Dixiana (1930 – RKO)

Wheeler and Woolsey’s third movie together was intended to equal the success of 1929′s Rio Rita. It starred longtime leading lady Bebe Daniels, who came to prominence in 1915 as Harold Lloyd’s love interest in his string of hit comedies. Dixiana was a lavish and expensive musical with a color sequence near the end of the film, which included dance routines by Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, as well as Wheeler & Woolsey. The film fared poorly at the box office, possibly because the effects of the Great Depression were in full force by September 1930, when the film was released. Wheeler and Woolsey had already established themselves as stars earlier that year with The Cuckoos and would save RKO with their extremely successful films following Dixiana. Though a bit long and slow at times, Dixiana has a lot of great laughs and music whenever Wheeler and Woolsey are on the screen.

Please enjoy this film clip from the 1930 Feature film, Dixiana.