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The Rainmakers
Movie

The Rainmakers

1935 • Unknown

Woke Score
1.2
out of 10

Plot

Roscoe the Rainmaker is invited to California (with sidekick "Billy") to relieve a terrible dry spell and to save the community from an unscrupulous businessman who stands to profit from the drought

Overall Series Review

The Rainmakers is a 1935 Wheeler and Woolsey comedy set in a drought-stricken California farming community. The plot follows the titular rainmaker, Roscoe, and his sidekick, Billy, as they arrive to alleviate the drought. Their primary opposition is not the weather, but an unscrupulous local businessman who seeks to exploit the farmers' misfortune by trying to acquire their land at low prices. The narrative is a classic Depression-era morality tale pitting everyday people and heroic con-men against a greedy capitalist villain. The humor is derived from the main duo's vaudeville-style antics, which include a climactic runaway train sequence. A secondary plot features a conventional romance for the sidekick, reinforcing traditional social structures. The film presents a clear, objective moral truth where altruism and community support triumph over financial exploitation, adhering closely to the moral and social norms of the 1930s.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The film’s central conflict is purely economic and moral: selfless heroes trying to save a community from a greedy, land-exploiting businessman. Characters are judged entirely on their moral actions and competence, representing universal meritocracy. There is no focus on immutable characteristics, race, or systemic oppression, and the casting reflects the demographic homogeneity of Hollywood films from the 1930s without any political messaging.

Oikophobia1/10

The narrative explicitly champions the American farming community and its residents, framing the town as an ancestral home that must be defended from the chaotic forces of greed and natural disaster. The villain is an individual capitalist predator, not a symbol used to demonize Western institutions, ancestors, or the broader culture. Core Western institutions like private property and community are upheld and protected by the heroes.

Feminism2/10

The female lead is a 'cute-as-a-button' love interest who is part of a secondary romantic plot and provides support to the male hero, a role which is complementary and traditional to the era. The main plot is centered entirely around the male comedians and their efforts, preventing the female character from being a 'Girl Boss' or 'Mary Sue' figure. No anti-family or anti-natalist themes are present; the film depicts traditional courtship.

LGBTQ+1/10

The movie is a 1935 comedy centered on a rainmaking scheme and a land-fraud plot. The primary romantic storyline features a traditional male-female pairing. There is no presence of alternative sexualities, a deconstruction of the nuclear family, or any form of gender ideology lecturing. The structure is entirely normative.

Anti-Theism1/10

The plot's conflict is entirely material—drought, land fraud, and pseudo-science rainmaking—not religious. The morality is clearly defined by objective good (saving the town) versus objective evil (exploiting the drought for financial gain). The film does not contain any vilification of religion, and its moral framework acknowledges objective right and wrong, aligning with a transcendent moral law.