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County Hospital

  • 1932
  • Approved
  • 19m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel in County Hospital (1932)
SlapstickComedyShort

In the hospital with a broken leg Ollie is visited by Stan, who brings him hard-boiled eggs, nuts, and total mayhem.In the hospital with a broken leg Ollie is visited by Stan, who brings him hard-boiled eggs, nuts, and total mayhem.In the hospital with a broken leg Ollie is visited by Stan, who brings him hard-boiled eggs, nuts, and total mayhem.

  • Director
    • James Parrott
  • Writer
    • H.M. Walker
  • Stars
    • Stan Laurel
    • Oliver Hardy
    • Billy Gilbert
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.3/10
    2.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • James Parrott
    • Writer
      • H.M. Walker
    • Stars
      • Stan Laurel
      • Oliver Hardy
      • Billy Gilbert
    • 35User reviews
    • 7Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos18

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    Top cast18

    Edit
    Stan Laurel
    Stan Laurel
    • Stan
    Oliver Hardy
    Oliver Hardy
    • Ollie
    Billy Gilbert
    Billy Gilbert
    • The Doctor
    May Wallace
    May Wallace
    • Miss Wallace - Head Nurse
    William Austin
    William Austin
    • Ollie's Hospital Roommate
    Estelle Etterre
    Estelle Etterre
    • Nurse
    • (as Belle Hare)
    Lilyan Irene
    • Nurse
    Dorothy Layton
    Dorothy Layton
    • Nurse
    Sam Lufkin
    Sam Lufkin
    • Policeman
    Lorena Carr
    • Reception Desk Nurse
    • (uncredited)
    Baldwin Cooke
    Baldwin Cooke
    • Orderly
    • (uncredited)
    Betty Danko
    • Desk Nurse
    • (uncredited)
    Eleanor Fredericks
    • Hospital Nurse With Baby
    • (uncredited)
    Frank Holliday
    Frank Holliday
    • Hospital Visitor
    • (uncredited)
    Ham Kinsey
    Ham Kinsey
    • Orderly
    • (uncredited)
    Carl M. Leviness
    Carl M. Leviness
    • Doctor
    • (uncredited)
    Bob Minford
    • Orderly
    • (uncredited)
    Harry Wilde
    • Hospital visitor reading newspaper
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • James Parrott
    • Writer
      • H.M. Walker
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews35

    7.32.6K
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    Featured reviews

    7bkoganbing

    The health care system will never be the same

    As we all know Stan Laurel does not do well in a crisis, especially those of his own making. Just a simple act of kindness visiting his good buddy Oliver Hardy in the hospital causes mayhem in the hospital and also out on the road.

    By the way do any of you doubt the reason that Ollie is in the hospital in that contraption with a broken leg is because Stan did something to cause it?

    Anyway the highlight of this is poor Ollie hung up with his leg still in the cast while Dr. Billy Gilbert is hanging out the high window at the same time. Poor befuddled Laurel can't figure out what to do.

    William Austin playing his usual silly twit Englishman is Ollie's roommate and I have to say that the boys and Hal Roach were most generous giving Gilbert and Austin their share of laughs.

    In the end a tranquilizer kicks in as Stan is driving Ollie home. What havoc is wrought.

    One of their funniest short subjects.
    7planktonrules

    aside from one minor complaint, it's a great short

    This is a very funny and watchable Laurel and Hardy short. Ollie has been injured and Stan, like a pal, comes to visit and cheer him up. However, from the minute he arrives, Stan creates havoc--driving the staff mad and torturing Ollie in the process. I particularly liked how his playing with the counterweight to Ollie's broken leg resulted in Ollie's doctor being launched out the window! As a result, Stan AND Ollie are ejected from the hospital. The final driving sequence is the low-point, as at times it looked VERY fake, but the final scene makes this screwup forgivable. This film is good fun and only a crusty old curmudgeon would dislike it.

    By the way, I am rather shocked to say that there is a better hospital comedy starring Billy Gilbert (who was also in COUNTY HOSPITAL). NIFTY NURSES is a mostly forgotten musical comedy that frankly is head and shoulders above this Laurel & Hardy film. While I adore Stan and Ollie, this other film is the funniest hospital short I've seen--better than COUNTY HOSPITAL and the Three Stooges' MEN IN BLACK.
    7forwardintothepast

    The first half, at least, is excellent

    "County Hospital" is a perfectly fine L&H short until the final sequence. I always enjoyed the scenes where Stan roams the hospital halls looking for his buddy (trying to figure out what a "solarium" is) and accidentally wanders into the maternity ward; he's mightily relieved when he finds out he's on the wrong floor! I also very much enjoy Ollie's scenes with doctor Billy Gilbert and silly Englishman William Austin. The film is also enlivened by the nurses, played by Estelle Etterre (who laughs hysterically when she finds that Stan has accidentally injected himself with a sedative) and May Wallace (who joins in the laughter and says, "He'll sleep for a month!" -- so much for medical ethics).

    Personally, I always liked the scene where Dr. Gilbert is flung out the window of Ollie's room on the top floor--it adds a little action to a film where the longest scene is a single take of Stan trying to eat a hard-boiled egg. Also, the gag with the egg dropping into an unseen container by Ollie's bed and making a metallic clunk is NOT a mistake--the joke is that we think at first the egg has dropped into a chamber pot (ask your grandparents what that is), but as Stan brings it up into view we're relieved to see it's only a pitcher. The same gag happens in the team's earlier short "Helpmates," where Stan drops an alarm clock into an unseen container under his bed.

    As for the final sequence with the back projection, it's not so much the quality of the film running behind the boys as a problem of sluggish editing. If the shots had been much shorter--and if we'd had a few more cutaways outdoors than just the one of the car skidding on a wet road--the sequence might have worked. Roy Seawright, who did the special effects scenes at Roach's, was a good friend of mine and his crew generally did top-notch work-- check out the split-screen scenes in "Our Relations" and "Brats," the animated bubbles in "Swiss Miss," and all of the effects work in Hal Roach's feature "Topper."
    Snow Leopard

    A Rather Resourceful Laurel & Hardy Comedy

    This is one of the Laurel & Hardy comedies that show how resourceful they could be in getting the most out of the limited resources within a confined setting. Most of the gags work well, and only a somewhat uneven finale keeps it from being among the better of their two-reel comedies.

    The simple story setup has Oliver in the "County Hospital" as a patient in traction, with Stanley stopping by to visit. You would hardly expect that anyone could get into so much trouble in a confined space, but they come up with a lot of comedy ideas, from hard-boiled eggs to the traction equipment, and more, with a couple of particularly good ones.

    The climactic sequence is a bit hard to figure, because the back projection so obviously does not match the main footage. It's so much out of sync that you almost wonder whether it was done deliberately for the sake of comic effect, or whether it had to be left that way due to limits on time or money. In any case, this is a funny comedy with a few bits that are quite good.
    8Hitchcoc

    You Didn't Pay Me for the Last Ones I Brought You

    I've probably seen this Laurel & Hardy short more than any other. I watched it with my dad in the early Fifties. I have to admit, I really felt for Oliver in this one. He is really in bad shape and his good buddy comes along and ruins it for him. From the beginning when Stanley brings him a gift of some hard boiled eggs and some nuts, it's all over. Stan causes so much trouble that they are both thrown out of the hospital. After several harrowing moments, Stan sits on a hypodermic needle that contains a sedative. Of course, he has to drive Oliver home. There is a great line when Oliver asks his friend why he didn't bring a box of candy. He says Ollie never paid him for the last one.

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    Related interests

    Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
    Slapstick
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
    Short

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The exterior of the County Hospital was the City Hall for Culver City. Part of the frontage is still standing, albeit inside a compound.
    • Goofs
      All entries contain spoilers
    • Quotes

      The Doctor: Ah! Good morning, good morning, good morning! And how is my little patient today?

      Oliver: Just fine, thank you, doctor. This is my friend, Mr. Laurel.

      The Doctor: I hope I find you well?

      Stanley: Thank you, ma'am.

    • Crazy credits
      The original MGM credits were replaced around 1937 for a reissue in which the names of the director and others were removed. The Film Classics reissue, based on the 1937 reissue (and issued on DVD), removed all references to MGM although the opening lion can still be heard on the soundtrack.
    • Alternate versions
      The original print of this film is probably lost. The available version (also on DVD) is a Film Classics reissue print derived from an MGM 1937 reissue when the director and technical credits were removed. The Film Classics version also removed the MGM lion, although it can still be heard on the soundtrack.
    • Connections
      Edited into The Best of Laurel and Hardy (1968)
    • Soundtracks
      Ku-Ku
      (1928) (uncredited)

      Written by Marvin Hatley

      Played during the opening credits

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 25, 1932 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official Site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Hospital provincial
    • Filming locations
      • City Hall - 9770 Culver Blvd., Culver City, California, USA(hospital)
    • Production company
      • Hal Roach Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 19m
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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