edna May Oliver (explaining that she's spent four years studying music in Paris, Edna confesses "I'm not a virtuoso." "Not after four years in Paris" is Woolsey's response). During the climactic gridiron activity, Wheeler and Woolsey spot the duplicitous John Sheehan on the other team, and struggle manfully to get him to sign a confession that will exonerate them. When originally previewed, Hold 'Em Jail was a musical comedy running 74 minutes; audiences laughed at the comedy scenes but groaned at the songs, whereupon the film was pared down to a 66-minute non-musical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The exciting world of horse-racing provides the setting for this lively comedy that centers on luckless Bud Doyle, a jockey who was falsely accused of cheating and barred from the track. Desperate for work, the fellow becomes a singing waiter in Tijuana. Eventually he is allowed back and ends up winning the Big Race by encouraging his horse with a few rousing "Whoop-tee-dos" which inspire his charger to run a little faster. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In his last silent film, Buster Keaton plays a pants-presser who pines for aloof stage actress Dorothy Sebastian. When she is jilted by her fiance Edward Earle, Sebastian spitefully marries Keaton. He is ecstatic (or as ecstatic as the poker-faced comedian ever gets) until he finds out why Sebastian has said "I do." Disconsolately, Keaton takes a job on the crew of a boat owned by bootleggers. He rescues Sebastian from the crooks in the climax, and she realizes at last that she's really loved him all along. Though Buster Keaton had involuntarily given over much of the control of his pictures to his new bosses at MGM (for example, he was no longer permitted to perform his more dangerous stunts), Spite Marriage still contains several vintage Keaton moments, including his classic "putting a drunken woman to bed" routine. The film would be remade in 1944 as the Red Skelton vehicle I Dood It. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is one of the last films from Buster Keaton's classic period, before the coming of sound and interference from MGM spoiled his work and softened his popularity. The Great Stone Face portrays Luke Shannon, a "tintype" portrait photographer who develops a serious crush on Sally (Marceline Day), a beautiful woman who works as a secretary for MGM's newsreel department. Luke's primary rival for Sally's affections is a cameraman for the company, so Luke decides to sign to the newsreel department in hopes of impressing her. However, his hand with a movie camera is not especially sure at first; he mistakenly double exposes a reel of film that results in battleships sailing down Broadway, while his attempts to get footage of a Tong battle seem more successful until an organ grinder's monkey runs off with his film. Luke gets the axe before long, but he's not about to give up, and he tries to find another way to impress his lady love. This was Keaton's first film under a new contract with MGM, and director Edward Sedgwick for the most part allowed Keaton to stick to the creative formula of his best work. However, that would soon change, and many Keaton aficionados consider The Cameraman to be his last truly important work. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Circus Rookies was a by-the-numbers vehicle for MGM's Mutt-and-Jeff comedy team of George K. Arthur and Karl Dane. As indicated by the title, our heroes -- this time playing a reporter named Francis Byrd and an animal trainer named Oscar Thrush -- join a travelling circus, where they are put to work as menial laborers. Francis and Oscar are smitten by pretty aerialist Belle (Louise Lorraine), prompting both men to perform some rather foolhardy feats of valor. Despite their monumental stupidity, the boys manage to save Belle and everyone else in the circus when a crazed gorilla (played by cowboy star Fred Humes!) goes on a rampage in a runaway train. Circus Rookies was followed in short order by two more Arthur-Dane epics, Brotherly Love and All at Sea, each film cut from the same formula cloth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "Abie's Irish Rose" formula was given yet another airing in MGM's Frisco Sally Levy. Sally O'Neil plays Colleen Lapidowitz, the daughter of Jewish father Isaac (Tenen Holtz) and Irish mother Bridget (Kate Price). When Colleen falls in love with Irish cop Patrick Sweeney (Charles Delaney), it comes as a relief to her parents, who've spent most of the picture trying to discourage Colleen's interest in oily lounge lizard Stuart Gold (Roy D'Arcy). This is the sort of picture in which everyone's problems are solved by the heroine's strawberry shortcake. Mickey Daniels, late of the Our Gang comedies, is often erroneously identified as the young actor playing Colleen's brother (it's really a juvenile performer named Turner Savage). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fact that the advertising posters for Tin Hats were designed by John Held Jr. is the most memorable aspect of this minor WWI comedy. Conrad Nagel, George Cooper and Tom O'Brien star as Jack, Lefty and Sarge, three American doughboys who manage to get lost behind enemy lines on Armistice Day. Stumbling into a tiny German village, the three soldiers are welcomed as mighty conquerors by the war-weary citizens. As Lefty and Sarge enjoy the fruits of victory (namely booze and women), Jack ardently courts pretty fraulein Elsa Van Bergen (Claire Windsor), the wealthiest woman in town. Fearful for their mistress' well-being, Elsa's servants try to scare off Jack and his pals, leading to a wacky denouement in a seemingly haunted castle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide