Hook, Line and Sinker
Directed by Edward F. Cline
Written by Tim Whelan and Ralph Spence
1930/US
RKO Radio Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube
Addington Ganzy: Why, do you realize that since nineteen-hundred-and-ten, they have discovered 52 new ways of dying?
Wilbur Boswell: Oh, and you don’t look well.
Addington Ganzy: Yes, why, uh, uh… People are dying this year that have never died before!
In the early thirties people went for a variety of clowns like Laurel and Hardy or the Marx Brothers. Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were a competing comedy duo at the time and they make me laugh the most consistently of all.
The plot, such as it is, has the duo playing Wilbur Boswell (Wheeler) and Addington Ganzy (Woolsey), insurance salesmen eager to con people out of their money. They meet up with Mary Marsh (Dorothy Lee), a sweet young thing who has recently inherited a hotel from her uncle. Wilbur and Mary pair up immediately. The hotel turns out to be very run down but the boys somehow figure out a way to renovate it and market it to VIPs. This is quite inconvenient for some gangsters who had been using the place as a hideout.
It’s a throwaway plot used to place one gag after another. The boys are good at physical humor but I also love the way they deliver their dialogue. Some of the double entendres are quite risque and pre-Code. I’ve seen several of their movies and am looking forward to more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIsdG9XGwfs
Couldn’t find many clips but YouTube has many of the complete films for free
