Copyright 20 April 1945 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Rialto: 11 May 1945. U.S. release: 18 May 1945. U.K. release: November 1945. Australian release: 30 August 1945. 5,613 feet. 62 minutes.
NOTES: Laurel & Hardy's final American film. It may not be one of their best, but at least it fades out on the right note with Ollie exclaiming as their skeletone bodies walk towards the camera, "Well, here's another nice mess you've got me into!"
COMMENT: The trouble with The Bullfighters is the story situation itself. No longer are Laurel Hardy just the amiable knuckleheads of yore, injuring no-one but themselves (and those who deserved it-the pompous, the self-opinionated, the greedy) but here they are a positive menace to society at large, directly involved in the more than slightly unpleasant situation of sending an innocent man to prison for five years.
Laurel protested bitterly against this utter negation of the familiar Laurel and Hardy characterizations, and you can positively sense his disillusionment at trying to buck the system in what was to be their last American film.
Stan has a dual role and Oliver has amassed a delightful rotundity of girth, but one often has the feeling that the boys are just going through the motions. Nor does the support cast come up to the standard of their other Fox features. The girls are most certainly attractive, but they have a relatively minor role, the proceedings being dominated by Ralph Sanford and Richard Lane, capable enough actors within the limits of their usual type-casting, but not the sort of personalities we are likely to enjoy throughout an entire film.
Production values also rate somewhat less than in the other Fox pictures. Norbert Brodine's photography is flat and the climactic bull-fight has been stitched together with generous clips from Blood and Sand. Still, for all the film's shortcomings, Laurel and Hardy are still a delight and their routines are fairly amusing.
COMMENT: The trouble with The Bullfighters is the story situation itself. No longer are Laurel Hardy just the amiable knuckleheads of yore, injuring no-one but themselves (and those who deserved it-the pompous, the self-opinionated, the greedy) but here they are a positive menace to society at large, directly involved in the more than slightly unpleasant situation of sending an innocent man to prison for five years.
Laurel protested bitterly against this utter negation of the familiar Laurel and Hardy characterizations, and you can positively sense his disillusionment at trying to buck the system in what was to be their last American film.
Stan has a dual role and Oliver has amassed a delightful rotundity of girth, but one often has the feeling that the boys are just going through the motions. Nor does the support cast come up to the standard of their other Fox features. The girls are most certainly attractive, but they have a relatively minor role, the proceedings being dominated by Ralph Sanford and Richard Lane, capable enough actors within the limits of their usual type-casting, but not the sort of personalities we are likely to enjoy throughout an entire film.
Production values also rate somewhat less than in the other Fox pictures. Norbert Brodine's photography is flat and the climactic bull-fight has been stitched together with generous clips from Blood and Sand. Still, for all the film's shortcomings, Laurel and Hardy are still a delight and their routines are fairly amusing.