User reviews

LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.

An angry judge orders vagrants Stan & Ollie to `SCRAM!' or they'll be locked-up. Before they can obey, a good deed performed for an inebriated millionaire precipitates the Boys into a crazy series of misunderstandings.

A hilarious little film. Highlight: the wild romp with the lady of the house. That's Richard Cramer as His Honor; Arthur Housman as the drunk; and Vivien Oakland portrays the lady.

Scram finds Laurel&Hardy being told to Scram, as in scram out of town. Judge Richard Cramer who has no tolerance for drunks and vagrants tells them to get out of town after they've been caught sleeping on a park bench.

In 1932 that would have gotten a lot of sympathy from the movie audience as it seemed about half the country had similar sleeping quarters. Still this judge is a mean one.

Fortunately they find an amiable drunk in Arthur Housman whom they help in true Stan and Ollie fashion break into his house and he invites them to spend the night out of the rain. In breaking in there are a whole treasure trove of gags.

Once in the lady of the house is not thrilled with their presence.

All I can say there is heed the words of Paul Newman who says it is best to use gin when drinking with a mark in The Sting. Water in a gin bottle is most effective. But in this case it's gin in a water jug. Also effective.

The last gag is the end to a perfect evening for Stan and Ollie.

A most timely Prohibition era short subject.

Convicted of vagrancy, Laurel and Hardy are give one hour to get out of town or be jailed. On their way out of town they meet a drunk who has lost his car keys. They help him find them and he takes them to his house, but given the trouble they have getting inside, is it even his house?

As usual Stan and Oliver are homeless and workless. Here they are forced out of a town but think they've landed on their feet when a drunk takes them into his luxury home. This plot gives the leads only really one type of humour to concentrate on – physical routines. That isn't a major problem as they are pretty funny is never exactly setting the world on fire.

However I always liked their dialogue together as it is often hilarious and well written to make them both look foolish. Here there is none of this worth speaking of. Both the leads do well and there's no doubting their abilities when it comes to falling over in amusing way.

Overall this is funny if you like L&H's physical stuff which I do, but I did feel like the job was only half done when their was none of their usual banter.

SCRAM!

Aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white - Short film)

Ordered out of town by an aggressive judge (Richard Cramer), two vagrants (Laurel and Hardy) become involved with a drunken motorist (Arthur Housman) who invites them home. Unfortunately, he takes them to the wrong house...

Brilliantly constructed short film, directed by Raymond McCarey and scripted by H.M. Walker, in which L&H fall foul of the same judge on two separate occasions, with hilarious (and painful) consequences. Cast alongside some of the best comic actors of the day (Housman is note-perfect in his signature role, while Cramer plays it straight as the no-nonsense judge), L&H ply their trade with consummate skill, and the scene in which co-star Vivien Oakland gets blind drunk and sets off a chain reaction of uproarious laughter is a joy. Wonderful stuff, a highlight of L&H's distinguished career.

Laurel & Hardy were in their prime when they appeared in Scram!, a terrific two-reel comedy that's funny from the start and builds to an uproarious finale of drunken mayhem. This is the one where Stan and Ollie are vagrants, ordered to leave town by an ornery judge (the magnificently irascible Rychard Cramer) who harbors a special hatred for drunks. When the boys come to the assistance of an intoxicated playboy (the supremely sozzled Arthur Housman) who has lost his car keys he rewards them with an invitation to his home, then takes them to the wrong address. Through a series of unfortunate misunderstandings the guys wind up sporting silk pajamas in the boudoir of the lady of the house (Vivien Oakland) and proceed to get her quite merrily intoxicated, only to learn, belatedly but in the most unmistakable fashion, that they are in the judge's house and the lady is his wife. Mayhem ensures, but it's strangely "innocent" mayhem where the guys are concerned.

Sounds nightmarish, doesn't it? Actually it's hilarious, really one of the best Laurel & Hardy shorts of all. Something I admire about their characters is their sincerity, the sense that they're just being themselves and never straining for a laugh. I love the way Ollie politely addresses the judge as "Your Highness," just as I love the way Stan always blurts out precisely the wrong thing at times like this. And it's amusing as ever to watch as the boys try to break into a house the hard way, in their time-honored fashion. But as wonderful as they are, a few words should be said on behalf of the supporting players in these comedies. Some of the key members of the stock company (i.e. Jimmy Finalyson, Mae Busch, Charlie Hall, etc.) appear frequently and often deserve co-star status, but the three main supporting players seen here, while not so well known, each make a major contribution toward the success of this short. Rychard Cramer is so scary in his brief appearance as the judge in the opening scene that his angry words seem to echo long after he's gone -- foreshadowing his return, which plays like something out of a Noir melodrama or even a horror movie. The perpetually hammered Arthur Housman is given a rare opportunity to perform an extended version of his drunk routine, and more than holds his own opposite Stan & Ollie. But it's Vivien Oakland who gets the best sequence, a prolonged and hilariously pointless laughing jag with the boys that makes the boudoir finale the highlight of the film. This scene is a guaranteed laugh-provoker that defies the viewer NOT to join in the hilarity.

At a time when most of their contemporaries were still struggling to adjust to the new technology of talkies, silent comedy vets Laurel & Hardy had already mastered the new medium and were funnier than ever. Their voices suited their screen characters perfectly, their comedy was enhanced by the delightfully bouncy music of Le Roy Shield and Marvin Hatley, and the supporting roles were filled by a crew of distinctive, gifted players who look like they're having the times of their lives. All these years after the films were made, that sense of fun still comes across.

The Laurel and Hardy short Scram! feels less like a new skit from the lovable and timeless comedy duo but a highlight reel of their most famous moments from all of their shorts. This particular short is packed with all the zaniness you can predict going into a Laurel and Hardy film, from repeated stumbles, difficulty getting sneaking into places, and a seriously deranged mix-up serving as the cherry on the sundae.

Scram! opens with Laurel and Hardy being ordered out of town by a judge after finding them sleeping on a park bench. In the process of leaving town, they run into a congenial drunk (Arthur Housman, who plays a wildly convincing drunk) who invites them back to his home to spend the night after they retrieved his key when it fell into a sewer. Despite being incoherent, the man manages to drive the two of them to the home of Mrs. Beaumont (Vivien Oakland), mistaking it for his own home. While the drunk mindlessly stands outside searching for the key to his home, Laurel and Hardy barge in through the window, being greeted with Mrs. Beaumont and proceeding to get drunk themselves when they inform her they know her husband, who happens to really be someone Laurel and Hardy have already found themselves acquainted with.

Scram! is all too familiar for a dedicated Laurel and Hardy fan, especially one who has seen their admittedly short range of physical comedy. All the aforementioned tropes make an appearance here or there, and their geniality could easily be mistaken for genuine humor. The moral of this particular short is just because you recognize the sight-gag or the ploy doesn't mean it's necessarily funny. If anything, the funniest part of the film is how much it got away with in 1932: drunk driving, breaking and entering, philandering, and two men in the same bed with one woman. Did the Motion Picture Association of America fall asleep when looking over the contents of the film making sure it was in line with the Hays Code?

Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Arthur Housman, Vivien Oakland, and Richard Cramer. Directed by: Ray McCarey.

The sight of Stan and Ollie trying to help a drunk retrieve his keys from under a large grating on the sidewalk, is without a doubt one of the funniest visual moments in any of their movies. The great Arthur Housman, once again plays the screen drunk, just as brilliantly as he did in "Our Relations" and "The Fixer Uppers". It may lag a little in the mid section, but it soon makes it up in the end.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone. A film for all the family and only 20 minutes long. The film is seventy three years old and is as funny now as it always was. That's what make Laurel & Hardy so good, their comedy is timeless. The perfect film to introduce someone to the lovable duo.

I have seen all the films of L & H sometimes over and over. There are some weak shorts, but this is the one I keep coming back to to watch repeatedly. It is, in MHO, one of a handful of the best of their work in shorts.

It is brilliantly planned, masterfully timed, perfectly acted, and expertly edited. I often tell folks who are not familiar with the boys to watch this one as their introduction to the boys. It is THAT funny.

One of my favorite things about it is watching perpetually drunk Arthur Houseman utter what appear to be ad-libs that almost crack up Stan and Babe.

The boys have stood up Arthur and are going through his pockets trying to find the key to his house. He has a lot of pockets to go through. After a moment he tells Ollie, "Someday I'm gonna have all my pockets indexed." Cracks me up every time.

Vivian Okland is unforgettable as the judge's wife.

It was a sign of the boys generosity as actors that allows supporting players to get as many laughs as they get. They are the stars but not the only funny people in this.

That is William Everson's comment on "Scram!" from his book "The Films of Laurel and Hardy," and after watching this, I concur.

Plot In a Nutshell: Two vagrants (Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy) are ordered to leave town, but through a series of mishaps, by the film's end wind up not only in the judge's house, but in his pajamas and in his bed, with his wife!

Why I rated it a '6': I have to admit that actually sounds funny. But this is a 20-minute film and that scene described above only comes at the very end. What we get before that is pretty routine. The low-light is a rehash of a bit L&H already used in "Night Owls," where they have considerable difficulty climbing through a window, finally get into a house, only to lock themselves out the front door. Been there, done that, guys. There is also a scene where a drunk man transfers his jug of alcohol to an empty pitcher, and of course that pitcher of firewater will play a role later in the film. But why transfer the alcohol at all? It's more transportable in the jug. So that's somewhat contrived.

There are a few laughs when L&H (and the drunk guy) run into a beat cop, and the best scene of the film is surely at the end, when the judge comes home to find the mess described above. His facial expressions at seeing his wife, drunk in bed, with the very vagrants he ordered out of town, are truly funny. But it took a long time with considerable stretches of pretty mundane stuff to get there, unfortunately. So, better than average. But not much more.

6/10. Would I watch again (Y/N)?: Only in parts. Definitely the last scene when the judge comes home. Other parts I'd skip.

This is a "vintage" Stan and Ollie film in more than one sense of the word as four of the five main characters in the story are innebriated for a large portion of the proceedings.

Token Hollywood drunk Arthur Houseman (an...ahem...method actor) is at his career best, and the boys are also on form. Watch for Stan's bewildered reply to the judge's question: "On what grounds?". It's a classic.

Richard Cramer is truly menacing as the judge, and the scenes featuring the judge's wife (played by Vivien Oakland) made me laugh out loud along with the characters.

8/10

A particular favourite of mine, 'Scram!' provides yet another reminder that the films of Laurel & Hardy were preCode in their acceptance of drunkenness at a time of prohibition - which provided Arthur Housman with steady employment for the duration and after - which serves as the mainspring for this priceless instalment of the pair's adventures.

Also in evidence is the generosity regularly shown to their supporting players. Vivien Oakland - usually a prim bluestocking - gets to drunkenly carouse with the boys scantily dressed. But the most memorable performance is easily given by toad-faced Richard Cramer - usually cast as a western heavy - who bookends the film as the judge with improbably flamboyant taste in pyjamas, who "hates drunken people" and whose scowling face at the film's conclusion is an absolute picture.

Released in 1932, "Scram" is 20 minutes of comedy joy! This time, Stan and Ollie are two vagrants who are ordered to leave town with immediate effect by a particularly harsh judge. After the court ruling, the boys befriend a drunk who invites them to his house to take shelter from the pouring rain. What Stan and Ollie don't realise, is that they have been invited into the wrong house! The dialogue and pace are both great. My favourite scene is when Laurel and Hardy share a laugh with the lady of the house. My goodness, I think Laurel's laugh must have the highest pitch of any man I have heard!

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. Didn't find 'Scram!' quite one of their very best, but it to me was one of their best 1932 efforts and among the better half of their output at this point.

Admittedly, the story is pretty thin and is pretty standard and it lags ever so slightly in the middle.

Despite that, 'Scram!' is great fun, never less than very amusing and the best moments, such as the ending, being classic hilarity. It is never too silly, there is a wackiness that never loses its energy and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be new but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive. A lot happens yet it doesn't ever feel rushed or over-stuffed. It contains one of the funniest beginnings of their filmography and the ending is a sheer delight.

Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'Scram!' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'Scram!' looks good visually, is full of energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. The supporting players are solid, with Arthur Houseman making for an entertaining drunk, but it's Laurel and Hardy's show all the way.

Concluding, a near-classic. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Laurel and Hardy are ordered out of town for vagrancy. On the way, they encounter perpetual screen drunk Arthur Housman, who takes them home. unfortunately, it's not his home.

Housman had entered films in 1912 at Edison; as a result, he was in one of the earliest produced of a regular series of sound shorts at Edison in 1914. A serious actor who enjoyed comedy, he and Jack Norton were the performers who played drunks in every movie in the 1930s. While Norton was a teetotaler, Housman had a drinking problem. He died in 1942, 52 years old.

Scram! (1932)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Since the jail is too full a judge orders Laurel and Hardy to get out of town within a hour. Outside the courthouse they help a drunk man who then offers to let them spend the night with him but the drunk takes them to the wrong house. Plenty a gags from start to finish in this very good short. The highlights include trying to get a key from a drain and the terrific ending where L&H get drunk with another man's wife.

Saps at Sea (1940)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Terrific Laurel and Hardy feature has Hardy suffering a nervous breakdown so Laurel suggests they go to the sea for peace of quiet. This doesn't work as planned but things get worse when an escaped killer kidnaps them. Clocking in at just around 57-minutes this here basically plays out as two shorts with the first half taking place at home and the second half at sea. The first half is a lot funnier but the ending is among the funniest stuff I've seen from any L&H film.

I agree with the last reviewer that Hal Roach had the absolute BEST stock company of actors.

SCRAM is a prime example. This is campy stuff as the boys help a drunk (played to the hilt by Arthur Houseman) who accidentally brings them to the house of a judge who ordered them to get out of town. The judge is played by tough as nails Dick Cramer, one of the best heavies of the 1930s.

Vivienne Oakland is cuckoo as the judge's wife who gets drunk in the process. Oakland is best remembered playing Edgar Kennedy's wife in his series of comedy shorts, though much more reserved! This comedy was years ahead of its time and certainly R-rated back in the day with the guys dancin' around in silk pajamas ( fancy!) and sitting on a bed with Oakland and whooping it up --until the judge comes home.

Crazy stuff that only Laurel and Hardy could get themselves into, and perhaps get away with back in the day. Houseman, who played scores of drunks in his career, reportedly never drank. He was the actor who inspired so many others in drunk scenes yet to come. Perhaps the next best veteran actor to match Houseman was Jack Norton, who also worked with Laurel and Hardy , and never drank. Great trivia question.

A Big Thank You to ME TV PLUS for re-running L & H all over again. Get the L & H short series dvd box set. A Must.

I guess there is an undercurrent as to why we glorify alcoholism. I would be the last person to accept this as routine, based on family history. Nevertheless, one may also ask why a person, down on his or her luck, is being thrown out of a town for simply trying to find a place to sleep? Our boys find themselves in a predicament. The scenes of drunkenness are part of a series of events they get into after running into a man who has a serious drinking problem. They do him a favor and he invites them to his house. Once there, they display their comic genius. Of course, we come to realize that they are in the wrong house; the drunk has taken them to the wrong place. And, like the Dean in "A Chump at Oxford," they are in serious trouble.

Continuing on with my Laurel and Hardy marathon, I have now come to the 1932 short film "Scram!", and I don't think I've actually ever seen that one before.

However, I will say that of all the Laurel and Hardy movies I've seen so far, this was by far the weakest and most boring of movies. The storyline here was just somewhat of a swing and a miss in terms of providing me with entertainment and laughs. It was perhaps because there was a more of a serious tone to the storyline, thus forcing the comedy somewhat in the background.

It should be noted, however, that the acting was good and the comedy was good, as it always was with Laurel and Hardy. But the storyline just didn't fall into my particular taste all that well.

Sure, "Scram!" was watchable, don't get me wrong. And I am sure that diehard fans of the comedy duo will enjoy this particular short film.

My rating of "Scram!" lands on a mediocre five out of ten stars.