Hog Wild

A lot of people consider "Way Out West" or "Sons of the Desert" or even "Flying Deuces" to be Laurel and Hardy's funniest film, but I consider this short to be the most amusing thing they ever did. From the simplest plot--Ollie and Stan try to hang a radio antenna--comes some of the funniest situations imaginable. Everything that could go wrong does, usually with Ollie blaming Stan, Stan getting emotional, and havoc ensuing. L&H had to turn out several shorts every year, so some are funny and others are indifferent at best. This time, all the elements came together wonderfully. Hopefully "Hog Wild" will wind up on DVD before they disappear. Someway, somehow, find this and watch it.

This movie shows what Laurel & Hardy shorts are all about. Crazy situations, silly antics and some crazy stunts.

This short is truly one of the best from Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The story is very simple and basically only serves as a lame excuse to make the boys do some crazy things and to get them into some (unlikely) silly situations. The movie becomes absolutely hilarious due to its simpleness. The comical slapstick situations are top-class and absolutely hilarious to watch. The movie is fast paced which makes this movie an almost non-stop constantly laugh filled one.

The situations and troubles the two boys get into this time are highly original. The movie and its story might be simple but its comical situations are not. They are well build up, executed and timed.

This is what Laurel & Hardy is all about! One of their best and most typical shorts. An absolute must-see!

9/10

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After a painfully dull opening joke about a misplaced hat, HOG WILD turns out to be one of the best Laurel and Hardy shorts, in a brief amount of time able to spotlight all of the silly ingredients that made them so popular in the '30s.

Stan comes upon Oliver climbing a ladder to install a radio aerial at the request of his wife who wants to hear Japan.

Stan asks if he can help and from then on the film is one slapstick situation after another, with Oliver getting the worst of the deal and giving the camera his special glance of despair.

The rooftop happenings are funny enough but the finale with Oliver inadvertently being carried away by Stan's car while he's atop a ladder gives the ending a funny twist and some unexpected situations.

Summing up: Easily qualifies as one of their best shorts.

This is one of many Laurel & Hardy short features that show how much mileage the great comedy duo were able to get out of a single situation. After a somewhat slow opening sequence, Stan and Ollie have to install a radio antenna on Ollie's roof, and things quickly get "Hog Wild", as everything that can happen does happen. You can see a lot of the gags coming in this one, but they are still very funny, done cleverly and with expert timing. It gets even better as it goes along. This one is worth making a point to see if you are a fan of Laurel and Hardy.

After having seen just about every short Laurel and Hardy made together, I have noticed that the most of the best films are the ones with very simple and mundane plots. Films such as DIRTY WORK, HELP MATES and HOG WILD simply have the pair cleaning house or fixing things, yet they sure milk it for all its worth. I think one of the reasons I love these films is that they aren't cluttered with co-stars or difficult plots and just allow the pair to be the lovable and klutzy characters we've come to love.

Here, Ollie's wife tells him to install a radio aerial on the roof so they can get better reception and THEN he can go have fun with Stan. For any halfway normal person, this would have been a rather quick job--and so naturally the boys nearly kill themselves as well as manage to destroy much of the house! The film ends with a tough to believe but well-filmed sequence where Ollie is stuck on a ladder and Stan accidentally starts the car. Unlike lousy driving sequences such as in COUNTY HOSPITAL where the studio used cheap and unrealistic rear projection to make the driving sequence, here it's filmed for real--though of course stunt doubles were used for the distant shots. This scene and the final shot were quite well done and worked well with the prior house demolition scenes--providing many laughs and no serious lulls. Funny and right to the point.