"Diplomaniacs" is a funny, uneven and very politically incorrect film. It also happens to be one of Wheeler & Woolsey's better movies. It's also very, very unusual in many ways. There's even more singing than usual, cute Dorothy Lee (who is in nearly every one of the boys' films) isn't in this one, and it has a very, very dark ending...surprisingly dark for a comedy.
The story begins with the pair lamenting their opening up a barber shop on American Indian land. The natives don't have beards and don't need their services...but they do, for some inexplicable reason, want Willy and Hercules (Wheeler & Woolsey) to represent them at the Geneva peace conference. After all, they wonder why the Indian nation isn't being represented and they want peace. However, a baddie (Louis Calhern) is bent on preventing the pair from addressing the conference, as he wants war...though they never really say why!
The film is, like "Duck Soup" from the Marx Brothers (which debuted a few months later), a film that is actually deadly serious. It makes fun of the peace conferences of the day because they pointed out that these conferences really achieved nothing to protect mankind...and the film even ends on a very, very dark note. In many ways, it's very intelligent in addressing this YET it also is very dopey and filled with tons of jokes...many of which fall a bit bit flat. It's also very unusual in that the film's dialog is often sung. Overall, a good film that occasionally misses the mark...but also often succeeds.
By the way, I need to address the proverbial elephant in the room with this film. It is filled with politically incorrect stuff that will horrify some viewers. Hugh Herbert plays a Chinese man, the American Indian tribesmen and sexy tribeswomen are ridiculous and the final scene at the peace conference is a giant black-face number!! It is offensive....a product of its times, of course! But, all in all, I still enjoyed it in spite of everything.
Also, do NOT freak out at the swastikas in the opening credits. American Indians (as well as Asians) used the symbol for many, many, many years before the Nazis ever began in Germany....and it's not meant as a Nazi reference.
The story begins with the pair lamenting their opening up a barber shop on American Indian land. The natives don't have beards and don't need their services...but they do, for some inexplicable reason, want Willy and Hercules (Wheeler & Woolsey) to represent them at the Geneva peace conference. After all, they wonder why the Indian nation isn't being represented and they want peace. However, a baddie (Louis Calhern) is bent on preventing the pair from addressing the conference, as he wants war...though they never really say why!
The film is, like "Duck Soup" from the Marx Brothers (which debuted a few months later), a film that is actually deadly serious. It makes fun of the peace conferences of the day because they pointed out that these conferences really achieved nothing to protect mankind...and the film even ends on a very, very dark note. In many ways, it's very intelligent in addressing this YET it also is very dopey and filled with tons of jokes...many of which fall a bit bit flat. It's also very unusual in that the film's dialog is often sung. Overall, a good film that occasionally misses the mark...but also often succeeds.
By the way, I need to address the proverbial elephant in the room with this film. It is filled with politically incorrect stuff that will horrify some viewers. Hugh Herbert plays a Chinese man, the American Indian tribesmen and sexy tribeswomen are ridiculous and the final scene at the peace conference is a giant black-face number!! It is offensive....a product of its times, of course! But, all in all, I still enjoyed it in spite of everything.
Also, do NOT freak out at the swastikas in the opening credits. American Indians (as well as Asians) used the symbol for many, many, many years before the Nazis ever began in Germany....and it's not meant as a Nazi reference.