The only reason I am writing this, and I am no film critic, is because I have NEVER LAUGHED SO HARD as when I saw this very charming, hilarious, LAUREL & HARDY FILM. Speak of comedy. I love film comedy. What is it that makes this film so extraordinary is the incessant gags and the convoluted plot with a bunch of twists and turns that on the surface seem absurd but they truly can happen in life! And the results are ALWAYS RIOTOUS! In a nutshell, L&H belong to the fraternal order of THE SONS OF THE DESERT. They are to have a convention in Chicago, but realising the wives won't consent, they concoct an outrageous tale so they can recuperate in Honolulu to cure a faked malady...but their ship sinks, the boys are caught on a newsreel film in Chicago, and guess what the wives see??? Speak of coincidence! Charles Dickens never had so many! Well, the husbands try to get out of their jam and it's just too funny to describe their machinations to save face. Moreover, there is a sweet moral to the story which we all can appreciate. HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY. And so it is. By the way, the ending is just the most hilarious scene I've ever seen. Plenty of gags, great acting and broken dishes...and you can't help feeling sorry for poor Ollie. You have to see this gem of a film, produced in 1933 by HAL ROACH, and I guarantee you'll split your sides and fall down laughing.

Honolulu baby, Where'd you get those eyes?It's one of their better feature-length efforts. The plot outline is familiar enough. Laurel and Hardy live next door to one another and both are married to domineering wives. L&H belong to an organization, The Sons of the Desert, that is holding its national convention in Chicago, but Hardy's wife is intent on taking him along on a vacation to the mountains. They contrive to convince the wives that Hardy is ill and must spend some time in Honolulu, with Laurel as his companion.Instead of going to Hawaii, L&H go to the convention, leaving their wives at home. They have a riotous good time in Chicago, drinking in night clubs, playing practical jokes, prancing along in a parade. Meanwhile the wives ponder the situation. Could the boys, somehow, have been up to something. Laurel's wife looks straight into the camera and declares in a steely voice, "Stan would never lie to me. I hate to think of what might happen -- if he ever did." The two wives discover that the ship on which their husbands are returning has sunk in a typhoon. They're frantic with worry. Then, in a newsreel, they watch a film of the convention in Chicago. There on the screen are Laurel and Hardy, making faces, tipping their hats, blowing kisses at the camera, dancing joyously in the streets.Some of the monkey business is less funny than the rest. Laurel is so stupid in a childlike way that he can't tell his own doorway from that of his neighbor. The childishness extends to the acting. Laurel breaks into his familiar cries when he finally confesses. Hardy appears to mask his terror by running his chubby fingers nervously over the table top, as if it were a piano.It's one of their best.

097: Sons of the Desert (1933) - released 12/29/1933, viewed 6/28/07.DOUG: We've kept up on some of the Laurel & Hardy shorts, both silent and sound, leading up to this, 'Sons of the Desert,' their first full-length feature. Can't remember who's who? It's easy: Ollie is the one with the head shaped like an "O." Ollie is basically the dumb guy who thinks he's smart, while Stan is the dumber guy who doesn't know the difference but is a lot nicer for it. Their routine was quite different from the Marx Brothers, who relied on both physical comedy and verbal sparring; this duo sticks mostly with the physical stuff (going back to their silent roots), although there are a few choice bits of dialogue. Also, while the Marx boys took situations and MADE them crazy, these two try to be normal, and crazy things end up happening TO them (not to mention the situations they cause with their own idiocy). Just one thing bugged me: we never really learn anything about the secret society that Stan and Ollie are a part of. What is their purpose? What is the meeting for? How do Stan & Ollie's silly antics in the movie affect them, if at all? They never really play a big role in the story other than setting up our guys for the comedy situations. All the same, very good laughs, definitely recommended for fans of classic comedy.KEVIN: The first feature-length Laurel & Hardy adventure on the list is sheer delight. The pair is a few years behind the Marx Brothers when it comes to features, but Stan and Oliver manage to make a much more impressive debut. The comedic beats are some of the best from the pair, and even though I felt that they were drawing it out sometimes, I still laughed. The story is slightly above average, centering around the pair trying to weasel out of their marital obligations in order to attend an annual fraternity convention. The crud hits the fan when the two idiots must explain why they weren't on a cruise to Honolulu that was hit by a typhoon (while they lied to their ladies and went to the convention). Stan's character, who struck me as somewhat inept and nonchalant in past shorts, here seems functionally retarded. To me, the real stars are the wives, played by Dorothy Christy and Mae Busch. What they do and say in putting up with their moronic hubbies (especially Busch) is inspired.Last film: Queen Christina (1933). Next film: Design for Living (1933).

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy want to go to their 87th annual "Sons of the Desert" convention in Chicago, which no member has ever missed. But, domineering wives Mae Busch (as Lottie) and Dorothy Christy (as Betty) have other ideas. The women want to vacation in the mountains. While Ms. Christy gives permission for Mr. Laurel to attend the convention, Ms. Busch isn't so accommodating. So, Mr. Hardy decides to play sick, which (somewhat inexplicably) earns he and Laurel a trip to Hawaii (Chicago), without the wives.Laurel & Hardy perform the old story smoothly; this film surely earns them the plot's patent. Clever scripting (Frank Craven) and direction (William A. Seiter) keeps things moving, and bits are well chosen. The slapstick hits a little too hard, sometimes; with the coming of sound, some of the physical comedy would look better in moderation (with a silly sound effect). Busch is one of the best Laurel & Hardy "wives". The duo's convention appearance, with the riotous Charley Chase is fantastic -- it includes a great theme song, "Honolulu Baby", performed by Ty Parvis and his hilarious hula dancers. Oh, lei!