Hook Line And Sinker (1930)
Directed by Edward F. Cline and released by RKO Radio Pictures, Hook, Line and Sinker is a pre-Code slapstick comedy starring the popular duo Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, with Dorothy Lee rounding out the trio. It was one of RKO’s biggest financial successes of 1930, earning a profit of $225,000—a hefty sum for the time.
Plot Summary
Two fast-talking insurance salesmen—Wilbur Boswell (Wheeler) and J. Addington Ganzy (Woolsey)—help penniless socialite Mary Marsh (Dorothy Lee) turn a rundown hotel she inherited into a thriving business. But trouble brews when rival gangsters target the hotel’s safe, and Mary’s mother wants her to marry a wealthy lawyer, John Blackwell, who’s secretly in league with the crooks.
As chaos unfolds, mistaken identities, romantic entanglements, and a climactic shootout keep the laughs rolling. In the end, Ganzy marries Mary’s mother, and Boswell wins Mary’s heart.
Cast Highlights
- Bert Wheeler as Wilbur Boswell
- Robert Woolsey as J. Addington Ganzy
- Dorothy Lee as Mary Marsh
- Jobyna Howland as Rebecca Marsh
- Ralf Harolde as John Blackwell (aka Buffalo Blackie)
- William B. Davidson, Natalie Moorhead, and George F. Marion in supporting roles
Behind-the-Scenes Trivia
- The film was one of RKO’s top two earners in 1930, alongside Check and Double Check featuring Amos ‘n’ Andy
- A newspaper headline in the film reads “McKinley Elected by 500,000 Majority,” dating the prop to November 1896
- Cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca, who would later become a key figure in film noir aesthetics
