Topic: Habeas Corpus (1928) - Laurel and Hardy

[metaldams]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018970/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_165_Habeas-Corpus
http://www.laurelandhardycentral.com/habeus.html

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yMgYe71QQ8A

Watch HABEAS CORPUS in the link above



      HABEAS CORPUS is really a strange film, but also a fun one.  If one were to analyze this too much, it doesn't hold water plot wise.  There's some mad professor who is able to convince Stan and Ollie to dig up a dead body in a graveyard for some bizarre brain experiment.  The professor's butler is an undercover cop who makes sure the professor gets arrested right away.  With Stan and Ollie, it would make sense for him to do the same, but instead decides to play some cat and mouse game where he tries to spook them out in a graveyard.  However, if the cop did what makes sense, we wouldn't have much of a comedy, as this strange premise sets up all the gags in the short.  There are plenty of Laurel and Hardy films where plot gag and character are all perfectly in sync, but in this one, let's just say it's character first, gag second, and plot in an easy last place.

      The joy of this film is watching Stan and Ollie as performers, especially Ollie.  The first shot of them in this film is only of their hands.  Stan's hand attempts to knock on the door, but Ollie's hand slaps Stan's hand and makes a gesture as if he wants to knock on the door.  Just a shot of Ollie's hand makes it so obvious by the movement it is Oliver Hardy, a testament to the wonderful and distinctive pantomime he does.  A beautifully subtle moment.

      The rest of the short is just fun to watch because of the faces and reactions Stan and Ollie make as well as that graveyard setting.  This appears to be the same graveyard as the one in DO DETECTIVES THINK?  The gag with Ollie climbing the wet paint pole, complete with hand prints on backside, is a highlight, as is any attempt of Stan and Ollie trying to catapult each other over the cemetery wall.  Ollie falling through the brick wall with his girth is another slapstick highlight.

      Oh, and the ending gag is....another mud puddle!  I love these mud puddles, but I'm also now starting to think of them as stock in a Hal Roach film as a sound effect for an eye poke is in a Columbia short!

8/10

[luke795]

The part where Oliver climbs the pole with wet paint is done again in one of their later films at Fox I think.

[metaldams]

The part where Oliver climbs the pole with wet paint is done again in one of their later films at Fox I think.

According to the Lord Heath link, it's THE BIG NOISE.  I've only seen that film once, and a long time ago.

[Paul Pain]

The video linked has been pulled for "Copyright infringement."

[metaldams]

The video linked has been pulled for "Copyright infringement."

Thanks.  Just found a different link if you want to give it a shot.  Glad you're enjoying these!

[Paul Pain]

I watched this and was mostly impressed by it.  There were some good moments: the professor with his stogie, the sturdy concrete magically turning into shoddy brick, the mud puddle, and the cop getting his butt set on fire.  I got some good chuckles out of this, and it was nice to do some lip-reading in this one.

9/10

[Umbrella Sam]

The setup of this short is not the best, but the payoff is wonderful. As metaldams mentions, the reactions in this short are priceless. Laurel is funny in this, but Hardy is the real standout here. Hardy getting scared is always so fun to watch, especially when remembering how confident he seems from the beginning only to end up being just as scared as Stan in the end (not to mention that he also thought that the professor was sane). His reaction to climbing the "wet paint" pole is also priceless. Of course, it ends off with a mud puddle, which still gets a laugh from me. Once again, this is another one that is worth checking out.

9 out of 10

[HomokHarcos]

My mind tends to get this short mixed up with Do Detectives Think? because of the graveyard setting, and it looks like it is shot at the same one. My guess is somebody really liked the spooky graveyard part in that movie and wanted to make a whole film out of it. The beginning of the film involves Stan and Ollie meeting a mad doctor who wants to do a brain experiment. After this it leads to the graveyard scene. It looks like it was shot at night, which gives it a nigh time look that is actually refreshing and not too common at the time. I love graveyard and horror themed settings, so I really enjoyed this one. With Halloween coming up soon it is timely.