Jilted by his girlfriend, "Jeanie-Weenie," Oliver joins the Foreign Legion to forget, bringing Stanley along with him. They wilt under the scorching desert sun and under the harsh discipline... Read allJilted by his girlfriend, "Jeanie-Weenie," Oliver joins the Foreign Legion to forget, bringing Stanley along with him. They wilt under the scorching desert sun and under the harsh discipline of the Commandant. On a long march to reinforce remote Fort Arid, the boys get lost in th... Read allJilted by his girlfriend, "Jeanie-Weenie," Oliver joins the Foreign Legion to forget, bringing Stanley along with him. They wilt under the scorching desert sun and under the harsh discipline of the Commandant. On a long march to reinforce remote Fort Arid, the boys get lost in the sands, finally reaching the Fort only to find it besieged by the fearsome Riffs.
- Chief of the Riff Raff
- (as Abul Kasim K'Horne)
- Fort Arid Commander
- (as Broderick O'Farrel)
- New Recruit #11
- (uncredited)
- New Recruit
- (uncredited)
- Fort Arid Legionnaire
- (uncredited)
- New Recruit
- (uncredited)
- New Recruit #13
- (uncredited)
- Jeanie Weenie - in Photo
- (uncredited)
- Riffian
- (uncredited)
- New Recruit
- (uncredited)
- New Recruit
- (uncredited)
- Riffian
- (uncredited)
- New Recruit
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
with Ronald Coleman in 1926, "Beau Hunks" is not just a funny play on words.
Unlike today, being called a hunk was not a compliment. In those days, "Hunk," "Hunky," or "Bohunk" was a pejorative term for an Eastern European --- (It's a conflation of "Bohemian" and "Hungarian.) The general connotation of the term was that of a stupid, not necessarily clean, undesirable immigrant. So to call someone a Bohunk was quite an insult.
It's a pity that the extremely stupid guidelines require ten lines of text, when I could have said everything in five. Are they perhaps taken from the IRS tech-writing standards for tax laws?
Poor Ollie is pining over his lost love because his Jeanie Weanie is getting married so to forget his troubles he joins the Foreign Legion, dragging along poor Stanley behind him. Of course as it turns out Jeanie Weanie is Jean Harlow who's sent these loving autographed pictures all over the world as we see when they settle into the barracks of the Foreign Legion.
The film is a satire of Beau Geste and of The Desert Song which only two years earlier had come to the screen. The enemy are the Riffraffs and a deadly bunch they are. Of course they haven't come up against Laurel and Hardy.
Two best bits in the film are the boys getting lost in a sand storm on the desert and then actually arriving at the fort ahead of the rest of the troop. Second is when Laurel the dunce is asked by Hardy why he's not carrying any equipment for the march and he innocently replies that he packed his stuff with Ollie's. This is Stanley's innocence at its finest.
One thing that is eerie about Beau Hunks is that the marriage Jean Harlow was to have the following year was to Paul Bern and we all know what a tragedy that turned out to be. She might have been better off marrying Ollie or one of the other Legionaires.
Beau Hunks is a choice sample of Stan and Ollie's comedy which is absolutely eternal.
The opening sequence is one of the funniest things I have ever seen and in the hands of anyone else it would have been either silly or embarrassing . Here however it had this slightly cynical viewer laughing out loud as Ollie tries to explain what levity means when the door knocks
Stan ( picking up phone ) Hello
Ollie: What are you doing ?
Stan: Someone's knocking on the phone
Ollie: See that's levity Stan: Hello - Mister Levity
Okay it might not sound laugh out loud funny on the printed page but you'll laugh your socks off as it plays out on screen
After this comedy escapade the duo depart to the French foreign legion in order to make Ollie forget a broken love affair . Why he needed to take Stan with him is never explained but we wouldn't have a story if he didn't and the laughs continue .Imagine if we had a present day film with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson where they joined the USMC and got sent to Afghanistan . It makes you appreciate Stan and Ollie the greatest comedy duo there has or ever will be
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 'Beau Hunks' quite one of their very best, but it to me was one of their best 1931 efforts and among the better half of their output at this point.
Admittedly, the story is pretty thin and is pretty standard.
Despite that, 'Beau Hunks' 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 'Beau Hunks' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.
'Beau Hunks' 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, but it's Laurel and Hardy's show all the way.
Concluding, a near-classic. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Did you know
- TriviaIn the slang of the time "Bohunk", a conflation of "Bohemian" and "Hungarian", was a very pejorative term for a person (almost always a male). The title is a play on this word as well as a reference to the novel "Beau Geste" published in 1924 and turned into the film Beau Geste (1926). Also, sometimes "Bohunk" was reduced to "hunk"; so to call a man a hunk was not a compliment.
- GoofsOllie falls down on a piano, which smashes to bits (and is obviously an empty prop). When the camera cuts in closer, Ollie's stomach is suddenly covered with piano hammers and other bits from the interior of a real piano, none of which were there in the first shot.
- Crazy creditsCast list concludes with 3897 Arabs, 1921 Riffians and four native Swede guides.
- Alternate versionsThe film was reissued in 1937 with a few cuts to comply with the 1934 Production Code, including a dialogue about fertilizer at the beginning. The 1937 version is the only one surviving, as the original cut was lost.
- ConnectionsEdited into Dance of the Cookoos (1982)
- SoundtracksThe Ideal of My Dreams
(1910) (uncredited)
Written by Herbert Ingraham
Played on piano and Sung by Oliver Hardy
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- Dreimal Dick und Doof
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- Runtime
- 37m
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