Diplomaniacs

Diplomaniacs
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam A. Seiter
Written byJoseph L. Mankiewicz (screenplay and story)
Henry Myers (screenplay)
Produced byMerian C. Cooper (executive producer)
Sam Jaffe (associate producer)
StarringBert Wheeler
Robert Woolsey
Marjorie White
Phyllis Barry
Louis Calhern
Edgar Kennedy
CinematographyEdward Cronjager
Edited byWilliam Hamilton
Music byUncredited:
Max Steiner
Roy Webb
Songs:
Harry Akst (music and lyrics)
Edward Eliscu (music and lyrics)
Others:
Bernhard Kaun (orchestration)
Eddie Sharpe (orchestration)
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • April 29, 1933 (1933-04-29)[1]
Running time
61 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$242,000[2]
Box office$461,000[2]

Diplomaniacs is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film starring Wheeler and Woolsey. The film in noted for its absurdist political satire, somewhat in the manner of Million Dollar Legs or Duck Soup, both of which were released within a year of Diplomaniacs.

Plot

Willy Nilly (Bert Wheeler) and Hercules Glub (Robert Woolsey) are barbers with almost no customers: their shop is on an Indian reservation. The tribe pays them to represent the Indian Nation at a peace conference in Switzerland. Unbeknownst to them, several armaments manufacturers want to ensure that the peace conference is a failure, and do everything they can to sabotage it. Ringleader Winkelreid (Louis Calhern) hires Dolores and Fifi (Marjorie White and Phyllis Barry) to distract Willy and Hercules, and steal their secret documents. Willy and Hercules, unaware of the intrigue surrounding them, persist in carrying out their mission.

Cast

Box office

Diplomaniacs was the first Wheeler & Woolsey comedy under the supervision of studio head Merian C. Cooper, who resolved to cut costs during the troubled Depression era. The team's recent comedies Hold 'Em Jail and Girl Crazy had cost $408,000 and $502,000, respectively, under previous studio head David O. Selznick; Cooper slashed the budget for Diplomaniacs to $242,000.[3] According to studio records, the film made a profit of $65,000.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Diplomaniacs: Technical Details". theiapolis.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Richard B. Jewell, "RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951", Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1994, p. 56.
  3. ^ Richard B. Jewell with Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story, New York: Arlington House/Crown, 1982, pp. 60, 62.


Stub icon

This 1930s comedy film–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.