The Chimp

Sorry to see that Bob The Moo found this to be one of the weaker L&H shorts . By no means a classic compared to something like MURDER CASE it is very amusing . I guess if Bob saw this before watching THEIR FIRST MISTAKE we might have found this the superior short ?

If THE CHIMP has a problem it's down to the internal logic and coincidence involved . For example if a circus went bust wouldn't the owner sell the animals to a zoo rather than give them away free to his now unemployed staff ? it's also strange that a lion can roam around an American city all day without someone calling the police , and what's the chances of a chimp arriving at a hotel where the landlord's wife has the same name as it ?

Maybe you have to suspend disbelief a couple of times too often but I certainly found it very funny and well paced

This is my all-time favorite L&H episode! Ollie and James Finlayson are my favorites. But what I don't like about this is Stan Laurel. He acts too whiny and emotional and for a comic genius he takes his role as a childishly innocent man way too far!

A brief synopsis: Stan and Ollie get laid off from the circus in which they were working, Stan gets a flea circus and Ollie gets a chimp named Ethyl. Along the way they encounter a frustrated landlord whose wife shares the same name as the chimp, and a lion on the loose.

The funniest part was when Ollie asked why Stan was so scared and Stan screamed, "I saw MGM"! When I heard that I laughed myself sick and almost fell off my chair! James Finlayson's role as the ringmaster in this was exceptionally awesome as was his other roles in L&H movies and episodes.

So, if any of you are L&H fans, please check this one out!

While not their best short, Laurel and Hardy provide some amusement in "The Chimp." Charles Gemora played Ethel, not a chimp, but a gorilla actually, as he did in several other films, such as "Murders in the Rue Morgue," "Swiss Miss," and "At the Circus." One reviewer writes that he "looks like a guy in a cheap ape costume and I HATE when movies put people in crappy ape costumes." Ironically, I am writing this the day after this country has yet another mass shooting in which 19 children and two teachers were killed. This reviewer used the word "hate" often in his reviews and it is terrible. Don't we have enough hate in this country without his need to use it repeatedly?

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short. In lieu of salaries, a bankrupt circus gives its property away to its workers. Stan gets the flea circus - Ollie is given Ethel, THE CHIMP. The big simian takes an immediate dislike to Ollie, but becomes very fond of Stan. Deciding to sell Ethel to the zoo, the Boys look for a hotel to spend the night. Trying to do so with a great, hairy beast in tow is hard enough; an escaped lion and a volatile landlord only ensure that getting a good night's sleep will be almost impossible.

A very funny little film, with genuine belly laughs. Watching Stan dance with Ethel is priceless. That's James Finlayson as the circus Ringmaster; Billy Gilbert plays the dyspeptic landlord.

The boys find themselves inheriting a chimp named Ethel in this classic comedy short that features a wonderful dance sequence with the chimp Ethel, wearing a tutu.