The Devil's Brother

1933 comedy operetta

Rating: 11/20

Plot: Stanlio and Olio attempt to rob the infamous singing bandit Fra Diavolo. Later, they work with him.

There's a hell of a lot of singing in this one. I wish there would have been something funny in it.

Sons of the Desert

1933 comedy

Rating: 16/20

Plot: The boys have promised their fellow Sons of the Desert that they will be attending a convention in Chicago. Their wives
don't like the idea, so they devise a plan to lie about a doctor-recommended trip to Honolulu so that the fat one (Hardy) can convalesce. The plan doesn't work out too well.

It doesn't exactly wear its seventy-seven years well. A lot of the humor, especially anything that has to do with Charlie Chase. He squirts water from flowers, paddles other men when they bend over to pick up his wallet, and has trouble keeping in his giggles while he makes a prank phone call. Laurel and Hardy take turns falling in large containers of water and banging their heads on things. I actually didn't think this movie was as funny as the recent Laurel and Hardy movie (Block Heads) that I watched, but it's more cohesive and has a much more believable story. I also like the roles the wives play, and there are some clever verbal exchanges and baffling spoonerisms from Laurel. The most interesting line for me, at least in the context of the early-30s, was one of Chase's lines about a woman being an old organ pumper. Risque! I like the way this Laurel and Hardy stuff never seems too strained. There are some moments when it becomes completely obvious that these are guys who know they are trying to be funny, but a great deal of this is pretty natural.

Block-Heads

1938 comedy

Rating: 15/20 (Dylan: 11/20)

Plot: Laurel (he's the skinny one, right?) is left to guard the trenches as the rest of his squadron, including Hardy (he's the fat one, right?) charge. And guard that trench he does, for twenty years after the war is over. Buddy Hardy (the fat one?), now unhappily married, reads about him in the newspaper and goes to meet him. He brings Laurel (the skinny one, I think) back to his house, but their stupidity gets them into trouble after trouble.

I tricked Dylan into watching this by telling him it was widely-considered the "greatest war movie ever made." That was a lie, but I don't feel guilty about it because he kind of liked it. This is, I believe, my first exposure to Laurel and Hardy's full-length film career. I didn't have high expectations and was pleasantly surprised with the comedic hijinks of the duo. The comedy is maybe a bit dated, like all my favorite comedy, but there's a visual element that I didn't figure would be in their movies. I like the stuff that could only make sense in dream logic--Laurel pulling a glass of water out of his pocket or smoking his "pipe," for example--and I was really surprised how much both Dylan and I laughed at their antics. The story, or what passes as a story here, is episodic, but my ADD self can appreciate that when the alternative is the more story-driven comedies of this period. I'll be checking out some more Laurel and Hardy films soon!

Oh, I almost forgot. Not only does this have a great scene with a little person, there's also a moment where Laurel teabags Hardy.