The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case

As a spoof of murder-mystery movies and plays this movie is great fun. It has all the clichés from that genre in it and perfectly spoofs those clichés and characters in this movie. The movie has the usual suspects in it and a police inspector (Fred Kelse) who tries to solve the case. Yes, like I said before, it perfectly spoofs some of the murder-mystery clichés. As a spoof it sill applies today.

The 'spooky' elements of the movie are also a welcome addition and provides the movie with some fun moments. Seeing the boys being chased by a white-sheet is a pretty funny sighting. Frank Austin is also perfectly spooky as the stereotype old butler.

Too bad that the pace of the movie isn't the best at times. The movie is dragging on for too long at times, which makes some of the jokes feel stretched out a bit too much.

It overall does have its moments, especially when it spoofs the murder-mystery genre but it's a bit too much dragging movie to find it a hilarious one, or a must-see for the Laurel & Hardy lovers among us.

7/10

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This is one of the most original films Laurel and Hardy made together. In so many of their wonderful shorts, there is a tendency to repeat the same themes again and again, so I was thrilled at this film. Now it isn't the funniest film they ever made, though it is better than average and provided some excellent laughs. The film begins with Stan and Ollie in their usual situation--they are hungry and don't have a job. However, Ollie sees a classified ad seeking to disburse a fortune to a man who Stan happens to be related to! However, just before they walk in to claim the fortune, the police announce that the uncle was murdered and everyone--including Stan and Ollie, are suspects. The rest of the film are the to be expected haunted house gags, but they are done very well. And the conclusion is also done excellently. The film is a nice departure and one I strongly recommend you see if you want a laugh.

This is another L & H short that deviates in some way from the general pattern of them; but this time, the central tennet is drastically different: the boys are implicated in a frankly absurd murder case. Dell Henderson's wonderfully creaking, slow turn, is a comic parody of horror movie 'housekeepers' and butlers before Universal horror really took off. I like the way an authority figure is sent up (as often in L & H); this time a bumbling, melodramatic detective, the actor hamming it up for all it was worth. There's barely a bone in this film's skeleton that isn't light and giddily brittle; only the early scene of Ollie musing on his friendship with Stan, the two of them sitting by the waterside, really seems like a typically L & H scene. And beautifully played and written it is too. It has that comic pathos that is entirely relinquished by the film from then on.

The remainder of this picture spirals off into the most obvious, overplayed silliness; but I loved it. Laurel and Hardy in a creaking, almost chuckling set, standing in for a haunted house; absurd, devilish do propagated by a leering, comatose housekeeper; predictable gags; a bat or two. Just bring it all to mind, and smile... give it a viewing some day, and I'm sure you'll be amused. "The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case" is a wonderfully enjoyable short; and a refreshing variant within their very consistent, fine work during this pre-feature length era.

Rating:- ****/*****

***SPOILERS FOR EMILY***

This is one of Laurel & Hardy's weaker short film entries from Hal Roach Studios. It suffers from a repetitive script and an ending that feels so tacked-on that I can't help but wonder if the crew realized they were filming a mess with no good resolution.

The byplay between Stan and Oliver is the bright spot, though some of the gags in the bedroom scene are a little too hokey to get much of a laugh - that has to be the fakiest fake bat I've EVER seen in a movie.

The opening scene, with the Boys fishing off the pier, contains most of the movie's funniest material. You can always find something good about even the weakest Laurel & Hardy film.

The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Laurel and Hardy have been out of work for nearly a decade when they read the paper and see that their luck might have changed. The relative of Laurel's has died and is leaving his estate of three million dollars. The two dimwits find themselves at the will reading and learn that the relative was actually murdered and they're going to have to spend the night.

THE LAUREL-HARDY MURDER CASE is really a spoof of those "old dark house" movies that were so popular during the silent era and would remain popular throughout the 1930's. This really is a terrific spoof as the two comic legends are in fine form and the screenplay perfectly pokes fun at some clichés like the creepy butler and the fainting woman. The first fifteen minutes mainly has dialogue jokes and some pretty good ones but it's the second half of the film that really comes to life as we get some terrific physical gags including a hilarious one dealing with Laurel sneaking back under the covers. Best dialogue:

Hardy: Is your uncle alive?

Laurel: Nope, he died of a broken neck. Fell through a trap door.

Hardy: Was he building a house?

Laurel: No, they were hanging him.