Topic: Swiss Miss (1938) - Laurel and Hardy

[metaldams]

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      SWISS MISS tends to be ranked at the bottom of Roach features for a lot of people.  I think part of the problem is the fact it is sandwiched in between two masterpieces in WAY OUT WEST and BLOCK-HEADS, two obviously superior films.  My take is this.  There are four Roach features that I consider bottom tier as far as Roach features go, even though they all have some aspect to enjoy.  They would be SWISS MISS along with the first two features and BONNIE SCOTLAND.  Out of the four, I consider SWISS MISS the best.  Yes, there are flaws, but the look of the film and a couple of fantastic scenes rise this above the others.

      Yes, the film looks wonderful.  One name I want to point out is the art director, Charles D. Hall.  He's not to be confused with beloved Roach character actor Charlie Hall.  The art director version is one of the unsung heroes of Hollywood, as years before this he worked for Universal and is the reason why those thirties horror films look so amazing.  Go to imdb and look at the man's credits and think of what those films look like.  You will grow an appreciation for this man.  SWISS MISS, in its best and worst parts, has a Swiss atmosphere that's always great to look at and Mr. Hall deserves a lot of credit.

      The great scenes from this one would be Stan trying to get brandy out of the rescue dog along with him and Ollie trying to get the piano across the bridge.  Stan is wonderful working with that dog and eventually wins a battle of the wits with the domesticated beast.  The different ways he tries to get the dog to think he's in trouble to get that brandy are a lot of fun and the way he throws those chicken feathers in the air to feign snow is a clever and funny touch.  The bridge scene is a riot because it's almost cartoon like, yet those Stan and Ollie screams, so beloved by now, are what make the cartoon visuals really work.  We also get a gorilla because hey, why not?  Two absolutely fantastic scenes.

      The rest is OK.  The worst of it are a few of the early musical numbers which go by quick enough.  Character wise, I do think they make Ollie a bit too cruel when the restaurant has no apple pie, a rare case in a Roach film where they don't write well for him.  The romantic couple, which involves Walter Woolf King from A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (a film that no doubt inspired this), are at least adult like in their attraction to each other, though the jealousy angle is kind of lame.  It kind of stinks seeing Ollie made a sucker just to make the leading man jealous, but he seems to take it in good stride at the end. 

      The rest of the good stuff is the scene where they're selling mouse traps in the cheese factories and poke holes in the pipes, causing flames to shoot from the floor.  Also, after years of being away, Anita Garvin is back briefly and gets one nice little scene dealing with the boys when selling mouse traps, a fun exercise in circular reasoning.  It's good to see her, but she came back at the urging of Stan, being semi-retired from film at this point.

      Not one of the better films, but like all the Roach features, has something good to offer.  Next film goes way beyond just something good to offer.

[Tony Bensley]

That's some amazing Art Direction credits for Charles D. Hall, basically all of the top tier Universal Horror Films from DRACULA (1931) to BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935).  His career appeared to have petered out after his time at the Hal Roach Studios, though.

Getting to SWISS MISS (1938), I agree that visually, it's the best among Laurel and Hardy's lesser Roach Features.  This was their one feature film that had Technicolor test shots done before Hal Roach abandoned color shooting.  Over the years, I've read of the Hal Roach Studios often being near bankruptcy as a factor regarding why this feature and BABES IN TOYLAND (1934) ultimately weren't shot in Technicolor. 

Whatever one's take of this less acclaimed feature having been produced between two clearly superior Laurel and Hardy focused features (I consider BLOCK-HEADS above average, rather than a masterpiece.), I do find it interesting that Hal Roach never again revisited the Romantic subplot in his three remaining Laurel and Hardy features. 

Although not as painfully obvious as in their much later final effort, ATOLL K (1951), Stan was ill during the shooting of SWISS MISS (1938).  Perhaps this was a contributing factor towards Hal Roach essentially getting his way creatively on this project.

CHEERS! 

[metaldams]

That's some amazing Art Direction credits for Charles D. Hall, basically all of the top tier Universal Horror Films from DRACULA (1931) to BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935).  His career appeared to have petered out after his time at the Hal Roach Studios, though.

Getting to SWISS MISS (1938), I agree that visually, it's the best among Laurel and Hardy's lesser Roach Features.  This was their one feature film that had Technicolor test shots done before Hal Roach abandoned color shooting.  Over the years, I've read of the Hal Roach Studios often being near bankruptcy as a factor regarding why this feature and BABES IN TOYLAND (1934) ultimately weren't shot in Technicolor. 

Whatever one's take of this less acclaimed feature having been produced between two clearly superior Laurel and Hardy focused features (I consider BLOCK-HEADS above average, rather than a masterpiece.), I do find it interesting that Hal Roach never again revisited the Romantic subplot in his three remaining Laurel and Hardy features. 

Although not as painfully obvious as in their much later final effort, ATOLL K (1951), Stan was ill during the shooting of SWISS MISS (1938).  Perhaps this was a contributing factor towards Hal Roach essentially getting his way creatively on this project.

CHEERS! 

I had no idea Stan was sick during this one, though I was aware he was during Atoll K.  Interesting.  What was the issue?  I do believe he had issues with Hal Roach about how this film would be made and Roach won.  Perhaps the relationship with Roach needs to be discussed more, it will be rearing its head in the next few weeks.

[Tony Bensley]

I had no idea Stan was sick during this one, though I was aware he was during Atoll K.  Interesting.  What was the issue?  I do believe he had issues with Hal Roach about how this film would be made and Roach won.  Perhaps the relationship with Roach needs to be discussed more, it will be rearing its head in the next few weeks.

I don't recall any details of Stan's illness, other than the often cited that he looked pale and tired reference, which I have noticed.  At the moment, I've only been able to find reference on the often wildly inaccurate IMDB website (After having first checked Dave Lord Heath's "Another Nice Mess" SWISS MISS page!).  Oddly enough, Stan Laurel's coaxing Anita Garvin out of retirement is debunked on the IMDB page, as well.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0030824/trivia

CHEERS! 

[metaldams]

I don't recall any details of Stan's illness, other than the often cited that he looked pale and tired reference, which I have noticed.  At the moment, I've only been able to find reference on the often wildly inaccurate IMDB website (After having first checked Dave Lord Heath's "Another Nice Mess" SWISS MISS page!).  Oddly enough, Stan Laurel's coaxing Anita Garvin out of retirement is debunked on the IMDB page, as well.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0030824/trivia

CHEERS! 

You're correct about Anita Garvin and I should have looked up her filmography - it clearly confirms she didn't retire.  She's even credited in TOPPER, so she worked with Roach shortly before SWISS MISS.

Ironically, her last role ever was in COOKOO CAVALIERS with The Three Stooges!

[Umbrella Sam]

Well, looking back, SWISS MISS is a little better than I remember, but that still doesn’t change the fact that I personally consider this their worst Roach feature.

Starting with the positives, I agree about the scene with Stan and the dog. The pacing is excellent and it definitely belongs up there with the great solo Stan scenes. I’ll also admit that the randomness of the gorilla during the bridge scene is also pretty funny. There are other good, but more minor scenes, such the part with Anita Garvin, the scene with Stan and Ollie and the fire coming out of the holes, and the scene where Stan plays the tuba and tortures the chef.

Visually, yes, this feature does look great, but I just wish that it were applied to a better story. The major problem that I have with this film is the romantic interests. Look, I get that the guy in BONNIE SCOTLAND was whiny and, sure, it could sometimes get annoying, but I’d rather take him over the egotistical brats that take up the dramatic portions of this film. I mean, come on, the guy literally makes an entire hotel recreate a specific atmosphere just so he can prove he’s a good composer, and the woman just uses Ollie like he was nothing. I suppose if they somehow made it up to him in the end, I wouldn’t mind so much. It would have at least been nice for them to pay his bill so he didn’t have to stay at the hotel anymore. But, no, instead they escape by way of a lame climax involving Laurel and Hardy running from and trapping the chef.

Even the comedy doesn’t always work. The bridge scene drags quite a bit. There was supposed to be a bomb in the piano during this scene to give it more tension (kind of like the bomb-in-the-piano gag used in several Warner Bros. cartoons), but Roach cut it. This leads to a way too long scene in which Stan awkwardly hits keys for no reason at all. I’m also not fond of the whole bubbles scene either. Sorry, but it just felt slow and unfunny to me.

It’s more coherent than BONNIE SCOTLAND and I did find myself enjoying some more of the minor comedy bits than I remember, but the terribly handled story combined with some rather boring, longer comedy scenes makes me still prefer BONNIE SCOTLAND over this. Again, there are some good moments, but it requires sitting through a lot of tediousness.

6 out of 10

[Umbrella Sam]

I don't recall any details of Stan's illness, other than the often cited that he looked pale and tired reference, which I have noticed.  At the moment, I've only been able to find reference on the often wildly inaccurate IMDB website (After having first checked Dave Lord Heath's "Another Nice Mess" SWISS MISS page!).  Oddly enough, Stan Laurel's coaxing Anita Garvin out of retirement is debunked on the IMDB page, as well.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0030824/trivia

CHEERS! 

Wasn’t Stan having serious marital problems around this time? Maybe that contributed to his illness (I recall hearing that he was arrested for drunk driving around this time, so maybe his alcohol intake had increased).

[Tony Bensley]

Wasn’t Stan having serious marital problems around this time? Maybe that contributed to his illness (I recall hearing that he was arrested for drunk driving around this time, so maybe his alcohol intake had increased).

Stan Laurel's drunk driving charge didn't occur until September 28, 1938, but Stan was in the midst of extremely serious marital problems at the time of the SWISS MISS (1938) shooting.

While I recall hearing about Stan Laurel being ill during the shooting, I don't believe specifics were ever mentioned in older accounts.  However, Stan's daughter Lois stated it was later found that her father suffered from a chemical imbalance that would kick in after having more than a couple of drinks, and was probably an early precursor to his late 1940s diabetes onset.

CHEERS! 

[metaldams]

I guess even childlike comedians on screen had bits of rock star behavior in them.  I've never read anything biographical on either Stan* or Ollie, but the marriages and drunk driving is very rock star.

*Auto correct made this say "Satan"

[Dr. Mabuse]

Hal Roach makes the error of shoehorning Laurel and Hardy into a romantic musical that looks like a Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy reject. Fortunately, "Swiss Miss" includes some of Stan and Ollie's most memorable scenes, such as their surreal encounter with a gorilla on an Alpine suspension bridge. Skip the dreadful songs and you will have a good time.

6/10

[stooge_o_phile]

Fortunately, "Swiss Miss" includes some of Stan and Ollie's most memorable scenes, such as their surreal encounter with a gorilla on an Alpine suspension bridge.

I would add to that the same gorilla who fell from that bridge coming back at the end of the film to chase after them in long shot, then throwing his crutch at them and beaning them both!

[Tony Bensley]

I would add to that the same gorilla who fell from that bridge coming back at the end of the film to chase after them in long shot, then throwing his crutch at them and beaning them both!

That is a very amusing comic moment, and the Gorilla wanting a bit of revenge on the boys is understandable.

CHEERS! 

[HomokHarcos]

I like the snowy setting of this movie (I tend to like those), but once again it has the same problem as Bonnie Scotland in that a lot of it focuses on a romantic couple. At least Laurel and Hardy are more integrated in the story here, and they have interactions with the romantic couple. Laurel and Hardy get some good comic bits themselves. I really liked the part where there is a checklist for how many more days Stan and Ollie have to work and they try to erase the amount behind the boss's back! The bridge scene was great and cartoony, like something you would see in a Warner Bros. cartoon. It actually had me in suspense when they walking on it carrying the piano. The selling mouse traps scenario would have worked better with The Three Stooges, and I wish Anita Garvin played a larger role.