The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930)

Awesome Movie

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It seems like every comedic team has to have at least one go at the "spooky old house in a dark and stormy night" genre, and this is Laurel and Hardy's turn. Unfortunately, the film is too sluggishly paced and suffers from a poor ending, though there is one good gag involving a bat and a bedsheet. I actually think the police inspector is funnier than the boys in this one! ** out of 4.

A rare example of a three reel short that with less than a reel more could have been considered a "streamlined" feature. "Ollie, I'm scared" is a phrase I'm most familiar with, having remembered it from the Scooby Doo mysteries where actors pretending to be them kept the legend going when youngsters like me discovered them on T.V., an hour each day devoted to these family friendly comedies, followed by an hour of the Little Rascals, aka "Our Gang". I owe part of my love for classic cinema to these shorts, later rediscovered when AMC broadcasted a 24 hour marathon of these films.This one manages to be both chilling and funny, with down on his luck Laurel claiming to be an heir to a murdered miser's fortune, and forced to sleep in a creaky old house that appears to be haunted. Flying sheets flying around appear to be ghosts, scaring everybody including dumb detective Fred Kelsey. The supporting cast is presented to be quite creepy, adding more eerie fun into the mix. Stan and Ollie are the two least likely solvers of murder, but oh how they make it fun!

As a kid during the Fifties, I tried to catch as many of these Laurel and Hardy films shorts I could; they were shown on TV fairly regularly. One of Stan's quips I picked up on I used for the longest time because it sounded so funny to me, and if you asked me before today what picture it came from I wouldn't have been able to tell you. But in this 'murder' case, he comes out with the 'Septober, Octember, No Wonder' line and it managed to crack me up all over again. So I'll probably be using it again.Like most comedy teams through the decades, this one features a version of a haunted house scenario, as the boys are confined to an old, dark mansion after they become suspects in a murder mystery. One can't help but notice the over the top delivery of the Chief of Detectives (Fred Kelsey) in this one. His portrayal epitomizes what for many actors coming out of the silent era must have been the need to over-enunciate and over dramatize their role for it's intended effect on the viewer. The other character that was a real hoot here was the Laurel Mansion butler (Frank Austin). Man, didn't he just give you the creeps? That scene with the teeth was a horror film delight.The picture utilizes a lot of the standard clichés of the era; besides the creepy butler you've got your black cat, the ghost lamp gimmick and the bat in the bed sheet to keep the would be millionaires on edge. The notion that all of this might have been a dream didn't bother me here as a lot of movies have managed to do, because all those other flicks didn't have Laurel and Hardy in them. It's no wonder I could watch these guys all day.

If you love Laurel and Hardy, you'll like this! Not only is it witty, but clever as well. By this I mean to say the two silly boys show their cleverness in getting themselves out of some very witty situations. How did this pudgy-faced minstrel and his awkward looking partner ever become so popular anyway? Oh well, no matter. We shall continue to enjoy their outrageously hilarious short subjects for many more years to come. Don't miss this remarkable true story about two vagrant bums who dream up a scheme to murder their rich uncle Alfred in order to collect the insurance money. All this and more. It's an excellent film, and everyone ought to see it.