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Them Thar Hills (1934) : Brief Review -

Laurel and Hardy on a health Picnic is injurious to them but Helpful for your health. Them Thar Hills is another typical laugh riot from Laurel & Hardy. Just like their contemporary short comedies this one too relies on substantial situations rather than making out forceful comedy like other unintelligent people did that time. Stan and Ollie take a trip into the mountains ('the high multitude') so that Ollie can recover from gout. Bootleggers have dumped their moonshine in the well from which the boys sample their 'healthy' mountain water. Mr Hall, who has left his wife with the boys while he refuels his car is not amused at his wife's condition when he returns. I must say it has those jokes which we are fond of Today, that's almost after 9 decades. I would say watch out for few scenes which led to funny situations effortlessly. Like that water scene, Stan suspects the colour but Ollie answers, that's why Doc asked us to drink it a lot. Such a cute and innocent comedy it was. Who else did it better in 30s than them? So, their legacy is unquestionable, rather undeniable. I missed Stan's funny cries this time, maybe he could had his signature cry here too as i felt that drunkenness could have helped it to score. Ollie, as always, sensibile yet insensibly funny. When he offers a food and drink to that lady i was like, how sophistically he speaks. I mean even many rehearsed gentlemen would fail to bring that much convince on screen. Talking about comedy, it's not hysterical or completely mad but yes it is Funny and meaningfully. It depends on your taste how you like it. As for me, the sensibility always works more than dramatic proportions. A fine job Charley Rogers has done with no hard efforts at all. Easy and Simple, that's how he managed it. I will be catching the Sequel in no time.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short. Poor Ollie is suffering painfully from gout. His doctor advises rest, country air & lots of fresh water. So the Boys rent a trailer and head up into THEM THAR HILLS. Picking a quiet spot, they are unaware that the well has been tainted with many barrels of bootleg liquor. Drinking the water while fixing their dinner, they quickly become inebriated. They are suddenly visited by a bickering couple who've run out of gas. Playing host to the wife, Stan & Ollie share their water with her and she is roisteringly drunk by the time her husband returns...

This is a very funny little film & should be seen in conjunction with its follow-up, TIT FOR TAT. The slapstick fight between the Boys & Charley Hall, as the furious husband, is hilarious. Mae Busch is the wife; film mavens will recognize Billy Gilbert as the doctor.

Them Thar Hills is another favorite Laurel and Hardy episode of mine. In this one, Stan and Ollie go out into the country for Ollie's health. Along the way they encounter a fun loving wife (Mae Busch) and her exasperated husband (Charlie Hall), and they get drunk on some wishing well water that had been contaminated with alcohol by moonshiners.

The funniest part in this episode was when Stan and Ollie retaliate against Charlie Hall! Laurel and Hardy were both ingenious when it came to making episodes and movies, Stan Laurel had taken any gag he used and made it be extremely funny! Also, the way they played off each other in this episode and others were absolutely impressive. That's what made L&H so exquistite, comedy-wise. In fact, Laurel and Hardy are my second favorite comedy team of yesteryear!

Also, Charlie Hall was a great L&H regular, too! And the fun doesn't stop there! After you see Them Thar Hills, watch the bonus sequel Tit for Tat! Both episodes are a can't-miss for Laurel and Hardy fans!

Stan and Ollie hire a trailer and go for a camping trip to the remote countryside , get accidentally drunk ( It can happen you know ) and that`s basically it as far as the threadbare plot goes . However the film feels more cohesive than some of the other L & H shorts which are sometimes a series of set piece prat falls with little regard to the over all plot . There`s also a very memorable ditty that goes

La la la lala lala la la la

Pom Pom

Which will disappear into your head and then reappear in your memory sometime in the future and will have you scratching your head asking " Where does that song come from ? "

Just like everyone else on this page I liked THEM THAR HILLS but wouldn`t say it`s the greatest ever L & H short . In fact I wouldn`t even say it`s the greatest short featuring Mr and Mrs Hall because the sequel TIT FOR TAT released the following year is even better

This Laurel&Hardy short subject opens with Ollie suffering the effects of the gout. Given his stoutness I would think that was something that Oliver Hardy might have had in real life. In any event Dr. Billy Gilbert suggests that he and Stanley go off into the mountains and get some clean country living. Ollie's been living it up too good with that rich city food. Surprisingly Gilbert, a great comic talent in his own right is little used in this short.

But anyway off go Stan and Ollie in a trailer to Them Thar Hills. But they come into some moonshiner territory where the locals have dumped some of their product into a well the boys stop at. That leads to all the rest of the gags in this film including getting a neighbor's wife drunk and the neighbor taking umbrage.

At least until the final gag Ollie may not have had his gout cured, but with all that moonshine in him, he forgot his ills.