HOLLYWOOD PARTY (1934)

HOLLYWOOD PARTY (1934). Director: Roy Rowland.

The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy in the same movie! Along with Jimmy Durante, Lupe Velez (the Mexican Spitfire), Polly Moran, Arthur Treacher, and Mickey Mouse. Including an animated bit called the "Hot Chocolate Soldier." Durante plays the great "Scharzan," whose jungle movies have taken a dip at the box office. His rival, "Liondora" (George Givot), isn't doing so great either, and both of them hope to get a prize pride of lions to appear in their films with them. Somehow this all leads to a great big Hollywood party with chorus girls singing the snappy title tune (the darn thing sticks in your memory whether you want it to or not!). Best bits are scenes between Lupe Velez and Laurel and Hardy, and the interplay between Durante and Polly Moran as a wealthy patroness of the arts. Some of the gags are real groaners. The Three Stooges are autograph hunters and Laurel and Hardy think they own the aforementioned lions.

Verdict: Fun, but if only the material were as good as the cast! **1/2.

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 [UNCUT]

Walter Woolf King and Eric Blore

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

"A swiss miss went scheeing down a mountain side.
One day she went "he-ing" and became my bride.
So now she sits at St. Moritz and waits for me but I can't get over the Alps!" 

Stan and Ollie (Laurel and Hardy) are trying to sell mouse traps in the Swiss Alps, but not having very much luck at it. Given worthless currency to buy out their business, they order everything they can eat at an inn but have to go to work in the place to pay the bill. Also at the inn is composer Victor Albert (Walter Woolf King), who wants peace and quiet to compose his operetta. Instead his soprano wife, Anna (Della Lind) shows up and proves a distraction. In the meantime there are amusing scenes with Stan and a lovable St. Bernard, not to mention  a classic sequence in which the fellows try to transport a piano across a shaky rope bridge scanning a deep chasm. In the full 72 minute version of the film [not the abridged 66 minute version that has been shown by Turner Classic Movies] we also get to see Walter Woolf King and assistant Eric Blore camping it up as they sing the catchy number "I Can't Get Over the Alps." This is a funny, charming movie with the comedy team in top form, ably assisted by an enthusiastic supporting cast.

Verdict: The piano scene alone is worth the price of admission and "Alps" is an added bonus. ***.

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. **.

CLASSIC LAUREL AND HARDY SHORTS

CLASSIC LAUREL AND HARDY SHORTS.

TCM recently held a Laurel and Hardy all-day festival in which they showed Pardon Us, Swiss Miss (still with several minutes cut) and quite a few classic shorts. Some of the more memorable ones include: Tit for Tat, in which the boys have a hilarious war with the owner of the grocery that's next to their electrical appliance store; Hog Wild, in which they try to put up a radio antennae and nearly wreck the house to Mrs. Hardy's furor; Our Wife, in which Ollie elopes with a large, economy-sized bride whose wealthy father disapproves of the union; and Be Big!, in which the boys try to sneak off to a party when their wives want them to accompany them to Atlantic City (one sequence has Stan hysterically trying to get Ollie's boot off of his fat foot). In Night Owls, a cop blackmails the boys into robbing his sergeant's house, so he can capture them and impress the boss, and in Their First Mistake they adopt a child to save Ollie's marriage, only to learn that his wife is not only suing him for divorce, but suing Laurel for alienation of affection! "Now that you've gone and gotten me into this trouble, you want to walk out and leave me flat!" Oliver whines to Stan.

Verdict: Some very, very funny stuff. ***.

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.

BABES IN TOYLAND aka MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS

BABES IN TOYLAND (1934). Directed by Gus Meins and Charley Rogers.


Stannie Dum (Stan Laurel) and Ollie Dee (Oliver Hardy) are tenants in the shoe of Mrs. Peep (Florence Roberts), mother of Little Bo-Peep (Charlotte Henry). Unfortunately the mortgage on the shoe is held by the sinister Silas Barnaby (Harry Kleinbach -- see more on him below), who will accept the hand of Bo-Peep in marriage in lieu of the latest payment. Trying to help Widow Peep secure the money, Stannie and Ollie only make things worse. After many very amusing complications, it all ends up with the boys saving the town from the boogie men in Boogeyland with the 100 wind-up soldiers that they accidentally made six feet tall instead of 12 inches.


Babes in Toyland (retitled March of the Wooden Soldiers for TV and to distinguish it from a later Walt Disney production) is irresistible and utterly charming. Laurel and Hardy are at the top of their game, and the supporting cast is very well chosen. As Bo-Peep's boyfriend Tom-Tom, Felix Knight exhibits a fine singing voice; he should have had a bigger career in movies. The score by Victor Herbert is romantic and melodious (albeit most of the lyrics are pretty silly). There are too many great scenes to mention but I always get a kick out of the mouse (a chimp in a mouse outfit? -- I've never figured it out) flying across Toyland in a miniature zeppelin and lobbing firecrackers at boogeymen! The boogeymen themselves are scary enough to frighten big children, and the whole production is wonderfully elaborate.


NOTE: Harry Kleinbach was also known as Henry Brandon (his usual billing in later years); a very busy and versatile actor with many, many credits, he had the title role in the serial Drums of Fu Manchu (1940) and was also in the cast of The Land Unknown (1957) and many others.

Verdict: A delight from start to finish! ****.

A CHUMP AT OXFORD

A CHUMP AT OXFORD (1940). Director: Alfred J. Goulding.

Like Bonnie Scotland, A Chump at Oxford covers a lot of ground both in terms of story and geography. Apparently the earliest section of the film was added to increase the very short running time of the original film, bringing it to just over an hour from 3/4s of an hour. The first section, which is quite amusing, has Laurel and Hardy working as butler and maid (Stan in drag is the maid) and really putting the kibosh on a supposedly elegant dinner party hosted by who else but frequent foil James Finlayson. After this the scene switches to Oxford where a grateful bank president (they foiled some robbers) has decided to give them an education. It turns out that Stan is actually the amnesiac Lord Paddington, a stuffy, nose-in-the-air, stiff-upper-lip type who treats Oliver like a servant. A Chump at Oxford gives Laurel a great chance to show off his versatility and while it may not be on the level of Our Relations, it's often very funny. Peter Cushing has a small role as one of the students at Oxford.

Verdict: You're not a chump it you watch it. ***.

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! ***.

OUR RELATIONS

OUR RELATIONS (1936). Director: Harry Lachman.

In this comic masterpiece starring Laurel and Hardy the boys have dual roles as happily-married men Stan and Ollie, and their long-lost twin brothers, two single sailors, Alf and Bert. Stan and Ollie innocently enter a beer garden with their wives when they come upon two babes who are acquainted with their brothers -- and the mistaken identity mania begins, taking in everything from unpaid bar bills, run-ins with the law, to chases in fancy night clubs (which they demolish) to gangsters and cement shoes down at the docks, all of it beautifully-paced, zestily-acted, and consistently hilarious. This is probably the boys' greatest and funniest movie. Young Iris Adrian is one of the hungry gals in the beer garden, and Alan Hale is the proprietor of said establishment. Daphne Pollard and Betty Healy score as the boys' wives. James Finlayson, who frequently appeared in Laurel and Hardy movies, is Alf and Bert's shipboard buddy, Finn. He's on the broad side, as usual, but good. Sidney Toler is the captain of the ship.

Verdict: Classic comedy. ****.

THE DANCING MASTERS

THE DANCING MASTERS (1943). Director: Malcolm St. Clair.

Laurel and Hardy run a dance studio but are way behind in their bills. They have one wealthy student, Trudy (Trudy Marshall) who's in love with Grant (Robert Bailey), whom her father detests. Hardy tries to make Laurel break his leg so they can collect on an insurance policy, then the two help Grant demonstrate his "invisible" ray gun. A protracted climactic sequence with a runaway bus that winds up on a roller coaster track is frenetic but not very funny, but there are some amusing bits in the film, including an auction for a grandfather clock that ends in disaster. Margaret Dumont is amusing as Trudy's mother, but she hasn't enough to do. Robert Mitchum has a small role as a small time hood selling "insurance" to the boys. Nestor Paiva plays another crook. The script for this picture never really jells, and despite some good moments, it can't be considered one of the better L&H features.

Verdict: Not the boys at their best. **.

JITTERBUGS

JITTERBUGS (1943). Director: Malcolm St. Clair.

Laurel and Hardy are on the road with their two-man Original Zoot Suit Band when they encounter Chester (Robert Bailey), a fellow who says his gas pill can turn water into gasoline. The three of them run into Susan (Vivian Blaine), whose mother was cheated out of ten thousand dollars by swindlers. Chester decides to use all of his con man experience to get the money back from the swindlers with the "help" of Laurel and Hardy. This amusing movie has Ollie pretending to be a Colonel of the Old South while Laurel is in disguise as Susan's wealthy aunt -- he's a scream as a dowager. Lee Patrick plays a con woman who makes a play for both boys. Blaine sings the snappy number "I gotta see for myself," but her other songs are forgettable.

Verdict: Lots of fun for L&H enthusiasts. ***.

WAY OUT WEST

WAY OUT WEST (1937). Director: James W. Horne.

Laurel and Hardy arrive in a small western town to deliver a deed to a gold mine to a young lady, Mary (Rosina Lawrence), whose father has died. Bar owner Mickey Finn (James Finlayson) has his wife Lola (Sharon Lynne/Lynn) pretend to be Mary so they can steal away the deed. Although initially fooled, the boys eventually get wise and do their best to get the deed back and do right by Mary. There's a lot of very funny stuff in Way Out West but many sequences go on much too long and the music is much too obtrusive. Doing a parody of It Happened One Night, Stan hitches a ride on a passing coach by lifting his pants leg! The best moments in the film are when the boys dance and sing (generally with The Avalon Boys) such numbers as "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" and "Commence to Dancin'." Their charming rendition of "We're Going to Go (to Dixie)" is the film's highlight.

Verdict: A lot of fun if very imperfect. **1/2.

THE DEVIL'S BROTHER

THE DEVIL'S BROTHER (1933). Director: Hal Roach.

Auber's 1830 opera has been turned into an amusing semi-musical romp with Laurel and Hardy stepping in for two bumpkins in the original work. After being robbed of their life savings, the boys decide to become thieves themselves, but make the mistake of trying to hold up Fra Diavolo (The Devil's Brother), the most infamous bandit in the land. Sparing their lives, Diavolo turns the two into his servants as -- in disguise as the somewhat fopposh Marquis de San Marco -- he attempts to discover where Lady Pamela (Thelma Todd) has hidden her husband's fortune. This leads to many complications at the Inn where all the principals are gathered. Laurel and Hardy are as wonderful as ever, Todd is amusing, and Dennis King outstanding as the sinister singing bandit. Very little of Auber's music is actually used.

Verdict: Very pleasant L&H feature. ***.

FLYING DEUCES

FLYING DEUCES (1939). Director: A. Edward Sutherland.

Ollie proposes to French waitress Georgette (Jean Parker), unaware that she already has a husband, Francois (Reginald Gardiner). Broken-hearted, he decides to commit suicide, and Stan -- who'd be lost without him -- has to take the plunge into the Seine (where a shark is somehow on the loose) with him. But they wind up in the foreign legion instead, where they have to deal with a jealous Francois and a stern commandant (Charles Middleton, better-known as Ming the Merciless). Not a classic by any means, but this does have many amusing moments, especially the mountain of laundry! Stan makes like Harpo Marx and plays the bed springs of a mattress like a harp at one point. Amusing wind-up.

Verdict: Mostly for L & H enthusiasts; all others beware. **1/2.

GREAT GUNS

GREAT GUNS (1941). Director: Monty Banks.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy began working for Twentieth Century Fox, but many of their fans feel Fox didn't really know what to do with them. Their early Fox films, such as Great Guns, were seen as imitations of successful Abbott and Costello features. Although the boys are as good as ever in this picture, at times they seem lost in busy surroundings and a not-very-compelling love triangle. When an over-protected young man Daniel (Dick Nelson) is inducted into the Army, Stan and Ollie -- who work for his family -- go with him to look out for him (along with Stan's pet crow). They come afoul of a bad-tempered Sergeant (Edmund MacDonald) who has a yen for a pretty photo shop clerk, Ginger (Sheila Ryan, who would also appear in A-Haunting We Will Go), but she prefers the shyer, less aggressive Daniel. It all ends with the boys getting involved in war games. Some funny moments, but not one of the better Laurel and hardy features. Kane Richmond (Spy Smasher) and Alan Ladd have very small speaking roles as soldiers. Ryan and Nelson make an appealing romantic couple and give nice performances as well.

Verdict: For L&H fanatics only. **.

BONNIE SCOTLAND

BONNIE SCOTLAND (1935). Director: James W. Horne.

Stan McLaurel stowaways with buddy Oliver to claim an inheritance in Scotland. There they become involved -- or rather they don't become involved -- with a love triangle concerning a cousin (the main heiress), her boyfriend, and another suitor in India. The story abruptly switches from Scotland to Indian when Stan and Ollie inadvertently wind up in the Army. There are two hilarious sequences in the film: the boys frying a fish with a candle and the grill from the bed springs and causing havoc in a boarding house; and the climax in which their bumbling lets loose thousands upon thousands of stinging bees. Laurel and Hardy's performances are as wonderful as ever, but their material isn't up to their level. The script is all over the lot and at times it seems the boys are just along for the ride. They really have nothing to do with the love triangle story, which isn't very interesting. Mary Gordon is fine as a landlady impatient for her money, and frequent collaborator James Finlayson is fun as the sergeant.

Verdict: Disappointing but with a couple of big laughs. **1/2.

NOTHING BUT TROUBLE (1944)

NOTHING BUT TROUBLE (1944). Director: Sam Taylor.

As the film starts in 1932, Laurel and Hardy have so much trouble finding work as chef and butler (they come from a long line of same) that they go to Europe. Returning in 1944, the find that their skills are now much in demand. An anxious Mary Boland hires them for her household and to prepare a special dinner party for visiting royalty. (Frankly, much more could have been made of their escaping with Boland from the other anxious wannabee employers at the employment office.) Going shopping, the boys encounter the young King Chris (David Leland), who would rather play football than rule his country. This leads to a protracted football sequence that is completely devoid of laughs. However things pick up with the disastrous dinner party itself -- featuring a rubber steak that resists all efforts to cut it -- as well as a genuinely suspenseful and hilarious ending with the boys and the king forced out on a ledge by a usurper. Stan and Ollie are great, young Leland gives an appealing performance, and Mary Boland is delightful as Mrs. Elvira Hawkley. Good supporting performances as well. Although Leland looks around 14 years of age, he was actually 23 at the time!

Verdict: Despite flaws, a charming and entertaining movie. ***.

AIR RAID WARDENS

AIR RAID WARDENS (1943). Director: Edward Segdwick.

On December 7th, 1941, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy want to enlist in the Army but are turned down by every branch of the services. Therefore they decide to help out on the home front and become air raid wardens. A series of misadventures lead to them being thrown out of the corps, but they come across a nest of Nazi spies and somehow manage to save the day. This charming, amusing film, while not a masterpiece, features the boys at the top of their form, likable schnooks who are seen as hideous misfits by the less tolerant of the small town's citizens. There are some hilarious moments in the film, as well as a good supporting cast, including Donald Meek as Eustace Middling, who is a German spy. Horace (Stephen) McNally is the newspaper publisher and Howard Freeman, Nella Walker, and Edgar Kennedy are some of their foils.

Verdict: Lots of laughs. ***.

STAN AND OLLIE

STAN AND OLLIE: The Roots of Comedy -- The Double Life of Laurel and Hardy. Simon Louvish. Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Press. 2002.

Excellent dual biography of the great comedy team of Laurel and Hardy explains their importance and influence in the world of comedy, analyses their working methods, acting approaches, and various films, and delves into their often tumultuous private lives as well, all in literate prose that keeps you happily turning the pages. Louvish investigates the boys' backgrounds and family histories and separates facts from rumors and legend. Both Stan and Ollie had more than one unhappy marriage, and their trials and tribulations with their assorted wives, divorces, infidelities, alimonies, lawyers, and jealous females often read like a script for one of their zanier movies, and indeed these real-life episodes often informed their comic on-screen antics. Along the way Louvish also educates the reader with facts and anecdotes about the early days of filmmaking, movie comedy, and the famous players who intersected Stan and Ollie's inexorable but not always smooth journey towards fame. Many wonderful black and white photographs are included in the thick, scrupulously-researched volume, which is informative, entertaining, and a great read. You'll want to get your hands on every L & H movie you can find, even the lesser ones!

Verdict: Excellent! ****.