H.M. Walker Movies

Popular child actor (and later radio and TV stalwart) Leon Janney made his one and only "Our Gang" appearance in "Bear Shooters." Ordered by his mother to look after his kid brother Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, nine-year-old Spud (Janney) is worried that he won't be able to join his pals on a hunting trip --- while his pals know that if Spud doesn't go, Spud's mule Dinah can't go either. A compromise is reached whereby Wheezer tags along with the rest of the Gang as they seek out "big game" in a nearby woods. But instead of capturing a bear, as they had hoped, the kids are confronted by a gorilla --- actually a heavily costumed bootlegger (Charlie Hall) who wants to scare the youngsters away from his hideout. Unfortunately for the crook and his partner (Bob Kortman), the kids are a lot more resourceful than they appear. Originally released on May 17, 1930, "Bear Shooters" slipped into Public Domain in 1984, and as such is one of the most readily available "Our Gang" talkies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1930 Laurel & Hardy 3-reeler Another Fine Mess is a remake of the team's 1927 effort Duck Soup--which, in turn, was based on "Home from the Honeymoon", a vaudeville sketch written in 1908 by Stan Laurel's father. Escaping from an angry cop, Stan and Ollie take refuge in a posh East Side mansion. It turns out that this is the home of great white hunter Colonel Buckshot (James Finlayson), who has just gone on an expedition to Africa, leaving his butler and maid with instructions to rent the mansion in his absence. But the servants have snuck out for the weekend, leaving Laurel & Hardy alone to contend with potential renters Lord Plumtree (Charles Gerard) and his sexy American wife (Thelma Todd). To avoid being arrested, Ollie poses as Colonel Buckshot, while Stan does double duty as both butler and maid (complete with flaxen wig). Originally lensed in black and white, Another Fine Mess was computer-colorized in 1986, but you'll enjoy it anyway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play both the fathers and their unruly children in this two-reel comedy. The really funny thing about this film is that as the kids, Laurel and Hardy don't behave much differently as they generally do as adults. The relationship is basically the same between the two youngsters, and little Ollie usually suffers the most damage. The father/son effect was created by making two sets exactly the same, with one set being more than twice normal size, to make the kid Laurel and Hardy appear child-sized. The two sets are seamlessly combined in several scenes, so we can see, for example, the fathers playing checkers while their sons are a few feet away, playing with alphabet blocks. There's not much plot -- the kids misbehave and are sent to bed early, but before they crawl into bed, they create more havoc -- and an overflowing bathtub that Ollie doesn't discover until it has flooded the whole bathroom. Because not every theater was yet wired for sound, a silent version of Brats was made, which still exists today, in addition to a colorized version released in the late 1990s. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although the title of Laurel and Hardy's very first sound film is a joke on the phrase, "Unaccustomed as we are to public speaking," it already shows a firm grasp of the comic potential for sound. The boys, and the writers and directors of their films, realized that more than dialogue was necessary for a successful two-reeler. Techniques such as off-stage sound effects add richly to the visual and verbal humor of this and subsequent Laurel and Hardy films. This one starts off with Ollie bringing Stan home for dinner. Mrs. Hardy (Mae Busch) is fed up cooking for her husband's friends so she goes home to mother. With Ollie working on dinner and Stan helping, it is no surprise that the stove explodes. A neighbor, Mrs. Kennedy (Thelma Todd) comes in and tries to help; instead her dress catches fire. Wrapped only in a sheet, she begins to make her way home, but her policeman husband (Edgar Kennedy) arrives just then. Afraid of his reaction, Mrs. Kennedy hides in Ollie's trunk instead. Now the boys have to hide the contents of the trunk from both Mrs. Hardy (who has returned) and Mr. Kennedy, who has come by because of all the commotion that is going on. Eventually Mr. Kennedy finds out that there is a woman in the trunk (but not that it's his wife), and he offers to take the trunk to his place. While doing this, he sagely lectures them on being discreet -- like he is. This inflames the hidden but all-hearing Mrs. Kennedy, and she wreaks havoc on her husband once Stan and Ollie are gone. The bruised and battered Mr. Kennedy comes back to Ollie's and beats him up in the hallway. Then, once he's done with Ollie, he calls for Stan. But before he can lay the first blow, Mrs. Kennedy knocks him out with a vase. Stan, unscathed, goes back to Ollie's, picks up his hat and leaves. Ollie stares in disbelief at the unconscious Kennedy and Stan trips and tumbles down the stairs. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Stan (Stan Laurel) and Ollie (Oliver Hardy) are selling Christmas trees door-to-door. Stan unintentionally insults their first customer (a single woman) when he asks, "If you had a husband, would he buy a tree?" The second house has a sign up that says "No Peddlers." Ollie rings the bell anyway and gets a couple of knocks on the head with a hammer. When they come to Jimmy Finlayson's (James Finlayson) house, he tells them that he doesn't want a tree, and he closes the door -- on a tree branch. They ring the bell again, and Finlayson says that he still doesn't want a tree. He closes the door again, and Stan's coat is stuck in it. So they ring the bell again. Soon, tempers begin to flare, and the orgy of destruction starts small. Finlayson chops their tree in half and cuts Ollie's tie with scissors. Laurel and Hardy rip out Finlayson's phone and the doorbell. By the end of the movie, Finlayson has destroyed our boys' trees and their car. They have smashed his furniture, dug up his yard, and cut down all of his landscaping, as a crowd forms to watch the spectacle. ~ All Movie Guide

The second "Our Gang" talkie, Railroadin' was filmed entirely out-of-doors, on location in and around the railroad yards behind the Samuel Goldwyn Studios in Hollywood. The fun begins when train engineer Otto Fries, the father of Gang members Joe Cobb and Norman "Chubby" Chaney, takes a lunch break, leaving Joe and Chubby to their own devices. Goaded on by their pals, the two kids attempt to operate their dad's locomotive, leading inexorably to a riotous runaway-train sequence, expertly combining laughs and thrills. Originally released on June 15, 1929, Railroadin' was long unavailable because its soundtrack discs could not be located. Then in the late 1970s, a complete talkie print was made available from Blackhawk Films, and subsequently released on video. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Accustomed to being the center of attention in his family, little Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins is upset when the spotlight is stolen by his new baby brother. Envious of the new arrival, Wheezer scheme to take the infant back to the maternity hospital whence he came. But Wheezer's sister Mary Ann Jackson and the kids' mother concoct a scheme that is guaranteed to teach the "little rascal" a good lesson. Originally released on October 12, 1929, this "Our Gang" comedy is seen at a disadvantage today due to a substandard soundtrack. Nonetheless, "Bouncing Babies" contains a generous supply of laughs, thanks largely to a typical Hal Roach running gag wherein Wheezer practices an ingenious method of "traffic control." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Laurel and Hardy two-reel silent involves the boys' attempts to repossess a radio from Collis P. Kennedy (Edgar Kennedy). A barking toy dog scares them off at first, but they come back with a borrowed Great Dane. The Great Dane is also scared off by the toy. Ollie apprehends Kennedy while Stan breaks for lunch, but escapes when Stan hands him a sandwich instead of the summons. Finally the paper is served and the boys have to take the radio. This they do after a number of pratfalls. The radio, however, ends up being run over by a steamroller. Kennedy finds this hilarious until his wife appears and informs him that she just paid for the radio; Stan and Ollie find this funny until the steamroller runs over their car. This unfairly-overlooked Laurel and Hardy film makes use of the boys' classic technique of building gag upon gag through a battle of wits. Big Business is a more well-known example of this strategy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have a Sunday picnic planned with their wives (Isabelle Keith and Kay Deslys) and Uncle Ed (Edgar Kennedy). But in the world of Laurel and Hardy, an easy, pleasant outing such as this is not without its pitfalls. Everyone piles into the car and after bidding goodbye to the neighbors, the boys discover they have a flat tire. After much effort, it's still flat and Hardy angrily throws the jack at Laurel. It misses, of course...and breaks a neighbor's window. This leads to a melee which halts suddenly when a minister comes down the street. Laurel and Hardy try to get going once again, but the car's engine won't turn over. Laurel does, however, get it to explode. An exasperated Hardy instructs Laurel to "throw out the clutch" -- and he does. Finally the car starts, after a fashion, and the boys and their families once again bid the neighborhood adieu. Then they drive around the corner, right into a very deep puddle. Laurel and Hardy wring quite a lot of humor from a very simple situation in this gag-packed two-reeler. Originally filmed in black & white, a colorized version was released in the late 1990s. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In this early Laurel and Hardy sound short, Stan and Ollie are a pair of sailors on leave. They meet two girls at a park (Anne Cornwall and Gloria Greer). They have also found a pair of bloomers, which they assume belongs to one of the young ladies. Delicately, they try to discern if either of the girls has "lost something," and since one of them has lost her gloves, a dialogue loaded with unintentional double meanings ensues. When the situation is finally cleared up (a cop finds the girl's gloves), the foursome goes for sodas. Stan and Ollie only have 15 cents between them and since this won't fund four drinks, Ollie orders Stan not to order one for himself. Stan does not comprehend this, and his confusion increasingly irritates the fountain's manager (James Finlayson). Finally he figures it out, and the boys order one soda between them. Stan drinks it all, and Ollie sticks him with the 30 cent bill. Stan gambles what he does have on a slot machine and not only comes up with the money for the sodas, but also enough for a boat ride on the lake. The boys are terrible sailors and manage to annoy the rest of the lake's boaters. Their boat, to no one's surprise, sinks in the end. This is the second time Laurel and Hardy portrayed sailors; the first was in the excellent 1928 silent, Two Tars. A version of the soda fountain segment was done previously in Should Married Men Go Home?, another silent 1928 two-reeler. Originally filmed in black & white, a colorzed version was released for home viewing in the late 1990's. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Laurel and Hardy are poor and unemployed until a letter arrives informing Hardy that he has inherited a fortune. Hardy moves to a large mansion, and Laurel becomes his butler. One night, Hardy comes home drunk and plays some practical jokes on Laurel. When Laurel has had enough ribbing, he chases Hardy around the house, smashing expensive art and furniture on the way. Fans of Laurel and Hardy are deeply divided over this film. Since the team does not play their normal characters, and Hardy treats Stan terribly, many fans dislike this movie, but if you overlook that fact, this is still a very funny film. Director Emmet Flynn had worked in silent films a long time but did not get along well with Laurel and Hardy and the Hal Roach team. This would be his only film with the team. ~ Bruce Calvert, All Movie Guide

This two-reel Laurel and Hardy silent is especially rich in slapstick. The comic duo have been promised five hundred dollars to finish a house, but the racket is disturbing the quiet of a nearby hospital, and both a nurse (Dorothy Coburn) and policeman (Edgar Kennedy) insist that the noise be kept to a minimum. Of course, with Laurel and Hardy, this request is impossible. A board flips up and hits the nurse on the behind; roof shingles go flying and land on the cop, glue side down. Stan's genial help results in various injuries and indignities to Ollie. But they get the job done, and the owner (Stan Lufkin) happily hands over the money -- until a tiny bird lights on the chimney, causing it to collapse. The rest of the house follows suit. The home owner retrieves his money and gives Stan a kick; this results in a battle of mutual retaliation that ultimately includes the policeman and nurse. This silly little film doesn't have much plot to speak of, but it's so well constructed, and the humor is so solid, it doesn't matter. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide