Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Jason goes to Niles for a Laurel and Hardy Afternoon

So...I said for a while that I will not fall more than a month behind in my blog. Turns out that was a lie. This is from August 10th, and so with no fanfare:

PUPS IS PUPS (1930): An Our Gang short, after Farina gets a job as a page for a local pet show, all the kids have dreams of their pets winning. Except for Dorothy, she just keeps jumping in a mud puddle and ruining her clean dress. Kids, animals, and mud...that's funny.

THEM THAR HILLS (1934): Laurel and Hardy take a vacation in the mountains. Little do they know that bootleggers have dumped their moonshine down the well. And when Charley Hall shows up with his wife (Mae Busch) he figures it's safe to leave her with them while he re-fuels his car. A little bit of what they think is water from the well turns it into a rather rowdy, chaotic affair and Mr. Hall is none too happy when he returns.

Then a brief intermission and we continued.

THE REAL MCCOY (1930): Charley Chase (have I mentioned how I love that they've added Charley Chase to the schedule?) is a city slicker who poses as a country man (the last of the McCoys) to win the heart of the country schoolteacher. When he's mistaken for an undercover cop and the moonshiners are after him, hilarious hijinx ensue.

TIT FOR TAT (1935): In Laurel and Hardy's only sequel, they have opened an electrical appliance store, coincidentally right next to Mr. Hall's (from THEM THAR HILLS) grocery store. Other than one mention, and Mr. Hall being suspicious that Ollie is having an affair with his wife, there's very little connection. In classic L&H style ("tit for tat" could easily be the title of dozens of their films) they take turns destroying each other's businesses out of petty--and funny--revenge.

Total Running Time: 80 minutes
My Total Minutes: 369,124

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