SWISS MISS

The classic piano sequence

SWISS MISS (1938). Director: John G. Blystone. Colorized version. 

While composer Victor Albert (Walter Woolf King of A Night at the Opera) is in a quaint Swiss village with his assistant, Edward (Eric Blore), trying to work on his new operetta, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are trying to sell mousetraps -- where there's cheese, there must be mice. Along comes Victor's soprano wife, Anna (Grete Natzler aka Della Lind), the last person he wants to see because he fears he's in her shadow. Unable to pay a restaurant bill after being given worthless money, Stan and Oliver go to work for the inn, as does Anna, who figures this will keep Victor from ordering her out of town. She also figures she can be perfectly convincing as the peasant girl who is the heroine of her husband's new operetta, although he is doubtful. While all this plays out, everyone sings songs, including the most memorable, "I Can't Get Over the Alps." (Other songs, such as "The Cricket Song," are not as memorable.) 

It may not be a masterpiece, but Swiss Miss is a cute, amusing film with two major set-pieces. The first is  when Stan has a funny encounter with a Saint Bernard

Stan and the St. Bernard

whose brandy he covets (Laurel shows that he does have some brains after all). The second is the hilarious bit when the boys try to push a piano across a rope bridge that is precariously hanging over a gorge far, far below! (This tops the piano sequence in a short they did in 1932, The Music Box.) There's even, improbably, a gorilla who also figures in the funny postscript. This was the last film for Viennese actress-singer Grete Natzler, who is pretty and charming. NOTE: TCM once dared to show a 66 minute shortened version of this film without "I Can't Get Over the Alps," for shame. Sue me, I love that number!

Verdict: The boys are always great! ***.  

SWISS MISS

SWISS MISS (1938). Director: John G. Blystone.

Laurel and Hardy are trying to sell mouse traps in Switzerland when they're swindled by a potential customer. This forces them to work for a hotel where they are befriended by singer Anna Albert (Della Lind), whose husband Victor (Walter Woolf King), is trying to find peace and quiet as he works on a new operetta. The last thing he gets from the boys is peace and quiet as Hardy serenades the lovely Anna (not realizing she's married), Laurel creates a snowstorm out of chicken feathers so that a local Saint Bernard will "rescue" him with brandy, and both of them try to traverse a rope bridge over a high, high canyon as they carry a piano! The "plot" isn't much, but Laurel and Hardy are in good form and there are many very funny sequences. "The Cricket Song" that Victor composes is pretty bad, but some of the other music is better. Some fine character actors, including Eric Blore, add to the fun. King played singer Rodolfo Lassparri in A Night at the Opera. NOTE: Recently Turner Classic Movies -- my favorite cable network -- showed a 66 minute print of Swiss Miss instead of the 72 minute version. While some viewers may not care that the scene where King sings "I Can't Get Over the Alps" has been cut, I get a hoot out of that number. Too bad. Hopefully the scene will be reinstated when TCM shows the film again next month.

Verdict: Love that gorilla! ***.