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So This is Africa (1933) - Wheeler and Woolsey

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Offline metaldams




Watch SO THIS IS AFRICA in the link above.

      Wheeler and Woolsey spent the majority of their career at RKO studios.  Of the 21 films they made together, only the subject of this review, SO THIS IS AFRICA, was made outside of RKO, the studio being Columbia.  After their RKO contract expired, Harry Cohn convinced Bert and Bob to sign a one picture deal with Columbia where the team shares in the profits.  Before the picture even finished filming, Bert and Bob resigned with RKO and legend has it, never saw any of the profits.

      Speaking of legend, this barely over one hour film was about ninety minutes in its original cut but had to go through severe editing to get past the censor board.  Yes, even in the pre code days there was some level of censorship.  SO THIS IS AFRICA was considered, in its original cut, about the most risqué film of its time.  It would be fascinating if a ninety minute version of this film ever surfaced, but as it stands now, there are plenty of pre code moments to savor.  This movie ultimately plays like a sex comedy for 1933 standards. 

      Before getting to that, the basic plot of the film is Bert and Bob win some tamed lions in a raffle and are out of a job, so they spend the beginning of the film half heartedly convincing themselves to jump off the ledge of a building.  The view down to the ground should be familiar to every Stooge fan, it’s been recycled in a zillion Stooge shorts.  Makes me wonder how long that shot has been in existence. 

      Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson Martini (Esther Muir) is an expert on Africa who has failed to bring back a jungle film for the film company she works for because she’s afraid of lions.  Eventually the studio hears of the tame lions Bert and Bob have, meet up and they’re convinced to go to Africa to make a film.  In between all of this, we are treated to a falling elevator gag, Bert and Bob trying to transport a donkey into the hotel to feed the lions and a musical number with a bunch of tribesman whether they should or shouldn’t go to Africa.  All very entertaining stuff that helps moves the plot and comedy nicely.

      Once the film is in Africa, the sex comedy begins.  Esther Muir and Robert Woolsey have an onscreen romance.  That leads to some wonderful dialogue exchanges like:

Bob: What a lovely gown.  That certainly is pretty.
Martini: You think it becoming?
Bob: It’ll be coming off any minute now.

      Yup!  It’s a pre code comedy alright.  Bert has to get in on the fun as well.  Since this is a Columbia film, his regular leading lady, Dorothy Lee was not available.  This time, he gets Raquel Torres, much more famous for her role in The Marx Brothers film DUCK SOUP.  She plays a native girl wearing a skimpy outfit she’s practically falling out of at times.  She has a lot of dialogue in terms of how often she speaks, but her lines are limited to the words, “more” and “nuts.”  The first word concerning kissing and sex and the last word concerning food - I think.

      The final quarter of the film they all meet the local tribe of sexy Amazon women.  All of them tame by day but by night, they’ll love the men to death.  One of them even killed three husbands through her lovemaking prowess.  We get treated to more pre code dialogue in this sequence.  When Bert and Bob are captured, Bob gets hung upside down on a stake.  While hanging upside down and looking at the Amazon women’s back sides, he says, “Bottoms up.”  He makes another crack about being interested in studying their backgrounds.  Makes me wonder what actually got censored from the film!

      So yeah, a quick, brisk, one hour pre code comedy that was pretty risqué for its time - though by today’s standards pretty tame.  Most Bert and Bob films have romance and music combined with the comedy.  Here it’s straight forward comedy with two musical numbers that are comic in nature - like an early Marx Brothers film would have.  Overall a very fun movie to watch and one of the better Wheeler and Woolsey comedies.  Check it out.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline GenoCuddy

Great review, yes this is one of four Wheeler and Woolseys that I would recommend to classic comedy scholars with the other three being Peach O'Reno, Diplomaniacs and Hips Hips Hooray! This is one of their most risque with scantily clad women and that is always big plus, they reached the apex of that in Hips Hips Hooray! I didn't se it denoted in your review but at the 51:27 mark you can hear Woolsey say as he looks at the native girl's chest, "Nice tits, too!" I was initially astounded by this when Ralph Celentano pointed it out to me yonder back. Raquel Torres is a sexy change up from perky Dorothy Lee, it is so interesting just how much correlation there is between Wheeler and Woolsey and The Marx Brothers. The same year they made this, they made Diplomaniacs which has Louis Calhern as the villain, in a similar role he served in the same year's Duck Soup with The Marxes, so I guess it was only natural to have the leading lady from Duck Soup in a Wheeler and Woolsey film in the same year as well, not even mentioning the many cast and crew crossovers both teams shared. This is why I've never understood why so many looked down upon Wheeler and Woolsey when many of the same people worked on the Marx Brothers films. Wheeler and Woolsey, at least in their pre-code outings, rank right up there for me as one of my favorite comedy teams. Incidentally, So This is Africa is my most popular upload on YouTube, where it will remain until Sony decides to finally get off their duff and release it themselves, fat chance of that though.


Offline metaldams

Great review, yes this is one of four Wheeler and Woolseys that I would recommend to classic comedy scholars with the other three being Peach O'Reno, Diplomaniacs and Hips Hips Hooray! This is one of their most risque with scantily clad women and that is always big plus, they reached the apex of that in Hips Hips Hooray! I didn't se it denoted in your review but at the 51:27 mark you can hear Woolsey say as he looks at the native girl's chest, "Nice tits, too!" I was initially astounded by this when Ralph Celentano pointed it out to me yonder back. Raquel Torres is a sexy change up from perky Dorothy Lee, it is so interesting just how much correlation there is between Wheeler and Woolsey and The Marx Brothers. The same year they made this, they made Diplomaniacs which has Louis Calhern as the villain, in a similar role he served in the same year's Duck Soup with The Marxes, so I guess it was only natural to have the leading lady from Duck Soup in a Wheeler and Woolsey film in the same year as well, not even mentioning the many cast and crew crossovers both teams shared. This is why I've never understood why so many looked down upon Wheeler and Woolsey when many of the same people worked on the Marx Brothers films. Wheeler and Woolsey, at least in their pre-code outings, rank right up there for me as one of my favorite comedy teams. Incidentally, So This is Africa is my most popular upload on YouTube, where it will remain until Sony decides to finally get off their duff and release it themselves, fat chance of that though.

Oh my God, he does say, “Nice tits, too!”  The girl is showing them off, but what surprises me is that Woolsey says it right out in the open.  I was expecting it to be something you’d need a good set of ears to hear, like Edgar Kennedy’s “shit” in PERFECT DAY, but no, the line is right there, front and center.  Can’t believe I missed it.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Dr. Mabuse

"Two Big Sexplorers Go Big Dame Hunting"

"So This Is Africa" (1933) represents Wheeler and Woolsey in all their pre-Code glory, with two Marx Brothers femme fatales thrown in for good measure. Like W.C. Fields, I feel that Bert and Bob got everything they wanted after the censors wielded their scissors (occasional Fields director Edward Cline also knew what he was doing). The team's only Columbia production moves at a faster clip than their RKO efforts and the laughs are plentiful. I do not understand why the Sony honchos continue to drag their heels on a DVD release. Unfortunately, the outrageous Columbia serials directed by James W. Horne (except for "The Shadow" and "Captain Midnight") also languish in the vaults.

8/10


Offline metaldams

"Two Big Sexplorers Go Big Dame Hunting"


Sweet!  ;D

I think Fields (surprisingly) survived the code much better than Bert and Bob.  Fields still made some classics - even IT’S A GIFT is a few months after the code started.  Bert and Bob?  No code classics.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Dr. Mabuse

I think Fields (surprisingly) survived the code much better than Bert and Bob.  Fields still made some classics - even IT’S A GIFT is a few months after the code started.  Bert and Bob?  No code classics.

Like Mae West and Betty Boop (and, to a lesser degree, The Marx Brothers), the Production Code really did a number on Wheeler and Woolsey. Fields, on the other hand, won more censorship battles than he lost — with "The Bank Dick" (directed by a loyal and sympathetic Edward Cline) his crowning achievement.


Offline GenoCuddy

I am in agreement, while there are films that are technically well made, like Kentucky Kernels and The Nitwits, the later Wheeler and Woolsey films are mostly misses. The two lowest points being Mummy's Boys and On Again, Off Again, the latter being the only W&W film that made me genuinely angry. The worst of the bunch were directed by Fred Guiol, a former Roach guy. I think that, even if Woolsey hadn't died in 1938, RKO would have likely dropped them anyway as their films, by that time, only lost money.


Offline metaldams

Speaking of code Wheeler and Woolsey, I just got a copy of THE RAINMAKERS and plan on watching it this weekend.  Literally the only starring vehicle of theirs I haven’t seen yet.

I watched STIA, DIPLOMANIACS and SILLY BILLIES this week.  The contrast between the last and first two is incredible.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline HomokHarcos

Sorry I haven't reviewed this one yet. I want to watch the Wheeler and Woolsey movies in chronological order (I've only seen Rio Rita yet) but I might post my thoughts when I get there.


Offline metaldams

Sorry I haven't reviewed this one yet. I want to watch the Wheeler and Woolsey movies in chronological order (I've only seen Rio Rita yet) but I might post my thoughts when I get there.

I still need to see Rio Rita (in the technical sense, not a starring vehicle).  Will give fair warning, Dixiana is rough sledding, but the other early films are all very good.  I did review The Cuckoos, which would be next for you to see.
- Doug Sarnecky