Review of The Bullfighters

In this last of the Fox-sponsored Laurel and Hardy comedies, the boys are private detectives, who have come to Mexico to find and arrest one Hattie Blake(Carol Andrews), also known as Larceny Nell. Serendipitously, they find her in the same hotel they are staying in. But, they also run into the last person they would hope to meet. Some years ago, they were the key witnesses that resulted in a guilty verdict for Richard Maldoon. He was given a 20 year sentence. But, they didn't know that he had been released after 5 years, because the .real perpetrator was convicted. Having relocated to Mexico, he has sworn that he will skin them alive if he meets them. Initially, Maldoon is persuaded that Stan is the look-alike of famous Spanish bullfighter Don Sebastian, while Ollie succeeds in hiding from him. But, eventually, Maldoon discovers his mistake when the real Sebastian shows up in the bullring, along with Stan, similarly dressed. Maldoon catches up with the boys before they can leave town, and apparently makes good his threat, as in the parting shots, we see that the boys have been reduced to skeletons, except for their heads. ........Returning to Hattie, once they recognize her from her mug shot, they move in on her, since they have an extradition paper to legalize her arrest in Mexico. But, she swipes the paper from Ollie's hand, crumples it, and stuffs it in her bra. The boys dare not try to retrieve it from there. Stan starts a raw egg fight, that lasts some minutes. The egg fight format is borrowed from a previous L&H short. After it's conclusion, we see no more of Hattie........The bullfighter promoter's nickname is Hotshot. However, Stan continues to get it wrong, addressing him as Potshot, or Hotfoot.........In addition to the eggs fight, the boys have an old fashioned water fight with a man.........Ollie is in a phone booth, trying to talk to Stan, who is in another part of the night club. Stan tells him that Maldoon is on his way to use that phone booth. Ollie gets so jumpy, that the booth falls over, right on Maldoon, who doesn't recognize him. I've seen this sight gag in a previous L&H short....... There is a floor show at this nightclub. Margo Woods, as Senorita Tangerine, is Hotshot's girlfriend. She dances a bit in the spotlight. However, the main musical event is staged by Maldoon's girlfriend: Conchita.. She's some hot number! as she sings and dances and shimmies for several minutes. Her real name is Diosa Costello. She was in only a few Hollywood films, as she preferred the live stage. She could have given Carmen Miranda a good run, as the most exotic Latin dancer in Hollywood........ Stan is very afraid of fighting a bull, but Hotshot threatens him with bringing Maldoon to him. He gets slightly drunk on some liquor. Although he gets in the ring, he doesn't have to fight the bull, as Sebastian shows up to do so.........See the film in B&W at YouTube. Although nearly all the Hal Roach-produced talkies have been colorized, none of the 4 Fox L&H films I have seen has a colorized version at YouTube.