It's a truly ticklish situation for Stan Laurel when he encounters the voluptuous Sharon Lynne who attempts to get the deed to a gold mine away from him that Stan and Oliver (Hardy) were attempting to deliver to the innocent Rosalina Lawrence. What is funnier, Laurel laughing hysterically as Lynne reaches into his shirt to get the deed, tickling possibly more than his funny bone, or the fact that Lynne is married to the much older James Finlayson, the perpetrator of this scam? This is along with "Sons of the Desert" possibly Laurel and Hardy's funniest feature, and one which totally stands the test of time. Yes, the entire situation is preposterous, but the laughs come a mile a minute, going much faster than the wagon which bypasses Laurel and Hardy as they try to thumb a ride. The fact that Laurel gets a wagon train to pull to a complete stop by exposing his leg (a la Claudette Colbert) gives a hysterically funny insinuation which managed to go right past the censors of the Hays code.
The comedy gets off to a wet start with Laurel and his mule pal carrying a sleeping Oliver through a river and basically dumping him there for possibly the world's first water bed. Then, there's trouble aboard the stagecoach as the two flirt with the wife of the town's sheriff where they are heading to, and continues with the scam perpetuated against them by Finlayson and Lynne. Rosalina Lawrence, best known as one of the school teachers on the Our Gang series, is merely adequate as the heroine, but Finlayson and Lynne are downright hysterical. A funny twist involving the boys trying to get into their house during the middle of the night is guaranteed to give the viewer chest pains from laughing, including such props as the forlorn mule and a strategically placed bucket. This is farce at its best, coming in a year that focused mainly on the sophisticated screwball comedy of the major studios, and it certainly places amongst the best of that year as far as classic comedy is concerned.
The comedy gets off to a wet start with Laurel and his mule pal carrying a sleeping Oliver through a river and basically dumping him there for possibly the world's first water bed. Then, there's trouble aboard the stagecoach as the two flirt with the wife of the town's sheriff where they are heading to, and continues with the scam perpetuated against them by Finlayson and Lynne. Rosalina Lawrence, best known as one of the school teachers on the Our Gang series, is merely adequate as the heroine, but Finlayson and Lynne are downright hysterical. A funny twist involving the boys trying to get into their house during the middle of the night is guaranteed to give the viewer chest pains from laughing, including such props as the forlorn mule and a strategically placed bucket. This is farce at its best, coming in a year that focused mainly on the sophisticated screwball comedy of the major studios, and it certainly places amongst the best of that year as far as classic comedy is concerned.