Beau Hunks (1931)

Some things I liked some I did not.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Hardy is in love but his inamorata, Jeannie Weeny, jilts him so he joins the Foreign Legion, taking Laurel along with him. It's rough duty. After the usual hi-jinx, Laurel and Hardy managed to save Fort Arid from a Riffian attack by sprinkling tacks all over the place. And Hardy discovers that everyone, from the other recruits to the Arab chieftain, are carrying the same autographed photo of Jeannie Weeny.It's amusing in a way that had become routine with Laurel and Hardy, and I found it most enjoyable when it was watched with my ten-year-old kid. It may be typical for Laurel and Hardy but it's still distracting. It might be that, if you're in the wrong mood, it won't clear the bar.

This is another one of Laurel and Hardy's films that are crammed with memorable moments, and it's a measure of their worth that, even though the routines are familiar after repeated viewings, they still manage to raise a chuckle (or at least a smile).Stan and Ollie join the French foreign legion in this one after Ollie's heart is broken by his 'Jeanie-Weanie,' a true vamp if ever there was one who looks suspiciously like Jean Harlow. Naturally, the boys get on the wrong side of the camp commandant the moment they arrive at the fort, which is a cue for the usual chaos and gags. Only Laurel and Hardy can make the simple act of picking up a hat or soothing one's feet so funny and fraught with difficulty.If you've had a hard day I can guarantee that there is no better solution to your woes than to sit back, relax, open a beer and watch one of Laurel & Hardy's timeless films...

Although "Beau Geste" had already been madewith Ronald Coleman in 1926, "Beau Hunks" is not just a funny play on words.Unlike today, being called a hunk was not a compliment. In those days, "Hunk," "Hunky," or "Bohunk" was a pejorative term for an Eastern European --- (It's a conflation of "Bohemian" and "Hungarian.) The general connotation of the term was that of a stupid, not necessarily clean, undesirable immigrant. So to call someone a Bohunk was quite an insult.It's a pity that the extremely stupid guidelines require ten lines of text, when I could have said everything in five. Are they perhaps taken from the IRS tech-writing standards for tax laws?

Each short or longer Laurel & Hardy movie is a classic in my view. The Laurel & Hardy tandem is unmatched in movie-history and in my opinion the majority of today's movie makers and writers can learn lots from L & H. They don't have Charly Chaplin's brilliance, but they are good! And funny! Their gags, faces, fights, accidents and disasters are hilarious and bring a smile to my face each time I watch. This time Hardy drags Laurel into a Foreign Legion adventure, because of a heartache and that gives plenty of room for these two legendary comedians to move! My advice: don't underestimate L&H movies!