https://imdb.com/title/tt0023013/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_2_nm_0_in_0_q_hold%2520em%2520jailPrison films were all the rage in the early 1930s: The Big House, Pardon Us, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, and finally there’s Hold ‘Em Jail starring Wheeler and Woolsey.
The plot is quite amusing: the warden (played by Edgar Kennedy) is obsessed with beating a rival prison in a football game, so he had people framed for crimes so they can join the team. Edgar Kennedy was a great supporting act himself, so his role is quite memorable.
Wheeler and Woolsey are told to do an armed robbery with toy guns, but get “framed” when it turns out they were actually given real ones. To be honest, I’m not sure that would even matter in real life, it would still be armed robbery.
This movie is another example of how Wheeler and Woolsey are now solidly film comedians instead of being stage-like and attempting to fit it to film. I got a Three Stooges-like feel for a few reasons.
The first is that Bert Wheeler’s character name is Curley. What a coincidence! And the second is a great scene where a fellow inmate asks them to take the shackle and chain off his foot. They try all sorts of tools like a hammer, breaking a table, and also burning his feet in cold water. It’s so similar to many of the scenes the Stooges did, but as far as I’m aware they had yet to do a scene like this.
The climatic football game is also quite-Stooge like with all the gags and mishaps that occurs in the field. Of course, their team wins in a dramatic comeback.
Dorothy Lee is not in this movie, instead the romantic lead is played by Betty Grable. I was quite surprised to see her, as I didn’t know she was in movies this early. She would become a massive star during the 1940s. The age gap is an issue, as she was quite young at the time, with different sources saying she was 15 or 18 at the time.
Another thumbs up movie for the duo.
