This is the Laurel and Hardy film they say will give you gas, whether you want the five gallon size or the ten gallon. The boys are the proud two members of a two man band; Together, they can do as much as Glenn Miller, the Dorseys or Gene Krupa. In the middle of the desert, they run out of gas, but inventor Douglas Fowley comes by with the invention they need, and asks for their assistance at a carnival in a nearby town. But when the townsfolk run them out of town, Laurel & Hardy are joined by sexy Vivian Blaine who accidentally left her purse in Fowley's possession. The boys assist Blaine in uncovering a scam which took her mother's property, and outwit the gangsters, albeit quite accidentally.
This is a film that depends less on gags and more on the big hearts that the boys share for the lovely Blaine. One hysterical sequence has Hardy posing as a Southern colonel who flirts with spider-woman Lee Patrick in order to expose her part in the scam while Laurel hides under her day bed. The rest of the comedy bits focus on Laurel posing in drag as Blaine's aunt. He doesn't alter his voice as he did in previous drag sequences in films, although I prefer the high-pitched squeak dubbed for his role as Oliver's wife in the classic short "Twice Two". The lack of slapstick helps make the fact that the boys are looking their age less painful.
As for Vivian Blaine, people expecting her "Miss Adelaide" characterization from "Guys and Dolls" will be surprised to find her quite different. She altered her voice for that role and the MGM musical "Skirts Ahoy!", so how she sounds here is as she did in life and the majority of her film and stage work. She gets to sing and dance a bit, so that is an added plus. Of the leading ladies in Laurel and Hardy's last film work, Blaine is probably the best known, although this marks her first major role. The supporting villains are appropriately slimy, although the lack of a real ending marks the lower rating than I would have given the film otherwise.
This is a film that depends less on gags and more on the big hearts that the boys share for the lovely Blaine. One hysterical sequence has Hardy posing as a Southern colonel who flirts with spider-woman Lee Patrick in order to expose her part in the scam while Laurel hides under her day bed. The rest of the comedy bits focus on Laurel posing in drag as Blaine's aunt. He doesn't alter his voice as he did in previous drag sequences in films, although I prefer the high-pitched squeak dubbed for his role as Oliver's wife in the classic short "Twice Two". The lack of slapstick helps make the fact that the boys are looking their age less painful.
As for Vivian Blaine, people expecting her "Miss Adelaide" characterization from "Guys and Dolls" will be surprised to find her quite different. She altered her voice for that role and the MGM musical "Skirts Ahoy!", so how she sounds here is as she did in life and the majority of her film and stage work. She gets to sing and dance a bit, so that is an added plus. Of the leading ladies in Laurel and Hardy's last film work, Blaine is probably the best known, although this marks her first major role. The supporting villains are appropriately slimy, although the lack of a real ending marks the lower rating than I would have given the film otherwise.