1931's "Cracked Nuts" (shooting title "Assorted Nuts") was the 6th (out of 21) feature comedy from the extremely popular team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, first paired in the stage and screen versions of "Rio Rita" in 1929 serving up the prototype for the films of Abbott and Costello. The duo should perhaps be considered a trio since adorable Dorothy Lee was Wheeler's regular dancing/singing partner in 13 of their vehicles, 6 for 6 with her appearance here as Betty Harrington, Edna May Oliver typically cast as her disapproving Aunt Minnie, sending Bert's Wendell Graham away from the Venus De Milo Arms Hotel to seek fame to go with his fortune in the far off land of (fictitious) El Dorania. This is the point where Boris Karloff enters at the 8 minute mark, conveniently named Boris, an anarchist required to lure in suckers to finance various revolutions on behalf of corrupt General Bogardus (Stanley Fields). As it happens, the new monarch of El Dorania is Zander Ulysses Parkhurst (Woolsey), an old friend of Wendell's, who won his position in a crap game, only meeting each other by the midway mark. Wendell has to earn his keep by assassinating his pal, but in his reluctance to do so a bomber pilot is hired to do the job, played by Mack Sennett veteran Ben Turpin minus his familiar mustache, in a rare talkie appearance. RKO obviously had plans to split up W&W in an attempt to double their profits, and while they spend the first half working apart, both would earn a solo vehicle in due course, Wheeler's "Too Many Cooks" (with Dorothy Lee) doing as poorly as Woolsey's "Everything's Rosie," after which they remained a team until Robert Woolsey's death in 1938. Boris Karloff had only just completed Howard Hawks' "The Criminal Code" when he started work on this comedy, 5 minutes screen time essentially playing it straight without going for laughs, a decent showing with his star on the rise. Bert and Bob enjoy a few good moments, especially a bit featuring the towns of What and Which ("that's the town where General Diddy died" "Diddy?" "yes he did!"), and they even refer to the pilot as 'Cross Eyed Ben' for the benefit of audience members who may not recall Turpin, who actually took out an insurance policy with Lloyds of London against his eyes uncrossing!
