Bonnie Scotland

American petty crooks Ollie Hardy (Oliver Hardy) and Stanley MacLaurel (Stan Laurel) arrive in Scotland where Stanley expects to inherit his grandfather's fortune. Instead, most of it has been left to his cousin Lorna MacLaurel and held in trust until she reaches age 21. She is sent to live with Colonel Gregor McGregor in India who is to administer the trust. Due to a series of accidents, the comedy duo gets kicked out of the inn and mistakenly signs up for the British Army in India.

Despite their iconic status, I rarely see Laurel and Hardy's movies. I mostly know their catch-phrase "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into." in their repertoire. I like their physical humor but the banter is a little slow. Maybe it gets sharper as movies develop over time. They've been a duo for almost a decade starting from the silent era. It's interesting to finally watch one of this iconic pair's movies.

This is a good film, but unfortunately some dunderhead insisted on adding a side love interest that did not in any way involve Stan and Ollie. Why, if you have the greatest comedy team ever would you insist on adding pointless subplots? Who cares if the boy gets the girl--I want more Stan and Ollie. And, because of this, the amount of funny stuff that the boys do is limited to probably a short's worth of humor--stretched out to feature length! When Stan and Ollie ARE on film, they are good--not great. But, even good Laurel and Hardy is well worth watching.

For a better full-length Laurel and Hardy movie, try PARDON US, A CHUMP AT OXFORD or especially SONS OF THE DESERT. And, try to avoid the musical Laurel and Hardy full-length films such as THE DEVIL'S BROTHER or BABES IN TOYLAND. Once again, I want JUST Laurel and Hardy--no love stories, subplots or music--just 100% pure Stan and Ollie!

Stan & Ollie arrive in BONNIE SCOTLAND to claim Stan's inheritance. Through a series of mishaps, the Boys end up in the British Army, stationed in India & threatened with imminent death at the hands of a fierce tribal chief...

With rather more plot than usual in a typical Laurel & Hardy film - the romantic subplot has virtually nothing to do with Stan & Ollie - this is still a delight for fans of the Boys. By this point in their joint career they were past perfection & beyond praise. Seeing them act together is like watching an intricate piece of clockwork. Among the highlights here: the candle under the bed; the `invisible' accordion; and the dance to ‘A Hundred Pipers'.

Stan & Ollie are given fine support by the rest of the cast: Mary Gordon, as the hotel proprietress; David Torrence, as a crusty old lawyer; Daphne Pollard, as a feisty little maid; and James Finlayson, the Boys' eternal foil, as their long-suffering Sergeant Major. June Lang & William Janney supply the romantics.

The lovely opening shots of Village life set the mood beautifully; early scene where blacksmith Lionel Belmore hammers out the `Cuckoo Song' - while the Boys make their first appearance & march towards the camera - is a joy.

Stan and Ollie travel all the way to Bonnie Scotland to collect on an inheritance left by Stan MacLaurel's late grandfather. Both he and his cousin June Lang are provided, but she's not of age and she's under the firm guardianship of Colonel Vernon Steele and his scheming Mrs., Anne Grey.

William Janney, the clerk in lawyer David Torrence's office is in love with June Lang, but she's spirited off to India during the British Raj. Never mind, Stan and Ollie and poor young Janney also find their way there as the scene of the plot shifts from Bonnie Scotland to India with the Highlanders.

It's all a pretty thin plot, but good enough to hang some of Stan and Ollie's best screen moments on. One of my all time favorites is when Ollie has an encounter with a snuff box which was half of Laurel's inheritance the other half being a set of bagpipes. Another is when Stan and Ollie try to use the bedsprings in their hotel to grill some fish and nearly burn poor Mary Gordon's establishment down.

After the boys go into the Indian Army they become the bane of the existence of their old nemesis, Sergeant James Finlayson. In the end Janney, Finlayson, and the boys provide a hilarious ending to a tribal rebellion.

Films like Lives of a Bengal Lancer and Charge of the Light Brigade about the British Raj take one good beating from producer Hal Roach and his intrepid and incomparable stars. For fans of Stan and Ollie the world over.

After a particularly wicked day, having to contend with the weather outside and the workplace inside, I settled down to view a serendipitous broadcast. Fans don't seem to hold this feature film with Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy in as high regard. It was the first one of theirs I'd seen from start to finish besides their take on Babes in Toyland, the broadcast of which is a New York metropolitan-area Christmas tradition.

You certainly don't view this for the acting, topicality or thematic consistency. The transition from a heat-shrunken pair of pants to India by way of the Highlanders made me blink, and I half-expected an extra to blurt, "It's like Gunga Din all over again!"

But one brilliant scene displayed the worst fear of anyone on parade, and what could only be called a dance set to "100 Pipers" had to have been spur-of-the-moment. Perhaps I was especially susceptible to five (count 'em) scenes that instantly generated tears of helpless laughter: The snuff box and the footbridge, the bagpipes and glass smoking water pipe (they're apparently related), the candle beneath the bed beneath the...fish...and the final five or so minutes that had to have inspired The Goon Show.

I bless the gents' memory for the gift...and that of Leatherpuss too!