2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One Of The Funniest Films I've Ever Seen, July 31, 2005
This review is from: Diplomaniacs [VHS] (VHS Tape)
If anything in "Diplomaniacs" makes sense to you, you are one step ahead of the game. Here is a movie that completely exist within its own world. Nothing in the movie is even in the slightest bit believeable. You could say this movie is delightfully ridiculous. It is as zany and offbeat as a Marx Brothers comedy or a Bob Hope and Bing Crosby movie. Because of this it is the best Wheeler & Woolsey comedy of the ten films I have seen by them.
If you can make sense of it the plot goes something like this. Wheeler and Woolsey play two barbers; Willy Nilly (Wheeler) and Hercules Glub (Woolsey). They open their shop on an Indian reservation. This is done because Willy misheard Hercules when he said they should open a shop where there are no competitors. Willy thought he said they should open a shop where there are no customers. Somehow the two men are called upon by an Indian Chief (Edward Cooper) to deliver letters to a Peace Conference they were not invited to. The Indians want Wheeler and Woolsey to have all the prime ministers sign their peace treaty at a convention in Geneva. So the two agree.
But wait, more nonsense ensues. Trying to stop them is Winklereid (Louis Calhern) whom with associates have developed an explosive bullet. Because of this they want a war to break out. Though it is never really explained why they want this I assume it is because they figure the world leaders will all want to try on buy these bullets. So Winklereid goes through various methods to stop the boys. He along with his henchmen, simply known as Chinamen (played by the non Oriental character actor Hugh Herbert) get a vamp (Marjorie White) Dolores to try and seduce the papers away from them, but when she falls in love with one of them another girl is hired, Fifi (Phyllis Barry) who falls in love with the other one.
But do you really care to know any of this? Probably not. It's pointless to go over the plot with you because by me describing it to you it all seems logical. You have to see how this material is played out. It is anything but logical. The movie has people going into song and dance out of nowhere, people telling one-liners and not getting into trouble, characters deciding on their own to exit the film, and much more.
The film was directed by William A. Seiter who had directed Wheeler and Woolsey in previous films including my old favorite "Peach-O-Reno" and their lesser attempt "Girl Crazy". But Seiter's comedy experience did not stop there. He also directed Laurel & Hardy in a film that is often regarded as their best "Sons of the Desert" and directed the Marx Brothers in "Room Service". The movie was co-written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz as well. With up of such talent behind the scenes perhaps it is not so odd the movie is as funny as it is.
Wheeler and Woolsey really don't have developed characters in this movie but honestly I don't care. I've never had as much fun as I did watching this film when compared to their other works. The plot structure is all over the place. The film has no real ending, nothing is really resolved. It is the first film I can think of where the heroes don't succeed. But the film has a lot of charm.
Spot Charlie Hall as Calhern's valet and Edgar Kennedy as the Chairman of the Peace Conference.
Bottom-line: The best Wheeler and Woolsey comedy I have seen so far. A movie as wild as anything the Marx Brothers or Bob Hope ever made. A brilliant piece of political satire.
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