Billy Gilbert Movies

In his first American film, Peter Lorre portrays egg-bald Dr. Gogol. A brilliant and highly respected surgeon, Gogol would give up everything he has in life for the love of Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake), star of the Parisian Horror Theatre. But Yvonne is deeply in love with her husband, concert pianist Stephen Orlac (Colin Clive). When Orlac loses his hands in a train accident, Yvonne pleads with Gogol to save her husband. Perversely, he does so by grafting the hands of a recently executed murderer onto Orlac. Not only is Orlac unable to resume his musical career, but he has suddenly developed a peculiar talent for throwing knives; he also has a bad habit of attempting to win arguments by throttling his opponents. Gleefully exploiting his patient's torment, Gogol disguises himself as the executed killer and tries to convince Orlac that he, Orlac, was responsible for a recent murder. In a effort to prove her husband's innocence, Yvonne goes to Gogol's home and switches places with a lifesize replica of herself that the obsessive Gogol keeps in his living room. Only the last-minute intervention of Orlac saves Yvonne from being strangled by the crazed Gogol. The first of several film versions of Maurice Renard's The Hands of Orlac, Mad Love was directed by cinematographer Karl Freund. Its deployment of certain visual elements that would later (consciously or otherwise) be adopted by Orson Welles in Citizen Kane brought Mad Love a surfeit of latter-day attention when Pauline Kael annotated the resemblances in her 1971 New Yorker article on Kane (Ms. Kael's assessment of Mad Love as a "dismal, static horror film" is both unfair and untrue). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although some purists hold out for Duck Soup (1933), many Marx Brothers fans consider A Night at the Opera the team's best film. Immediately after the credits roll, we are introduced to Groucho Marx as penny-ante promoter Otis B. Driftwood. After a sumptuous dinner with a beautiful blonde at a fancy Milan restaurant, Driftwood tries to cadge another free meal from his wealthy patroness, Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont). The dignified dowager complains that Driftwood had promised to get her into high society, but has done nothing so far. Otis B. counters by introducing Mrs. C to pompous opera entrepreneur Gottleib (Sig Rumann); all Mrs. Claypool has to do is invest several hundred thousand dollars in Gottleib's opera company, and her entree into society is in the bag. Contingent upon this plan is Driftwood's signing of Rodolfo Lassparri (Walter Woolf King), a self-important tenor. Backstage at the opera, Driftwood meets Fiorello (Chico Marx), who poses as a manager and offers to sell Driftwood the "world's greatest tenor"-not Lassparri, as Driftwood assumes, but Fiorello's pal Ricardo Baroni (Allan Jones). Instantly the two sharpsters try to draw up a contract ("The party of the first part shall hereafter be known as the party of the first part..."), which they proceed to tear up piece by piece whenever coming across a clause that displeases them (Driftwood: "That's a sanity clause"; Fiorello: "You no foola me. There ain't no Sanity Claus"). Having lost Lassparri to Gottleib, Driftwood sails back to America with Mrs. Claypool and the opera company. Gottleib arranges for Driftwood to get the tiniest, least accessible stateroom on the ship. Unpacking his trunk, Driftwood discovers that he's got to share his postage-stamp quarters with Ricardo Baroni, who has stowed away because he's in love with the opera troupe's leading lady Rosa (Kitty Carlisle). Also hiding out in Driftwood's trunk is Fiorello, who's come along because he's still Ricardo's manager, and the wacky Tomasso (Harpo Marx), Lassparri's former dresser, who has come along for the hell of it. Anxious to arrange a tete-a-tete with Mrs. Claypool in his stateroom, Otis finds out that his unwelcome guests won't leave until they're fed ("Do you have any stewed prunes? Well, give them some black coffee, that'll sober 'em up"). After ordering a huge dinner, Otis and his new friends are crowded even farther by a steady stream of intruders, including an engineer and his assistant, a cleaning lady, a manicurist, a girl looking for her Aunt Minnie, and a dozen waiters. The celebrated "stateroom scene" comes to a rollicking conclusion when Mrs. Claypool has the misfortune of opening the door. On the last night of the voyage, Fiorello, Tomasso and Ricardo sneak out of their stateroom to enjoy an impromptu ethnic festival in steerage. Ricardo sings, Fiorello "shoots the keys" on the piano, and Tomasso plays the film's theme song Alone on the harp. The stowaways are caught and thrown in the brig, but with Driftwood's help they escape. To avoid recapture, the stowaways don heavy beards and pose as three famed Russian aviators. After making a shambles of a public reception, the three reprobates hide out in Driftwood's New York apartment, where everyone conspires to drive an investigating detective (Robert Emmet O'Connor) crazy. Driftwood is fired from the opera company for associating with the stowaways, while Rosa is dismissed for refusing Lassparri's affections. In order to restore Rosa's job and put the deserving Ricardo in Lassparri's place during the opening performance of La Traviata, Driftwood, Fiorello and Tomasso concoct a scheme that will reduce the opera to comic chaos. The actual night at the opera in A Night at the Opera must be seen to be believed, but the spirit of the scene can be summed up by Gottleib's anguished cry "A battleship in Il Trovatore!" Opera was the Marx Brothers' first film for MGM, and they dearly coveted a hit after the disappointing box-office showing of their final Paramount films. With the blessing of MGM production chief Irving Thalberg, the Marxes went on the road with their brilliant writing staff (including George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind and Al Boasberg) to test their comedy material before live audiences. As a result of this careful preplanning, Night at the Opera was a smash-hit gigglefest, grossing over $3 million and putting the Marxes back on top in the hearts and minds of filmgoers everywhere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Prohibition has recently ended, and alcoholic beverages are very much in demand in this Three Stooges short. A druggist is furious because his liquor supplier can't come through with the goods. While he is arguing over the phone, the Stooges show up -- they're carpenters who are supposed to install a door. Since they can't even tell right from left, the results are predictably disastrous. However, the druggist has no choice but to leave them in charge of the store while he dashes off to solve his liquor dilemma. Meanwhile, the supplier has sent one of his men to the store to work damage control. He asks the Stooges, who are working behind the counter, for some strong refreshment, and the boys concoct something explosively potent (in a Stooge's film, that means literally). The man is impressed by the stuff, and convinces the Stooges to bring their "scotch" to his boss' dinner party -- dressed as Scotchmen. The boys show up properly kilted, and proceed to create havoc. They silence the performance of an opera singer by flinging grapes and a banana into his mouth, and their table manners at dinner are just as juvenile. They finally bring out a barrel of the strong stuff -- resulting in an explosion that leaves the dining room waist high in suds. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This two-reeler from Columbia's recently formed shorts department features a very funny Billy Gilbert, who all but steals the show away from the overdone romantic story line of two young people who avidly dislike each other but somehow manage to wind up together by the fade out. Gilbert plays the father of Frank Albertson, the young man. Sam Lewis is the father of then-newcomer Lois January. The dads desperately want their kids to fall in love and marry; the kids can barely tolerate the sight of each other. To help the match along, the fathers take their kids on a voyage to the tropics. To appease their overeager parents, Albertson and January pretend to fall for each other, while sneaking off on dates with other people. Everything changes, however, when the natives of the tropical village they're visiting have a secret ceremony. Dads and kids alike are determined to sneak into the festivities -- Lewis shows up in drag, which fools Gilbert for more than a few moments. Meanwhile, January, overwhelmed by the hot night and persistent rhythms, jumps into the ceremony and begins dancing. This causes the fresh-faced Albertson to see her in a new light, and the fathers' mission is accomplished. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Filmed between the original Thin Man and the first of its sequels, Evelyn Prentice re-teamed William Powell and Myrna Loy as another husband-and-wife team knee deep in a murder mystery. In this one, Powell is John Prentice, a prominent lawyer with an eye for women other than his own wife. His latest interest is Nancy Harrison (Rosalind Russell, in her film debut), a client accused of manslaughter, whom Prentice successfully defended. Loy plays John's wife, Evelyn, who loves him but is hurt by his inattention and the loneliness that ensues. This leads her to engage in a flirtation of her own, with a charming writer (Harvey Stephens). The writer, however, is interested in Evelyn only for what he can get out of her and threatens to blackmail her. In a panic, she shoots him and runs away, discovering later that he has been found dead and that another woman, Judith Wilson, has been accused of his murder. Hoping that his expert legal skills will the innocent woman her acquittal, Evelyn convinces her husband to take on Wilson's defense. As the film progresses, Evelyn feels increasingly pressured to admit that she is responsible for the man's death. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Although it was nominated for an Academy Award, the third Three Stooges comedy two-reeler for Columbia has not dated well. A spoof of MGM's Clark Gable vehicle Men in White, Men in Black was a rather shapeless romp in which Moe, Larry, and Curly played dumbbell interns at the Lost Arms Hospital. The team was supported by such veteran comedians as Bud Jamison, Dell Henderson, Hank Mann, and Neal Burns, while Ruth Hiatt, Kay Hughes, and a host of starlets appeared as nurses, but the two-reeler remains one of the team's lesser early efforts. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, 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

A partial remake of the 1924 Our Gang: Cradle Robbers, "Forgotten Babies" finds the Gang members trying to escape their babysitting chores. They manage to coerce little Spanky McFarland to mind their baby brothers and sisters while the rest of the Gang goes swimming. Unfortunately, the infants would prefer to run (or crawl) amok, forcing Spanky to take desperate measures. Best bits: Spanky's impromptu bedtime story about Tarzan and Jane, and the little brat who keeps on saying "Remark-a-ble". "Forgotten Babies" was originally released on March 11, 1933. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have been working for a circus as two halves of an ersatz horse. When the circus closes, in lieu of pay, each employee gets a portion of the show. Stan gets the flea circus and Ollie gets Ethel the chimp. They try to check into a boarding house, but the proprietor (Billy Gilbert) -- who also has a wife named Ethel -- turns the chimp away. To get her in, the boys dress her in Ollie's clothes, while Ollie puts on her tutu. After the usual Laurel and Hardy confusion, they all wind up in the same room together -- Stan and Ollie, sharing a bed, unfortunately, with the flea circus. Someone in another room puts on some music; Ethel, overhearing it, starts to dance. The boys start yelling at Ethel, and the boarding house proprietor, thinking it is his wife, dashes in brandishing a gun. Ethel, the wife, actually does walk in, but runs off when she sees the chimp. Ethel, the chimp, gets ahold of the gun, and Stan, Ollie, and the proprietor take off, too. This is a loose variant on the same situation that drives two other Laurel and Hardy shorts, 1929's Angora Love and 1931's Laughing Gravy. ~ 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

This is one of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's most popular two-reelers; it's particularly rich in gags, well-structured, and is a hilarious illustration of the chemistry that brought the duo its fame. It begins with Stan and Ollie as fish salesmen, and doing very well at it too. Then Stanley comes up with the idea of catching the fish themselves and cutting out the middleman. Ollie does him one better by deciding to buy a boat instead of merely a couple of fishing poles. The first sign of trouble (other than the fact that the two have been thinking to begin with) is that the boat they buy comes from a junkyard. Clearly disaster is waiting to happen, and it does, right on schedule. The boys fill the boat up with water to find leaks and the two of them wind up thoroughly drenched. Ollie gets more paint on himself than on the boat. He and Stan bicker throughout until Ollie points out that here they are, "two grown-up men acting like a couple of children," which, of course, is the charm of Laurel and Hardy comedies. By the end of the film, both the boat and the boys' car are wrecked. The only thing that is still in one piece is an obnoxious-sounding horn belonging to Stan. This was the last Laurel and Hardy picture directed by George Marshall (his others were Their First Mistake and Pack Up Your Troubles). Marshall left Hal Roach's studio because of budget cuts, but went on to an illustrious career that included features such as You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, Destry Rides Again, and The Blue Dahlia. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide