THE LAUREL-HARDY MURDER CASE

THE LAUREL-HARDY MURDER CASE (1930). Director: James Parrott.

-- "He fell through a trapdoor and died."

-- "Was he building a house?

-- "No. They were hanging him."

In this short the boys go the home of Uncle Ebenezer Laurel for the reading of his will, only to learn that he was murdered and all of the suspects have been gathered in his creepy old house. There are sinister relatives and possibly a ghost -- or at least something flying about in a sheet. Every Laurel and Hardy feature or featurette has some laughs in it, and this is no exception, but it's also kind of slow and until the end rather uneventful. Not one of their best.

Watch A-Haunting We Will Go or Hold That Ghost with Abbott and Costello instead. **.

PARDON US

PARDON US (1931). Director: James Parrott.

Laurel and Hardy are caught selling beer during prohibition and are sent to prison. An added complication is that Stan's loose tooth makes it sound as if he's giving everybody – from a roughneck cellmate to the prison warden – a Bronx cheer or “raspberry,” with the expected results. Eventually the boys are forced to join an escape and wind up on a nearby plantation in black face. James Finlayson plays the prison teacher and there are a lot of effective character foils in small parts. Oliver Hardy does a fine rendition of “Lazy Moon” during the plantation sequence. This is minor Laurel and Hardy but the boys are as good as ever, and there are some genuinely amusing moments.

Verdict: No pardon required. **1/2.