Cinema Revisited: Peach O'Reno (1931)
Directed by William Seiter. Cast: Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Zelma O'Neal, Joseph Cawthorn, Cora Witherspoon, Sam Hardy. Released December 25, 1931. Running time 63 minutes.
Woman: I have two lovely daughters and they look just like me
Bob Woolsey: Well, what do you care as long as they have their health.
Woolsey, along with Bert Wheeler, is relentless in this line-for-line hilarious comedy that benefits from better direction than usual. “Peach o’ Reno” is a comical satire on the divorce market of that city with Wheeler and Woolsey as lawyers who specialize in separations.
Wheeler: Very few women would marry you
Man: Very few would be enough
The focal point here is a married couple of 25 years who get into an argument at their anniversary party and decide to call it quits. The man goes to Wheeler as his lawyer, while the woman goes to Woolsey. Meanwhile, the couple’s two daughters want to stop it from happening. That’s really all the plot this film’s narrative offers. But the dialog is a series of funny one-liners, and somehow the story gets told. There is a tangential sub-plot, borrowing from “Charley’s Aunt,” that has Wheeler in drag in order to avoid an angry man whose wife has left him with the help of the lawyers.
Wheeler: Are you married?
Girl: No, I just look worn out from the long trip.
Cora Witherspoon plays the woman seeking a divorce. She has become quite familiar to me, having appeared with so many people about whom I’ve written books (W.C. Fields, Jean Harlow, a Charlie Chan film, etc). “Peach o Reno” is her first large film role and she rises to the occasion in all of her shrewish glory. Joe Hawthorn plays the man with scenery-chewing gusto. The daughters are frequent Wheeler and Woolsey co-star Dorothy Lee and Zelma O’Neal, neither of whom acted in movies for every long, but both of whom lived well into their 80s.
Girl: She looks like a loose woman
Woolsey: Well, she’ll be tight before the night’s over.
Director William Seiter, who would later helm movies with Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, and Abbott and Costello, adds some rather impressive touches to this wild comedy, including an opening establishing shot that tracks the camera backward from the end of a long table and pulls back to reveal the dinner party. It is really a nice, artful thing that adds a sense of filmmaking prowess to the comical proceedings. Wheeler and Woolsey were vaudeville comedians and their repartee is continuous and hilarious. But it is not often their films are given directors with a cinematic vision that adds a bit of filmmaking depth to the proceedings. Seiter had directed the duo in “Caught Plastered” and would also direct the duo’s next movie, “Girl Crazy.”
Woman: If I ever get married again I want a man who is easily pleased
Woolsey: That’s the kind you’ll get!
There is a certain historical interest in “Peach o Reno.” It was made the year that divorces became quick and easy in the city and that gambling was legalized. The comedy takes advantage of both of these, the gambling aspect allowing for a great visual of Wheeler, in drag, dancing with a gambler, causing the chips to fall from his pockets, and Woosley crawling behind them with a whisk broom and a dust pan.
Girl: Are girls all you think about?
Woolsey: Yes, I am very broad-minded
Along with its historical significance, “Peach o Reno” is also important to the Wheeler and Woolsey filmography. Their films had started to become a bit lackluster, with a sameness from movie to movie. “Peach o Reno” opened things up a bit with a better script and better director. It was a big hit, and from this point, the duo’s films were better quality.
While the film rests on its funny dialog, there is some slapstick in “Peach o Reno,” including comic dance performed by the duo (with Wheeler in drag), and a few fun musical numbers, including the main song of the feature, “From Niagara Falls to Reno,” delightfully performed by Dorothy Lee and Bert Wheeler. The climactic trial scene is pure satire, presented as a sporting event, with radio coverage, a cheering crowd, and a food vendor walking about the courtroom.
The Wheeler and Woolsey features are sociocultural artifacts, not only providing a glimpse at vaudeville-style humor from another era, but also a good example of pre-code comedy. “Peach o Reno” is one of their best.