LeRoy Shield Movies

American mousetrap salesmen Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy journey to Switzerland, reasoning that where there's cheese, there's mice. When they innocently try to pay their dinner bill with phony money, Stan and Ollie are put to work in the kitchen of the Alpen Hotel. Their enforced stay coincides with the visit of famed composer Walter Woolf King, who has come to Switzerland to soak up "local color." He also hopes to write an operetta that will succeed on its own merits, without the lovely voice of his lovely actress wife Della Lynd winning over the audience. But Lynd is determined to star in King's latest opus, and to that end she finagles Stan and Ollie into getting her a job as a hotel chambermaid. As the plot rolls along its merry way, Ollie labors under the misapprehension that Lynd is in love with him. Swiss Miss is, on the whole, one of Laurel and Hardy's weaker feature films, with far too much emphasis on the romantic leads and way too many forgettable songs ("Crick Crick Crick Here the Cricket" is a particular low point). But the team's individual scenes save the show, even though Stan Laurel, who'd been ill during production, looks like he's about to fall asleep at any moment. Best bits: Stan hoodwinking a St. Bernard out of a cask of brandy; Ollie serenading Lynd while Stan accompanies him on tube; and the legendary sequence, immortalized by film critic James Agee, wherein Stan and Ollie try to transport a piano across a rope bridge high above an alpine chasm--only to confront a gorilla! One of the screenwriters of Swiss Miss was Jean Negulesco, later the director of such memorable films as Mask of Dmitrios, Three Strangers, Titanic and How to Marry a Millionaire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Working on the theory that the only thing funnier than Laurel and Hardy is two sets of Laurel and Hardys, Our Relations milks its central mistaken-identity situation for all it's worth. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are two solid citizens, happily married and highly respected in their community. One morning, Hardy receives a letter from his mother, containing an old photo of himself and Laurel with their twin brothers, Alf Laurel and Bert Hardy. Mamma also reveals that Alf and Bert turned out to be "bad lads" and ran off to sea, and that reportedly they'd been hanged for taking part in a mutiny. "Isn't that calamitous!" remarks Hardy, who conspires with Laurel to hide the facts about their no-good brothers from their wives. Meanwhile, in another part of town, the S.S. Periwinkle pulls into port. Among the crew members are the selfsame Alf and Bert, who have decided to entrust their pal Fin (James Finlayson) with their month's salary. Fin has promised to invest the dough so that the boys will become millionaires "before you can say Jack Robinson". Alf and Bert are then summoned to the cabin of their captain (Sidney Toler), who orders them to pick up a valuable package for him, then meet him later at Denker's Beer Garden. While waiting for the captain at Denker's, Alf and Bert are captivated by a pair of waterfront floozies, Alice (Iris Adrian) and Lily (Lona Andre). Talked into buying the girls a huge meal for which they haven't the necessary funds, Alf and Bert decide to go back to Fin and reclaim their money, leaving the contents of the captain's package-a valuable pearl ring-with tough waiter Joe Groagan (Alan Hale) as security. Later, Laurel and Hardy take their wives Betty (Betty Healy) and Daphne (Daphne Pollard) to lunch-and, inevitably, they end up at Denker's Beer Garden, where the equally inevitable mix-ups begin to occur. Things snowball from bad to worse before both sets of twins, an angry captain, a disgruntled Fin, the wives, the floozies, a genial drunk (Arthur Housman) and a brace of smooth gangsters (Ralf Harolde and Noel Madison) all converge at the upscale Pirate Club. Several slapstick complications later, Laurel and Hardy are captured by the gangsters, who threaten to dump the boys in the river with their feet encased in cement if they don't cough up the pearl ring. Alf and Bert come to the rescue, and all is well, at least until the film's boffo punchline. Based on W.W. Jacobs' short story The Money Box, Our Relations is perhaps the most plot-heavy of Laurel and Hardy's features for Hal Roach Studios. It is also one of their funniest, as well as their most lavishly produced. The film was officially listed as "A Stan Laurel Production"-as if Laurel hadn't been the prime creative force behind all of the team's previous films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lodge members Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy take a solemn oath to attend the 80th-annual Sons of the Desert Convention (read: annual binge) in Chicago. That is, Ollie takes the oath, but Stanley balks. When asked why, Stanley answers that he's afraid his wife won't let him go. Ollie is appalled: "Every man must be king in his own castle." But when Ollie meekly brings up the subject of the convention with his wife Lollie (Mae Busch), she soon dethrones the "king." Lollie wants to take a vacation in the mountains, and is dead-set against her husband going around "with a pack of hooligans." But Ollie is determined to attend the convention, and to that end cooks up a scheme with Stanley. Ollie will pretend to be deathly ill; Stan will fix it so the doctor will prescribe a trip to Honolulu. Knowing that his wife can't stand going on sea voyages, Ollie will request that Stan accompany him to Hawaii--then, both men will sneak off to Chicago. A few hitches notwithstanding (Stan hires a veterinarian instead of a doctor, explaining that he didn't think the man's religion would make any difference), the boys go to the convention, where they cut up royally with practical joker Charley Chase. Alas, the Honolulu-bound boat on which Stan and Ollie are supposed to be travelling is sunk in a typhoon. While the grief-stricken wives are at the steamship company attempting to find out if their husbands survived the sea disaster, Stan and Ollie arrive home, wearing leis and carrying pineapples as "evidence" of their Honolulu vacation. When the boys find out about the shipwreck, they desperately try to escape to a hotel, but the wives arrive home prematurely, forcing Stan and Ollie to camp out in the attic. It looks as though the boys might just get away with their new plan of coming home at the same time that the rescue boats arrive....until Lollie Hardy and Betty Laurel (Dorothy Christie), attending a picture show, are treated to the spectacle of their husbands cavorting merrily before the newsreel cameras covering the Sons of the Desert conclave in Chicago. The film's final ten minutes are priceless--especially that bit about "ship-hiking." Considered the best of Laurel and Hardy's feature films, One of the top ten moneymaking pictures of 1934, it was released in Europe as Fraternally Yours and Sons of the Legion, and is also available in a crudely edited 20-minute TV version, Fun on the Run. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is one of Laurel and Hardy's most entertaining sound shorts, and perhaps its beauty is in its utter comic simplicity -- there's no plot, just a lot of great, well-paced gags. Stan and Ollie are cheerfully driving to work and listening to their "car radio" -- actually a gramophone, hooked up to the dashboard. They playfully give co-worker Charlie Hall a scare by honking their horn at him; the ill-tempered Hall is not amused. Then the boys get to work and the real mayhem begins. For example, Stan gets Ollie's fingers trapped in a sticky window frame, and when Ollie asks, "Would you mind opening the window?" he opens a totally different one. Stan ends an argument with Hall by giving him a cigar. But it's not exactly a peace offering, as Stan immediately lets the foreman (Tiny Sanford) know that Hall has lit it up in a "no smoking" area. Simple construction chores are treacherous in Stan and Ollie's hands -- the seat is shaved off of Ollie's overalls, then a paint brush dipped in glue winds up stuck to his chin. When they finally destroy the foreman's shack -- and almost destroy the poor foreman in the process -- the boys decide it's time to make a fast retreat. In their haste, they drive their car through a saw, slicing it nicely in two. Stan happily discovers, though, that the "radio" still works; Ollie is not so thrilled and chases him away. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The whole point of this Laurel and Hardy two-reeler was to dress up the comic duo as women and have them play each other's wives. It's a simple domestic scenario -- Oliver Hardy, brain specialist, and Stan Laurel, his "associate advisor," are celebrating their one year wedding anniversary. They are married to each other's sisters and call home to see if the girls want to go out. Mrs. Laurel (played by Hardy) says no, that they want to have dinner in, as they have a surprise for Ollie. As the girls prepare for their husbands' return, the surprise -- a cake -- winds up on Mrs. Laurel, in a typical Laurel and Hardy SNAFU. Through various edits, doubles and matte shots, all four of them have dinner together, and the girls start bickering at each other. Finally, Ollie grabs his wife, Fannie (played by Laurel), and is about to leave when the replacement cake arrives. Fannie gives it to Mrs. Laurel -- right on the head. While this isn't one of the very best Laurel and Hardy shorts -- it's basically a one-joke film, with a concept that was done better in 1930's Brats -- it does have a fair share of laughs. It's amusing to see Oliver Hardy's mannerisms in feminine form, and Stan Laurel's "sister" is as dither-brained as he is -- at one point, Ollie calls her brother stupid, and she retorts, "Don't call him stupid! Why, you've forgotten more than he'll ever know...in his little finger!" The wives' voices were dubbed by actresses Carol Tevis (for Mrs. Hardy) and May Wallace (for Mrs. Laurel). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In spite of a sudden end which makes this Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy two-reeler seem incomplete, there are quite a few wonderfully funny moments. Arabella Hardy (Mae Busch) is more than fed up with her husband Ollie, who has been spending all his free time with his pal Stanley. Their domestic squabble is interrupted by the phone -- it's Stan, asking if Ollie wants to accompany him to a cement workers' bazaar. Ollie tries to pretend it's his boss, Mr. Jones, which causes Stan to carefully check his mirror to make sure who he really is. Mrs. Hardy, however, is not so easily fooled -- mostly because Stan comes over to say it was him, not Mr. Jones, on the phone. The resulting explosion from Mrs. Hardy causes Ollie to hide out at Stan's. To solve this marital dilemma, Stan suggests that Ollie adopt a baby, which will draw Mrs. Hardy's attention away from her husband's extracurricular activities. Ollie likes the idea and comes home with an infant in his arms. But it's too late -- Mrs. Hardy is gone and a man Billy Gilbert shows up with papers for both of the boys -- Ollie is being sued for divorce, and Stan is being sued for alienation of affections. When Stan tries to take his leave, Ollie is outraged and scandalized. As a result, Stan gets to share Ollie's misery as they stay up, trying to keep the baby quiet and fending off angry neighbors when it cries. The picture ends with the boys asleep in bed with the baby, but Stan's the one sucking on the bottle. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Stan Laurel arrives at the hospital to visit his friend Oliver Hardy. It takes him more time to locate Ollie's room than it does for him to destroy it completely. That happens when the doctor (Billy Gilbert at his most fulsome) enters to see how his patient is doing. Ollie, his broken leg elevated, tells him how nice it is to have some peace for once, and that's about when Stan decides to use the counterweight attached to Ollie's leg as a nutcracker. In the blink of an eye, Ollie is smashed up on the ceiling and the doctor is out the window, hanging onto the counterweight for dear life. The rope breaks, Ollie falls and breaks the bed and the doctor just barely escapes being flattened on the sidewalk far below. As a result, Ollie's hospital stay, which was supposed to last two months, has been shortened to just enough time for him to get his clothes and leave. Stan cuts off the leg of Ollie's pants so he can get them on -- the trouble is that the wrong leg was removed; what's more, the pants aren't even Ollie's, but his roommate's. Then Stan accidentally sits on a hypodermic needle that was left in the room. The needle was loaded with sedative, so when Stan gets behind the wheel to take Ollie home, it turns into a wild ride that goes on for a surprisingly long time before the inevitable accident. The first half of County Hospital is classic Laurel and Hardy fare, but the second half is marred by bad back projection. The Roach Studio was having some financial difficulties at the time, which had an affect on the quality of its releases. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have just returned from a whaling trek. They check into a run-down hotel, the Mariner's Rest, whose owner, Mugsy Long (the intimidating Walter Long), is forcing a girl (Jacqueline Wells) into marriage. The girl manages to reveal her dilemma to Stan and Ollie before being locked in a closet. They try to intervene, and when the justice of the peace (Bobby Burns) comes by to perform the ceremony, they refuse to act as witnesses. There is a fracas over the closet key, but Stan manages to get it and release the girl. The chase continues, however, until Long is dumped in the water. Stan and Ollie now have a dilemma of their own -- they left their money in their hotel room. They are saved when an old friend (Harry Bernard sees them and, as a boxing promoter, offers Ollie fifty dollars to fight that evening. Ollie accepts the money and the gig -- as Stan's manager. When they get to the ring, Stan is his usual inept self, but what's worse for him is that his opponent is Mugsy Long! Long grimly insists that his assistant add some weight to his glove. In the course of the fight, "Battling" Laurel somehow manages to get his hands on (or in) Long's loaded glove and when Long tries to get it back, he is knocked cold. Ollie tells Stan he had a bet going -- against him. Stan goes to punch Ollie, but knocks out a boxing official instead, and the boys are on the run again. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Drafted into the army during World War I, those muddled misfits Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy make a shambles of Training Camp before being shipped to France. When their best pal Eddie (Donald Dillaway) is killed in battle, Stan and Ollie vow to locate the grandparents of Eddie's orphaned little daughter (Jacquie Lyn). Unfortunately, the grandparents are named Smith--and they live in New York City. With only a city directory and phone book as their guide, Stan and Ollie undergo several chucklesome misadventures as they scour the canyons of Manhattan to find Mr. and Mrs. Smith. With the orphanage officials hot on their heels, the boys take drastic action to raise enough money to get out of town with the little girl. All turns out well when Eddie's grandfather makes an appearance under the least likely circumstances. But before Laurel & Hardy can enjoy their own happy ending, they cross the path of an old enemy from their army days: a knife-wielding chef with blood in his eye. The second of Laurel & Hardy's feature-length films, Pack Up Your Troubles is, so far as we're concerned (and here we part company with most Laurel & Hardy buffs), infinitely more amusing than their first feature effort, 1931's Pardon Us. Best bit: An overtired Laurel, attempting to tell a bedtime story to the little girl, ends up snoozing away as the kid finishes the story. The powerhouse supporting cast includes such Laurel & Hardy regulars as James Finlayson, Billy Gilbert, Rychard Cramer, Charles Middleton and Charlie Hall. George Marshall, the film's director, proves a mirthsome menace in the small role of the vengeful chef. For years available only in its 62-minute reissue form, Pack Up Your Troubles was restored to its full 68-minute glory in the mid-1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Oliver Hardy finds that getting married is more difficult than he had planned in this two-reeler. It starts off with partner and best man Stan Laurel's adventures with a container of fly spray. While Laurel is ruining the wedding breakfast and cake, Hardy's fiancée, Dulcy (Babe London), is having her own problems. Her father (James Finlayson), who disapproves of the marriage, has locked her in her bedroom. The couple arrange to elope, but Laurel gives away the plans. Hardy, on the requisite elopement ladder, winds up flying through a window. Dulcy tosses her suitcase, but it opens up, and her clothes go flying everywhere. Finally, Hardy, Dulcy, and Laurel make it to the Justice of the Peace (Ben Turpin), but in his confusion, he marries Hardy to Laurel. This Laurel and Hardy short features a rare sound performance by Ben Turpin, best known for his work in silent comedies. This is also the only time Babe London appeared with the boys. It's too bad it was only this once; London's heft and talent made her a good comic foil for Oliver Hardy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are victims of the depression in this tworeeler. They do have an old car, a tent and some clothes, though, so things could be worse. With Stan's help, things do get worse -- their tent goes up in flames and their laundry shrinks down to minuscule size. They are forced to beg for food and a kindly old lady (Mary Carr) offers to fix them a meal. They chop some wood (always dangerous in Laurel and Hardy's world) until they're called to the kitchen. While eating they overhear an argument between the old lady and a cruel-sounding man (James Finlayson). Her mortgage money has been stolen and the man is threatening to throw her out on the street. The boys are horrified when they hear this; what they don't know is that it is merely a scene being rehearsed for a local playhouse. Stan and Ollie want to help the old lady, as she helped them, so they try to auction off their car to come up with the money. The car winds up in pieces and Stan somehow gets his hands on a bystander's wallet. Ollie, thinking that the wallet belongs to the old lady, angrily drags Stan back to her to fess up. But the old lady finally tells them the truth about the play. Stan has been bullied by Ollie long enough and he fights back, chasing Ollie to the woodshed and chopping at it until it collapses on him. This ending is one of the few times in Laurel and Hardy films that Stan exacts revenge for the abuse he has received from Ollie. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

While this isn't one of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's best shorts, its premise is very similar to one of their finest features, Sons of the Desert. In both films, the hapless duo is trying to sneak around their wives' backs to join a group of club mates. In Sons of the Desert, they're going to a convention; in Be Big, it's an evening in their honor. The boys have just agreed to go to Atlantic City with their spouses (Isabelle Keith and Anita Garvin), but one of the club men calls Ollie with such enticing details of the celebration that he just has to attend...with Stan in tow, of course. With the help of some talcum powder, Ollie looks pale enough to convince the wives to leave on the trip without him and Stan. Then they hurriedly get into their club outfits, but trouble ensues when Ollie puts on Stanley's much smaller boots and can't get them off. The pair's various attempts to get the boots off Ollie all but destroy Ollie's apartment -- and Ollie. The wives miss the train and return home to discover that they've been tricked. Their panicked husbands try to hide in the folding bed, but the wives pull out their shotguns (a common prop for Laurel and Hardy wives) and start blasting away. Originally filmed in black & white, a colorized version was released in the late 1990s. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Not only has Oliver Hardy established a successful business -- in fertilizer -- he has also decided to run for mayor. General manager Stan Laurel interrupts his duties (which involve a fly swatter) in the sample room to help Ollie with a speech. Ollie's old flame (Mae Busch) barges into the office, flashing a compromising photograph from Ollie's bachelor days and requesting money for her silence. The boys frantically hide the blackmailing ex-girlfriend when Mrs. Hardy (Thelma Todd) arrives. She tells her husband to be home that night to entertain guests. Ollie sends Stan to his ex-girlfriend's house to keep her busy while the Hardys have their gathering. Mae keeps herself busy by abusing Stan and calling Ollie's house. Finally in a fit of rage, she storms off to the Hardys, followed by Stan. A gossipy friend of Stan's wife sees them. When the pair arrive, Ollie pawns his ex-girlfriend off as Mrs. Laurel; this tactic is a bit late, as Mrs. Hardy is already steaming over what she can gather from Ollie's strange behavior. The other guests make their exit, leaving Stan and the blackmailer behind; Ollie, in desperation, threatens her with a gun, and she faints. They try to sneak the unconscious woman out the door but are interrupted by Stan's real wife, axe in hand. Both Stan and Ollie are chased out into the night. Chickens Come Home is an almost literal remake of a 1927 Roach silent called Love 'Em and Weep. Although Laurel and Hardy both appear in this earlier film, they weren't yet a team. Mae Busch (who plays the same character as in the later film) has top billing, and James Finlayson has Hardy's role. Originally filmed in black & white, a colorized version was released in the late 1990s for home video. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide