Topic: Them Thar Hills (1934) - Laurel and Hardy

[metaldams]

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      Every moment of this short is funny.  Every moment.  One of my absolute favorite Laurel and Hardy films and you know what, depending on what day of the week it is, if you combine it with its sequel, perhaps my favorite.  This short just flat out rules, from Stan's stupidity, (too much high living = must move to the basement, the mountains are up in the multitudes - eat your heart out Leo Gorcey, paying money for that rented trailer is less than nothing), to Billy Gilbert's subtle door knob turn that never was, to Stan carrying Ollie, to Ollie driving a car with his foot in a cast that somehow goes past the passenger side, to a reciprocal retaliation scene for the ages, to a drunk Mae Busch looking funny in Stan's hat, to me not knowing when to finish a run on sentence, I just love this short.

      The reciprocal retaliation scene is beyond hysterical.  Just the sight of Charlie Hall with a plunger on his forehead, tarred and feathered, is a comic image for the ages.  These men are so interested in a battle of wits they don't care what physical harm comes to them, you have to wait your turn to have your say.  "Why, sure Mr. Hall, you can throw that lighted match on my gasoline doused ass, who am I to stop you?"  What's also great is that after all that drinking, Stan and Ollie are still too dumb to realize there's liquor in that well, and Ollie jumps right in, giving us a sight gag for the ages.

      Also love the tension in the middle where Ollie keeps singing that song, slowly killing time as they inch there way towards that liquored up water with "iron."  I never noticed this before, but pay close attention to the roundabout way Stan pours the coffee, good stuff.  I also love the timing when Stan finally makes Ollie's tune a call and response bit, climaxing in a perfectly timed bonk on the head from Ollie.

      A must see short, so good they made a sequel.  Classic, classic, classic stuff.

[Umbrella Sam]

Yes, this is a very well-made short. I mean, considering that they made a sequel, you’d expect that to be the case anyway.

It’s interesting because it’s actually been quite a while since we’ve seen one of these reciprocal retaliation endings. What seemed to be really common in the silent era actually wasn’t utilized as much in the sound era as you’d think, so perhaps that’s why this and TIT FOR TAT both feel so special. That’s not meant to knock this short in any way; the reciprocal retaliation, though not quite as large-scale as the ones in the silent era, is still paced very well here and you can tell they had a lot of fun making it (literally, there’s a part where you can see Charlie Hall cracking up over the antics happening to him).

The reciprocal retaliation only takes up part of the short, though. The rest of it mainly relies on Laurel and Hardy’s work as a duo and, unsurprisingly, they handle themselves very well. The whole bit with them humming the song while trying to make something to eat, which takes up a good of amount of the runtime, is very good and I also really like the part at the beginning with Laurel attempting to carry Hardy. And, of course, there’s always the minor recurring gags in the Laurel and Hardy series, like Hardy insisting on entering the trailer first, which have been used so much throughout the years, yet are still just as funny as the first time.

Agreed, this definitely deserves to be regarded as a classic.

10 out of 10

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Classic is right.  I could go on, but I know I'd be preaching to the choir.  Am I wrong, or is this the period in which Finlayson went back to Scotland for a while, thus elevating Charlie Hall?  And BTW, the song is called The Old Spinning Wheel ( In The Parlor ).

[metaldams]

Classic is right.  I could go on, but I know I'd be preaching to the choir.  Am I wrong, or is this the period in which Finlayson went back to Scotland for a while, thus elevating Charlie Hall?  And BTW, the song is called The Old Spinning Wheel ( In The Parlor ).

Looking at Finlayson's 1934 filmography, it does appear to be all British film, so I guess so!  Never knew he left America for a bit, but yeah, last Laurel and Hardy appearance before this was FRA DIAVOLO and doesn't appear again until THICKER THAN WATER, which we haven't discussed yet.

I have been watching a DVD set of Stan Laurel solo silents recently, Fin appears in a ton of those!  Even a few shorts he stars in that Stan directed.

[HomokHarcos]

This was really enjoyable. Mae Busch, who is usually the very mean and sometimes abusive wife of Ollie, is actually very friendly here. Of course, a large part of that is because she is drunk, I love it when she wears Stan's hat. The mountain setting and trailer sets are good. A very enjoyable short film overall, it's amazing that they would only be doing short films for a few more months after this. I know you my reviews aren't so detailed, but that's partly because Laurel and Hardy made brilliant pictures on simple premises.

[Samurai]

As I tend to do in my 'reviews', I'll skip repeating the well deserved reasons why this short is a classic. I love, after multiple viewings, to share the small moments that hit my funny bone at the perfect angle.

#1 Stan making coffee:
It's a simple assignment...for anyone not named Stan. The genius moment(s) occur after filling the coffee can with water, instead of the coffee pot. Upon realizing his idiocy, Stan begins to correct his mistake. While that occurs, he ever so casually sneaks a peek to see if Ollie is wise...THREE TIMES! It was so subtle, and so damn perfect.

#2 Mae gets it:
After taking a drink of 'water'. Mae knows exactly what the water contains. And, is the only one who knows. Her two eyebrow raises, one after her first sip, and the second after winking at Ollie "okay baby, you don't know what you're missing!"...are PERFECT.

#3 Silly sound effect
After Ollie is blown out of the well, the sound he makes upon landing is one that never fails to make me laugh. NEVER!

[NoahYoung]

Just a few brief comments until I get a chance to comment on other people's comments in this thread.

To me, this is the short that should have convinced Roach and any of his "decision-makers" to allow the boys to continue making shorts. I'm sure by this time that everyone saw the writing on the wall, and Roach had probably already told L&H that they would soon be making features exclusively. What boggles my mind, and I've probably pointed this out before, is that their feature output from 1935 on was more or less the same as it had been in the years prior.

After a few years of recycling LeRoy Shield's background music, we finally get some new music in this short. Two of the themes were actually songs sung by Charley Chase in ANOTHER WILD IDEA. McCabe/Kilgore/Bann credit the music to Shield, Marvin Hatley, and someone referred to as just "Hill."

This short was a return to form of the faster-paced, lively shorts that they were turning out regularly from late 1930 until around 1932. The prior 2 shorts, OLIVER THE EIGHTH and GOING BYE-BYE!, had been a bit slow, but they kicked it up a few notches for this short. They kept up the pace in shorts and a feature (BABES IN TOYLAND) until they hit the rather slow THE FIXER UPPERS and THICKER THAN WATER to end their shorts careers. Interestingly enough, the first half of BONNIE SCOTLAND continues that slowness of their last 2 shorts, but the second half is paced so much better. I always have to look it up, but I think parts of BONNIE SCOTLAND were actually filmed before THICKER THAN WATER -- need to check Randy's book again.

In short, IMO this ranks very near the top of L&H's greatest comedies ever, features and silents included!

[NoahYoung]

This was really enjoyable. Mae Busch, who is usually the very mean and sometimes abusive wife of Ollie, is actually very friendly here. Of course, a large part of that is because she is drunk, I love it when she wears Stan's hat.

She's also an ally to the boys in GOING BYE-BYE and THE FIXER UPPERS. She's in THE LIVE GHOST, but doesn't even share a scene with them. And of course she's an ally in TIT FOR TAT.

In THE LIVE GHOST and COME CLEAN, it is strongly implied that she is a lady of the evening.

[NoahYoung]

It’s interesting because it’s actually been quite a while since we’ve seen one of these reciprocal retaliation endings. What seemed to be really common in the silent era actually wasn’t utilized as much in the sound era as you’d think, so perhaps that’s why this and TIT FOR TAT both feel so special. That’s not meant to knock this short in any way; the reciprocal retaliation, though not quite as large-scale as the ones in the silent era, is still paced very well here and you can tell they had a lot of fun making it (literally, there’s a part where you can see Charlie Hall cracking up over the antics happening to him).

They gave the reciprocal destruction theme a slight twist in a few talkies by pitting Stan against Ollie, in shorts such as TOWED IN A HOLE and BUSY BODIES.

[NoahYoung]

Looking at Finlayson's 1934 filmography, it does appear to be all British film, so I guess so!  Never knew he left America for a bit, but yeah, last Laurel and Hardy appearance before this was FRA DIAVOLO and doesn't appear again until THICKER THAN WATER, which we haven't discussed yet.

I have been watching a DVD set of Stan Laurel solo silents recently, Fin appears in a ton of those!  Even a few shorts he stars in that Stan directed.

In the silent days at Roach, Fin's roles were more prominent, and in several he was the lead star, even in some films with the boys. For example SUGAR DADDIES and LOVE'EM AND WEEP. He obviously eventually had to settle for being a foil, and it was big of him to accept it gracefully.

[Freddie Sanborn]

In the silent days at Roach, Fin's roles were more prominent, and in several he was the lead star, even in some films with the boys. For example SUGAR DADDIES and LOVE'EM AND WEEP. He obviously eventually had to settle for being a foil, and it was big of him to accept it gracefully.

Well, he did leave Roach for about a year, so I think he had to come to grips with the fact that he was a great foil, but not lead comedian material.

[NoahYoung]

Well, he did leave Roach for about a year, so I think he had to come to grips with the fact that he was a great foil, but not lead comedian material.

Right, but I think the first time he left wasn't until 1934. By 1928, it was already apparent that he would no longer star in any shorts at Roach. So that was a pretty long time to stick around, though I'm sure the Depression had a lot to do with it. When he came back, he was given the biggest roles he ever had in a L&H feature: OUR RELATIONS and  WAY OUT WEST. His character in those 2 appears throughout the movie, rather than in just a scene or two, and is important to the plot. So there was obviously no animosity between him and Roach.

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And, until it too gets pulled:
https://archive.org/details/LaurelHardyThemTharHills

[Freddie Sanborn]

I believe he had a couple of extended visits home to Scotland, so that may account for some absences. And he made a lot of non-Roach appearances, such as his dramatic turn in the 1930 Dawn Patrol.

[metaldams]

In the silent days at Roach, Fin's roles were more prominent, and in several he was the lead star, even in some films with the boys. For example SUGAR DADDIES and LOVE'EM AND WEEP. He obviously eventually had to settle for being a foil, and it was big of him to accept it gracefully.

I believe SUGAR DADDIES was the last short filmed before Stan and Ollie were permanently an in screen team and yeah, Fin is completely equal with them.  They basically make a comedy trio.  Even CALL OF THE CUCKOO, Fin was as much a guest star in that Max Davidson short as Chase, Stan and Ollie.  He was even a star in the 1920 Sennett feature DOWN ON THE FARM.  Yeah, I imagine it had to be an adjustment to be a supporting player for Stan and Ollie, but he eventually did well with it.

[NoahYoung]

I believe SUGAR DADDIES was the last short filmed before Stan and Ollie were permanently an in screen team and yeah, Fin is completely equal with them.  They basically make a comedy trio.  Even CALL OF THE CUCKOO, Fin was as much a guest star in that Max Davidson short as Chase, Stan and Ollie.  He was even a star in the 1920 Sennett feature DOWN ON THE FARM.  Yeah, I imagine it had to be an adjustment to be a supporting player for Stan and Ollie, but he eventually did well with it.

Yes, SUGAR DADDIES was their first short released by M-G-M, and from then on in all the ones to be filmed they were teamed, whether or not it was "offical" or not.

Supporting other comedians who rose to the top was better than being out-of-work, and Fin also supported Charley Chase in a few films. Fin even appears very briefly in FEET FIRST with Harold Lloyd, sans mustache.