Topic: Double Whoopee (1929) - Laurel and Hardy

[metaldams]

http://www.laurelandhardycentral.com/whoopee.html
http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_60_Double-Whoopee
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019832/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7-eM7w4bVvo

Watch DOUBLE WHOOPEE in the link above

      DOUBLE WHOOPEE is probably more famous for having a young and pre-fame Jean Harlow in it than being a Laurel and Hardy film of any distinction.  A similar phenomenon can be found with LOVE HAPPY and Marilyn Monroe, the last Marx Brothers film.  When I use the word young for Ms. Harlow, I ain't kidding.  When this was filmed in February 1929, it was a month before her 18th birthday!  The famous gag involves her dress getting caught in the cab door and it tearing off.  She's wearing shorts and black stockings, and she and a gentlemanly Oliver Hardy, who is escorting her, don't realize her state of undress for a good minute.  That one scene, as small as it is to the film, is easily the most famous bit.

      Last week we discussed BIG BUSINESS, an undisputed masterpiece, and in a way, it would have been nice if their silent era ended on that note.  DOUBLE WHOOPEE is a perfectly fine film on its own, but it's one of those films where I wish there was sound.  The whole bit where Ollie tries to take the quarter from Stan and Stan cries begs for sound.  Their interactions with Charlie Hall is another bit I feel the same, as there are plenty of sound examples of those three working magic together with those voices.  Stan and Ollie at the desk and especially Ollie humbly asking Jean Harlow if he can escort her, I'd like sound.  If you're a fan of the sound films, you know what I'm talking about.  This said, you take BIG BUSINESS, you take LIBERTY, not for one moment do I need sound.  Laurel and Hardy did some great silent comedies, but them, and W.C. Fields, were the best comedians of taking the best of both worlds in their talkies.  Come 1930, 1931, 1932, we'll be seeing a lot of this. 

      Strangely enough, a "talking" version of this film does exist, but I sadly can not find it on YouTube.  It does appear on vol. 7 of THE LOST FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY DVD.  It's not the real voices of Stan and Ollie, but fan Chuck McCann, who did a wonderful job lip reading and synching in the voices.  Worth checking out.

      The film itself is fine entertainment, but no great peaks or valleys to speak of.  The prince character is a play on Erich Von Stroheim, something that would be lost to modern audiences and only appreciated by silent film dorks like me.  I do enjoy checking out the styles of dress with the crowd of people in this late jazz age, pre-crash 1929 setting.  A nice film overall, one of those shorts that's good for fans, but not the best place to start if you're not yet a convert.

8/10

[Paul Pain]

This is a short that precedes the Stooges in many ways, particularly the eyepokes, which I now take to be an ancient comedy staple.

From this and others, I must say I enjoy Stan's method of kicking people in the shins and then repeating every time the person recovers enough to try to take a piece out of him again.

While the plot is simple, there were parts where it could have been better, such as Ollie and the doors plus the bit with Stan having nothing under the coat... not really funny.  Nevertheless, I loved watching Hans Joby get his face splattered in the mud, and the first time I did a doubletake thinking it was blood on the wall.

And I take it Tiny Sandford is the Oliver and Hardy equivalent of Bud Jamison?

Not bad 8/10

[metaldams]

This is a short that precedes the Stooges in many ways, particularly the eyepokes, which I now take to be an ancient comedy staple.

From this and others, I must say I enjoy Stan's method of kicking people in the shins and then repeating every time the person recovers enough to try to take a piece out of him again.

While the plot is simple, there were parts where it could have been better, such as Ollie and the doors plus the bit with Stan having nothing under the coat... not really funny.  Nevertheless, I loved watching Hans Joby get his face splattered in the mud, and the first time I did a doubletake thinking it was blood on the wall.

And I take it Tiny Sandford is the Oliver and Hardy equivalent of Bud Jamison?

Not bad 8/10

Tiny Sanford is a good regular, no doubt.  James Finlayson is THE guy as far as supporting players go, and Edgar Kennedy and Charlie Hall, the little guy driver they get into a confrontation with in this one, are also some of the better regulars.  The Christine McIntyre role you can mould Thelma Todd and Anita Garvin together.  The former is a tragic story (plenty of scandal stuff if you Google her, dead mysteriously at age 30), and the latter lived a long and seemingly happy life.  Both babes.

[metaldams]

...and how can I forget to mention Mae Busch?  One of the all time great screen wives you would never want to cross!  Most of the supporting cast don't really establish themselves until the talkies, which are coming up very soon.

[Umbrella Sam]

DOUBLE WHOOPEE is so close to being a 10 in my book. I love the design of the hotel and the energy of all the actors involved. There are lots of funny gags in this. Hardy taking Laurel’s coin, Laurel accidentally removing the guest’s shirt, the confrontation with the driver, Laurel and Hardy’s inconvenient timing with the elevator. These are all great gags and the short had me laughing throughout.

So why isn’t this a 10 for me? Maybe it’s the beginning. I do like the idea of Laurel and Hardy being mistaken for royalty, but I almost feel like this should have been a short on its own. I mean, come on: Stan as a prince and Ollie as his prime minister? The short practically writes itself. As it stands, though, it’s just a short gag that doesn’t go on for very long and just suddenly shifts its focus afterwards. The actual prince himself didn’t feel like he actually needed to be in the short, considering how he disappears a third of the way through only to come back for the closing gag. As much as I loved the elevator gag, just about any other actor could have filled that; and yes, I know he’s parodying von Stroheim, but that still doesn’t warrant his appearance.

Still, you’ve got to love that fight at the end. All the people that Laurel and Hardy antagonized throughout the short suddenly come together and start punching each other and giving each other the eye poke. It’s a wonderful payoff to a mostly funny short. Maybe it would have been better with sound, but I still enjoy it nonetheless.

9 out of 10

[HomokHarcos]

This may have been better as a sound short, but I still enjoyed it. The hotel is a cool location, and the idea of Stan and Ollie working there is funny. Even if the plot is not even really about anything, just watching them do their job is funny. Of course the most famous section of the movie is when Stan and Ollie accidently rip Jean Harlow's clothes. It's amazing how many comediennes worked with famous comedy acts before becoming stars themselves: Jean Harlow with Laurel and Hardy, Lucille Ball with The Three Stooges, Joan Crawford with Harry Langdon and Marilyn Monroe with the Marx Brothers. Jean Harlow is definitely her recognizable self and it's crazy that she wasn't even 18 yet. We finish up with another chaotic ending where the hotel all gets into a fight with each other. Not an overly ambitious short, but Laurel and Hardy are just so entertaining.