http://www.laurelandhardycentral.com/bohemian.htmlhttp://www.lordheath.com/menu1_250.html THE BOHEMIAN GIRL would be the third and final operettta Laurel and Hardy would make. In addition to being a major step up from previous feature BONNIE SCOTLAND, it is the operetta that feels the most like a Laurel and Hardy film. Sure, there are musical numbers that don't involve the boys, but they tend to go by pretty fast and there are a lot of comedy routines to cherish. The plot that is in the film very heavily integrates Laurel and Hardy, no case like in BONNIE SCOTLAND where the leading lady never gets to meet them, in film AND reality. I can't say it's my favorite or least favorite of the operettas, I enjoy them all for different reasons, but again, certainly the most Laurel and Hardy like. It also bears mentioning the laurelandhardycentral.com guys did a wonderful job discussing this one and since I thought of on my own and agree with a lot of their points, you will hear plenty of repeats out of me.
I will address one bit of tragedy in stating this would be Thelma Todd's last film. We've discussed a lot of her work with Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers and Buster Keaton. Looking at the schedule of films ahead, this may be the last time we discuss her. She passed away a few weeks after filming wrapped up and had her scenes severely cut so her tragedy, fresh in the public's mind, would not overtake the film. All we have left is her, as a brunette, doing a musical number in the beginning of the film. Really a sad way to go but in her short life she left a heck of a lot of good comedy roles. A talented lady for sure and if we ever meet someday, I hope she vamps me like she did all the other comic legends she worked with.
From a character point of view, this one is interesting. Oliver Hardy in the first half plays child like innocent more than any other occasion I can think of. Mrs. Hardy, played by Mae Busch - yay! - cheats on Ollie right in front of him and he's too naive to realize it. At another point, she hands Oliver a child, played by Darla Hood of Our Gang and Campbell's Soup fame, tells him it's his daughter and he accepts the news with joy. If my wife or any woman were to hand me a child, I would question it first, wonder who the mother is, and raise Hell. Ollie just accepts it like it's nothing, gotta wonder if his marriage was consummated. Incredibly innocent.
Then there is the pickpocket scene. On surface, Stan and Ollie don't usually play so unlikeable a profession, but considering they're gypsies and the theft is established as a way of life for all of them in the film, I get the sense they're just following the culture they live in rather than stealing out of any malice. Still, notice how crafty Stan is in this scene. He is confident and competent in a way you rarely see Stan and the way he bails Ollie out of trouble and gets the police officer (played by James C. Morton!) to get the guy being robbed to appear as the robber is brilliant. Fantastic scene overall and also dig the little gestures Stan and Ollie make to each other as they are sneaking around the town (which is built wonderfully, great set designs in this film), they really were great actors.
The other hysterical scene is Stan trying to save the wine from guzzling out into the room so he guzzles it into himself, getting sloppy drunk in the process. A pure masterpiece of a performance, I was doing a lot of laughing here. The way his drunkenness progresses really showagain what a fine actor he was.
I also want to bring up the father identifying the long missing and now grown daughter (played by Jacquline Wells from ANY OLD PORT and THE BLACK CAT) by the jewlery and tattoo on her shoulder. Charlie Chaplin used a similar device in THE VAGABOND (1916). There the leading lady was also taken away from her noble childhood to a band of gypsies and the mother recognized the grown daughter years later by a birthmark. I have no idea if this device shows up in the original operetta and perhaps inspired Chaplin or if it is not in the operetta and Chaplin was the inspiration, but again, similar plot devices.
Other honorable mentions go to James Finlayson getting an eye poke and complaining his good eye got hit and the great sight gag of an ending of a stretched and tall Ollie and a squashed and small Stan. The great camera angle of Ollie looking down on Stan says it all. A really fun film, nice production values, the music doesn't overstay it's welcome and is pleasant in the dosage we get and there's a of comedy where the comics are in the story. What a concept! Thumbs up.
