Diplomaniacs

A pacifistic Indian tribe sends two zany barbers to be its envoys at the Peace Conference in Geneva. The DIPLOMANIACS soon find themselves up against the machinations of spies working for a powerful munitions company who have a vested interest in seeing that war continues the demand for their explosive bullets.

Wheeler & Woolsey take a plot ridiculous even by their standards and manage to get some solid laughs out of it. The Boys (Bert Wheeler is the little fellow with the curly hair; Robert Woolsey is the skinny guy with the cigar & glasses) are always tremendous fun to watch, but the viewer who tries to find anything meaningful or coherent in this film would be wasting their time. However, in its own goofy way, DIPLOMANIACS holds its own against DUCK SOUP & MILLION DOLLAR LEGS, two contemporary films with which it shares an hysterical point of view.

The Boys are given a fine supporting cast, each of whom get to shine for a few moments, as they are given no chance for any real character development: Louis Calhern as the suave master spy; Edgar Kennedy as the harried head of the Peace Conference; elderly Richard Carle as an inebriated ship's captain; spunky little Marjorie White as Wheeler's violent love interest, choking him into submission (a very funny comedienne nearly forgotten today, a tragic car wreck would claim her life two years after the release of this film); and Hugh Herbert as an inscrutable proverb-spouting Oriental. Movie mavens will spot Charlie Hall as an eager beaver valet.

Wheeler & White fight their way through `Sing To Me' - while the Boys vocalize with `On The Boulevard' and `No More War.'