Topic: Going Bye-Bye! (1934) - Laurel and Hardy

[metaldams]

http://www.lordheath.com/menu1_234.html
http://www.laurelandhardycentral.com/goingbye.html

      The Laurel and Hardy Central guys, both of them, do a nice job of summing up my feelings on GOING BYE-BYE!  I agree it's a short that rarely gets mentioned in the great Laurel and Hardy shorts but is really good except for one thing - Walter Long's screams when he's in the trunk.  Man, it's a combination of overacting and ....weird.  Walter Long is good earlier on when he's menacing, but I never thought the guy was great in comic heavy roles the way Bud, Vernon and Edgar were.  A better straight actor than comic and I also can't get over that BIRTH OF A NATION role as "Gus."  If you've seen that film, you know what I'm talking about.

      Walter Long's moans aside, a perfectly enjoyable short.  I really like the way they mix up Stan coming up with an idea at the beginning.  The normal routine we all love is Ollie asking Stan to repeat the idea, Stan verbally getting the idea wrong a second time and Ollie going along with it anyway.  This short, Ollie congratulates Stan on using "MY brain."  Fantastic!

      The scene where Stan tries to use his reading glasses is brilliant silent comedy worthy of Chaplin in a talking short.  The way he finds one item while misplacing another only to misplace previously found item in a different manner again is very clever and well acted.  The final catch about (spoiler alert) the glasses actually being Ollie's is the icing on the cake.  The newspaper advertisement itself is also wonderful, just remember, those not interested need not apply.  Classic Stan Laurel.

      I enjoy the milk in the ear phone gag with Ollie and Mae Busch's flirtatious nature over the phone.  We also get the razor in the brush gagthat finds a way on a shredded suit....see SING A SONG OF SIX PANTS.  The ending of this short is also a wonderful moment, I was eagerly awaiting Ollie's, "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into" followed by Stan's crying and they delivered.

      Another good Laurel and Hardy short, next week things get even better.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

The entire sequence in their apartment is just prime L & H.  If you don't like that, you just don't like Laurel and Hardy.
     And something I didn't notice until it was specifically pointed out:  watch the little bouquet of flowers.  That kind of thing is what makes them immortal.

[Freddie Sanborn]

Long’s endless gasping and groaning is one of the few directorial missteps in any L&H short.

[Umbrella Sam]

Well, I don’t really have a whole lot more to add to what was said. I enjoy this short a lot, especially the scenes in their apartment with Stan’s glasses and his mistaking the milk for the phone. Long’s moans are weird, but I sort of see it the same way I see the car chase in COUNTY HOSPITAL, in it’s hilarious how awkwardly he does it. Plus, I feel that the antics going on while he’s moaning easily help distract from the moans for a good while (although I never realized he was Gus in BIRTH OF A NATION until metaldams pointed it out. Yeah, that is pretty weird to think about when you realize it’s him).

A couple other things I’d like to note. First off, I agree with Big Chief about the bouquet of flowers. It’s one of those things that doesn’t stick out upon the first viewing, but definitely lends itself to repeat viewings in how fascinating it is to watch them continue making use of it for most of the scenes at Mae Busch’s apartment. The other thing I’d like to note is that this seems to be at least a partial reworking of one of their early silent shorts, DO DETECTIVES THINK? I like the fact that they didn’t just flat out try to do the same thing that they did in the silent version; yeah, they reused story elements, but they actually were put into different roles and given completely different material to work with. I really appreciate that they actually bothered trying to create something new with the same idea rather than treat it as a simple remake.

10 out of 10

[Dr. Mabuse]

One of my all-time favorite Laurel and Hardy shorts. Everything clicks, including Walter Long. The "black" ending is priceless.

10/10

[HomokHarcos]

I think this is one of their best shorts. I loved the part where Walter Long escapes from jail only to get tormented by Stan and Ollie in a box. They get him convicted, but he clearly is guilty so you can feel good about Stan and Ollie injuring him without feeling bad. The ending uses a surreal image with the men deformed from their legs being stretched over their bodies. Laurel liked doing these type of endings, and for the complaints that it is usually just Ollie who gets the punishment Stan is is usually punished too.