Classic Films in Focus: KENTUCKY KERNELS (1934)

Wheeler and Woolsey are not as familiar today as some of classic comedy’s other leading teams, but they have plenty to offer to fans of The Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, and Laurel and Hardy in terms of loaded lines, nutty plots, and goofy sight gags. Kentucky Kernels (1934) comes from the second half of their career, with George Stevens working as their director, and it makes a perfectly serviceable introduction to the duo’s comedic style, even if it suffers from the dated images of the South that one might expect from a picture with such a title. Along with supporting performances from Mary Carlisle, Noah Beery, and Margaret Dumont, Kentucky Kernels offers additional appeal in the adorably destructive form of child star Spanky McFarland, best remembered today for his recurring role in the Our Gang series of shorts.

Our story opens with Jerry Bronson (Paul Page) trying to commit suicide but being saved by down and out magicians Elmer (Robert Woolsey) and Willie (Bert Wheeler). They convince Bronson to adopt an orphan to cheer himself up, but Elmer and Willie quickly find themselves in charge of the tyke when Bronson elopes. After lawyers pronounce the newly adopted Spanky Milford (Spanky McFarland) heir to a vast Kentucky estate, Elmer and Willie escort him to his inheritance, unaware that the property lies in the middle of an ongoing feud between the Milfords and the Wakefields.

There’s a fair bit of set up before our boys arrive in Kentucky, but that’s where the action really gets going. Much of the “local color” depends on regional and racial stereotypes, some of which are more problematic than others. Wheeler and Woolsey strut around in long coats putting on some ridiculously affected Southern airs, as if their only idea of the South has come directly from equally stereotypical motion pictures, but Noah Beery’s Colonel Wakefield does nothing to dispel the image of the old Southern patriarch. Mary Carlisle, as the Colonel’s daughter, Gloria, makes a pretty love interest for Wheeler’s tender-hearted Willie, although her accent is seriously overdone. Lucille La Verne, a Nashville native, does greater justice to Southern womanhood as Aunt Hannah, who turns out to be one of the most compelling characters in the whole movie. The thorniest element of the picture is certainly Willie Best as the egregiously racist character, Buckshot; Best is credited for the role as “Sleep ‘n’ Eat,” a name he used for several of his earlier films. As successful as Best might have been with the Stepin Fetchit style in the 1930s, it’s almost impossible for viewers to laugh at it today.

Despite these problems, there’s still plenty of funny stuff going on in Kentucky Kernels. The opening gag, with Willie and Elmer arguing like a married couple, is ripe with subversive humor. Willie’s later turn in drag comes as no surprise after that introduction, although he ironically also plays the Romeo to Gloria’s drawling Juliet. Spanky’s penchant for breaking anything made of glass provides an ongoing opportunity for comic mischief, and Elmer’s magic tricks set up several good jokes, as well. The song number that dominates the middle act might go on too long for some viewers’ tastes, but you have to appreciate the increasing absurdity of the auditors, especially when Woolsey sings the romantic ditty to the long-eared object of his affection. There’s also an amusing sequence with a drunk horse and a strangely bifurcated carriage, and the finale boasts a wild siege at the Milford estate with Spanky creatively indulging his destructive appetite to his heart’s content.

Be sure to appreciate Marx Brothers regular Margaret Dumont in a small role as the head of the orphanage. For more from Wheeler and Woolsey, try Caught Plastered (1931), Diplomaniacs (1933), and Hips, Hips, Hooray! (1934). Spanky McFarland takes the title role in General Spanky (1936), while Mary Carlisle also appears in Dance, Girl, Dance (1940). You’ll find Noah Beery, the brother of Wallace, in The Mark of Zorro (1920), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Wheeler and Woolsey’s Cockeyed Cavaliers (1934). Lucille La Verne appeared in numerous silent films, including Orphans of the Storm (1921), but if you close your eyes you might also recognize her as the voice of the evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). See more of George Steven's directorial work from the 1930s in Annie Oakley (1935), Swing Time (1936), and Gunga Din (1939).

You'll find Kentucky Kernels available for streaming on Warner Archive Instant. Other Wheeler and Woolsey films currently on the Warner site include Diplomaniacs (1933) and On Again - Off Again (1937).

Classic Films in Focus: THE GHOST BREAKERS (1940)

The "old dark house" picture has been a staple of the horror and horror-comedy genres at least as far back as the silent classic, The Cat and the Canary (1927), long before the Scooby Gang made it the regular fare of children's entertainment. To this tradition you may add The Ghost Breakers (1940), a creepy comedy featuring all kinds of silly scares and a very young Bob Hope firing off one-liners like silver bullets. While some of the film's touchier aspects may lessen the modern viewer's enthusiasm for the movie, The Ghost Breakers has plenty of laughs and even some genuine thrills to warrant attention, and kids will probably enjoy its humorous take on the haunted house theme.

Bob Hope plays Larry Lawrence (aka Lawrence Lawrence Lawrence, because his parents "lacked creativity"), a radio celebrity whose news scoops involving the mob get him into hot water. When Larry goes to confront the gangsters, he accidentally gets mixed up in the affairs of Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard), who has just inherited a cursed Cuban castle. Larry and his sidekick Alex (Willie Best) accompany Mary to Cuba to investigate the property's ghoulish reputation; once there, they discover both corporeal and ghostly threats lurking in the castle's moonlit halls.

Hope and Paulette Goddard make a fine pair, and they share some very good scenes that combine romance and comedy in equal measure. No shrinking violet, Goddard's Mary is a plucky heroine, ready to engage Larry's silly humor or to venture alone into the haunted castle at night. She becomes especially lovely when she assumes the costume of a long dead ancestor; the stunning black dress, designed by Edith Head, is a real winner, and it suits the actress perfectly. Hope is remarkably handsome, although his distinctive features still suggest the fool more than the hero; his obvious jealousy when another man enters the picture engages our sympathy for fear he should lose the lovely Mary to a more conventional sort of leading man.

The only real hitch in the picture is Willie Best's appearance as Alex, Larry's manservant and companion. There are two ways to react to the performance: you can either decry it as another "Stepin Fetchit" stereotype or you can appreciate how much Best is able to do with it in spite of the attitudes of the day. Best was one of the best-known black character actors in the business, notable enough to recieve credit for small roles when most performers would not. His goggle-eyed reaction shots are typical of the era, and Best eventually lost the public's support as a new generation of African-Americans sought to distance themselves from such portrayals. Still, Alex is Larry's functional equal in the film; often more practical than Larry, and no more frightened by the specters than his white companions, Alex is more sidekick than servant, and Best certainly knows how to hold the screen against the charismatic Hope. If you watch the film with younger viewers, it's a good idea to talk about Best's character and how depictions of minorities have changed since the 1940s, but children are more likely to regard Alex as a full participant in the comedy than a mere stereotype, and that may be the wisest and most appreciative way to view Best's performance.

Look for Anthony Quinn playing a dual role as Cuban twin brothers, as well as Virginia Brissac rendered utterly unrecognizable under the heavy make-up of the zombie mother. If you like haunted house movies, be sure to catch The Old Dark House (1932) and House on Haunted Hill (1959). For more spooky comedy, try Topper (1937), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). Hope and Goddard also starred together in a 1939 remake of The Cat and the Canary. Bob Hope is best remembered today for his road movies with Bing Crosby, but he also stars in The Lemon Drop Kid (1951), Casanova's Big Night (1954), and The Seven Little Foys (1955). You can see more of Paulette Goddard in Modern Times (1936), The Women (1939), and The Great Dictator (1940). The Ghost Breakers, which began life as a stage play, was remade in 1953 by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis as Scared Stiff, with Lewis filling the role that Willie Best had plays in the 1940 version.

An earlier version of this review originally appeared on Examiner.com. The author retains all rights to this content.