The Cuckoos
Encyclopedia
The Cuckoos is a musical comedy film
, released by RKO Radio Pictures and partially filmed in two-strip Technicolor
. It features the comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey
.
resort near a gambling casino
. During their trip, his partner falls in love with an American girl named Anita (who has lived with Gypsies her entire life). But Julius, the gyspy leader, is also in love with her.
At the casino is Miss Furst and her niece Ruth who loves Billy, an aviator. Furst wants her to marry the Baron, and the Baron wants Ruth for her money. Miss Furst falls in love with Bird after getting her wallet back. After finding out that Ruth is engaged to Billy, the Baron goes on the Gypsies' side to kidnap
her.
Anita, who was following Sparrow, was also kidnapped. Bird, Billy, and Sparrow go back to Mexico to save their loved ones from the Baron and the Gypsies, and succeed in doing so.
This film also contains a fiery Technicolor
dance sequence with Anita and the Gypsy Queen, titled "Dancing the Devil Away".
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
, released by RKO Radio Pictures and partially filmed in two-strip Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
. It features the comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey
Wheeler & Woolsey
Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were a famous American film comedy team of the 1930s....
.
Plot
A phony fortune teller, Professor Bird, and his partner, Sparrow, are in a MexicanMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
resort near a gambling casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
. During their trip, his partner falls in love with an American girl named Anita (who has lived with Gypsies her entire life). But Julius, the gyspy leader, is also in love with her.
At the casino is Miss Furst and her niece Ruth who loves Billy, an aviator. Furst wants her to marry the Baron, and the Baron wants Ruth for her money. Miss Furst falls in love with Bird after getting her wallet back. After finding out that Ruth is engaged to Billy, the Baron goes on the Gypsies' side to kidnap
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
her.
Anita, who was following Sparrow, was also kidnapped. Bird, Billy, and Sparrow go back to Mexico to save their loved ones from the Baron and the Gypsies, and succeed in doing so.
This film also contains a fiery Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
dance sequence with Anita and the Gypsy Queen, titled "Dancing the Devil Away".
Cast
- Bert Wheeler as Sparrow
- Robert WoolseyRobert WoolseyRobert Woolsey was an American stage and screen comedian and half of the 1930s comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey....
as Professor Cunningham - June ClydeJune ClydeJune Clyde was an American actress, singer and dancer. She was a niece of actress ....
as Ruth Chester - Hugh Trevor as Billy Shannon
- Dorothy LeeDorothy LeeDorothy Lee was an American actress and comedian during the 1930s, usually appearing alongside the popular Wheeler & Woolsey comedy team....
as Anita - Ivan LebedeffIvan LebedeffIvan Lebedeff was a Russian film actor. He appeared in 66 films between 1926 and 1953.He was born in Ushpol , Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, on June 18, 1894, and died in Los Angeles, California, from a heart attack.He migrated to the United States in 1925 and in 1930 was recorded at...
as The Baron - Marguerita Padula as Gypsy Queen
- Mitchell LewisMitchell LewisMitchell Lewis was an American film actor. He appeared in 200 films between 1914 and 1956. His best known role is Captain of the Winkie Guards in The Wizard of Oz, but he was uncredited. His lines were "She's dead...
as Julius - Jobyna HowlandJobyna HowlandJobyna Howland was an American stage and screen actress. Tall, regal and beautiful Howland was another model for Charles Dana Gibson's famous sketching The Gibson Girl. Howland made her first appearance on the New York Stage in 1899 managed by Daniel Frohman...
as Fannie Hurst