http://www.laurelandhardycentral.com/haunting.htmlhttp://www.lordheath.com/menu1_68.htmlhttps://m.ok.ru/video/30262758008 Watch A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO in the link above. However, I don’t know much about this website, so to be 100% risk free, buy on blu-ray or DVD.
A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO is the second of six Fox films Laurel and Hardy made and for this one time, they share top billing with Dante the Magician. As a 68 minute b Hollywood film, it’s perfectly acceptable entertainment for a Saturday morning if you don’t think too much. The production values are slick, there are enough interesting actors and this thing moves fast enough. As a Laurel and Hardy vehicle, it’s lacking. Really, what we have is part comedy, part magic act, part gangster film, very small part romance, and towards the end, a Charlie Chan Fox mystery without Charlie Chan. When you try to pigeonhole so much into 68 minutes, obviously nothing is done to its full potential.
The main reason we’re here is Laurel and Hardy. In the beginning of the film, Ollie utters the line, “Here’s another nice PREDICAMENT you’ve gotten me into.” The variation of a famous phrase showing we’re not in standard Laurel and Hardy territory anymore. There are a lot of parts where they are not involved as we have a lot of gangsters in a very convoluted plot I will not even attempt to share. As far as the boys, the highlights include them being duped into the machine “inflato.” It is a machine that counterfeits small dollar bills into larger dollar bills. The boys are suckers and I am shocked, shocked I tell you, that Oliver Hardy is ignorant on sound monetary policy. He goes into a heartfelt speech about saving the world with this machine by printing a lot of money for everyone. Ollie, sadly, just looks plain ignorant. A very bizarre scene that gets livened up with the presence of rumored almost Stooge, Mantan Moreland.
Another highlight would be the rope scene, which is fun, and the phone booth illusion scene where Ollie gets confused by the multiple Stan and Ollies. The last gag to close the film, a mini Stan popping out of an egg and crying while Ollie laughs is fun too. Come to think of it, all the Stan and Ollie highlights, far from their best stuff but pleasant, all involve magic. For the record, I do like them in their Arabian costumes. I also want to mention Stan and Ollie are going around backstage chanting, “Oh Charlie.” An old routine that was just done by Abbott and Costello in HOLD THAT GHOST the year before this. For the second film in a row, Laurel and Hardy are being influenced by the new kids on the block.
The gangster stuff isn’t exactly WHITE HEAT and don’t even try to get me to review the mystery element in the end - the mystery genre has never been a strong point with me with some exceptions. It’s all convoluted but again, it moves along fast. Interesting seeing Elisha Cook, Jr. one year removed from THE MALTESE FALCON (and thirty years before encountering the mighty BLACULA). I should mention Dante the Magician since he’s co top billed. He’s pleasant enough and the magic stuff is OK, pleasant b movie fodder. Actually, that’s what this whole film is, pleasant b movie fodder. It breezes by nicely, just don’t expect prime Laurel and Hardy. The Fox films, from memory, do improve from here as Stan slowly gets more control. Before we get to the next Fox film, we get an MGM film. Hold on tight.
