"The Chimp" is a black-and-white comedy short film from the year 1932, so this one is already over 85 years old and the names Parrott and Walker maybe tell you already that here we got another Laurel/Hardy comedy. This one is from their sound days and the use of spoken language, effects as well as the music do not sound as shoddy as they do in the earliest sound films by the duo. The transition from silent film has worked out nicely for them, even if this film here is not exactly an example of that. Stan and Ollie are better than the material they work with here for sure, but the scene stealer this time is an ape named Ethel. Is he really supposed to be a chimp? Anyway, this was not as funny as it could/maybe should have been and in theory it is not the most animal friendly film either. The really funny moments here are not enough simply, even for a film that stays under the 25-minute mark. For good reason this is not among the two's most known or most famous works now almost a century later. Anyway, let me say that the more I watch of these, the more my preference is shifting towards Hardy with me being initially certainly more of a Laurel fan. The ending here with the mix-up between the two Ethels is kinda funny, but it really cannot make me forget about all the mediocrity from before that. I think you should skip the watch here. Not recommended.

Admittedly there are some slow spots in this one, but overall it is one of my favs.Some have said this is one of their weaker shorts. Comedy is always very subjective so I respect their opinions. But I don't agree.The central joke here is that Ethel The Human Chimpanzee is just that: Human! Finn says in the introduction that she reads, dances, plays cards and milks a cow! About the only thing she can't do is speak. A perfect foil for the two of the screens most adroit physical comedians. Of course she is a guy in a gorilla suit. It is a farce. It's not supposed to be logical or realistic. We are all in on the joke and that is what makes it so funny.The gorilla gets her share of laughs here sharing the spotlight with Stan and Ollie. The boys and Ethel finally settle down and try to go to sleep. Ollie turns out the light, and Ethel turns it back on. The big ape is apparently afraid of the dark! At one point, after witnessing the boys non-stop ineptitude, Ethel displays a dismissive hand gesture that says: "you guys are hopeless".You just have to suspend belief to get the most out of The Chimp.

I can't disagree more with Neil Doyle, that this is a meager Laurel and Hardy story, he misses the point. It's a crazy farcical story, of being saddled with a chimp in lieu of your salary from the defunct circus (They actually destroyed). The boys intend to sell 'Ethel' the chimp, but in the meantime are having to hide her from their landlord (Billy Gilbert) at the hotel, who, incidentally is fretting about his absent wayward wife, who also happens to be named Ethel. On him seeing the chimp: "WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME IS THAT - GET IT OUT OF HERE, THIS IS NO ZOO!"Stan and Ollie are offered their rooms if the chimp is kept outside. As they are attempting to lock Ethel up somewhere the lion from the circus has followed them around too, to add the the craziness 'I just saw MGM!'. They hatch a plot to get Ethel into their room with them by having Stan take the chimp in, wearing Ollie's clothes. "Suppose the landlord sees us(this)?" says Stan. "Why he'll think it's ME!" replies Ollie, insulting himself unknowingly.It's Ollie who's 'earned' the chimp and Stan has the flea circus to cover his 'salary'. There's a scene where the boys are itching all over as Stan keeps the flea circus under his pillow and they've escaped!(A strange scene for me - I can't help but scratch myself when it's showing, and other people have said the same!). The boys manage to get Ethel into the hotel anyway as she later climbs up the drainpipe without inept help from the duo. But just as things start to settle down for the night, being a performing, 'human' chimp, Ethel starts to dance to some music being played by a guest in another room. The boys try getting Ethel to stop, naturally mentioning her name, which coincides with the landlord's wayward wife's name, who's been out all night (soon to return)!The landlord obviously enraged, thinking 'his' Ethel is in the boys' room with them, goes to the room at gunpoint and shoots the door open!When asking where 'Ethel' is, Stan points to the bed with 'Ethel' in it (She's under the covers at this point) leading the landlord to give a long speech about "her" 'knowing that he's loved her, doing this to him, being the mother of my children' etc unbeknowing he's talking to the chimp and giving Stan and Ollie the chance to look rightly confused! At this precise moment the 'human-wifey' Ethel walks in, Gilbert shouts : "Gahh Ethel!" The chimp wakes up to hear her name, leading the wife to scream (Her only 'line' in the short!) and have Gilbert exploding: "Get that thing out of here!" It's here where the chimp, Ethel gesticulates SHE'S had enough, Ollie kicks her up the behind, she grabs Gilbert's gun and lets rip with a few rounds, ending the short. A classic early one, one of the best! Especially the guy playing the chimp, although you can tell it's a man in a suit, he actually behaves very chimp-like!

As mentioned in reviewing LAUGHING GRAVING, the plot of that film was based on the silent L & H comedy ANGORA LOVE, and the same plot was used (with changes) in THE CHIMP. LAUGHING GRAVY described how the boys attempts to hide a cute little dog from landlord Charley Hall eventually lead to that worthy's self-destruction. THE CHIMP does not quite end that way, although there is a chance that Ethyl the Chimp may hurt somebody at the conclusion.The beginning of THE CHIMP makes one wish it was a longer feature film. It is a comedy that starts off in a circus, which is on it's last legs. The clumsiness of Stan and Ollie (culminating in their firing a cannon upward so it destroys the big-top tent) leads to the bankruptcy of the circus, and the division of the animals between the employees (they are to draw lots for them - Jimmy Finleyson, the circus ringmaster, is certain he'll draw the cuckoo bird). The boys end up with Ethyl, who in the course of the short does something neither Angora Love the goat nor Laughing Gravy the dog ever did - she keeps demonstrating she is smarter than the two humans who got her. In fact, at one point she even gives Ollie a stare of disdain at a particularly stupid action of his.This intelligence leads to certain activities that could not be done in the earlier versions. In LAUGHING GRAVY Stan frets about his dog's freezing in the blizzard-like cold outside. In THE CHIMP, we see how really smart Ethyl is - she is supposed to be boxed up in a crate that Ollie is putting together. Instead she puts Ollie into the crate and starts sealing it! The conclusion is when they sneak the chimp into their rooms. Landlord Billy Gilbert is as rule conscious as landlord Charley Hall had been. When earlier he saw the chimp with Stan and Ollie he insists that they keep him outside. Stan says he might get pemonia. Ollie frowns and corrects Stan: "He means penumonia!" Gilbert smashes the language difficulty, saying "I don't care if you all get penumonia - keep that beast out of here!" But, as I said, Ethyl is sneaked back in. Soon she is dancing up a storm (wearing a tutu) and actually dancing cheek to cheek with a frightened Stan. Ollie yells, "Ethyl, will you stop that and come to bed." Unfortunately Gilbert is a jealous husband, whose wife is named Ethyl. He bursts in and melodramatically denounces the figure under the bed cover as a fallen woman. Just then the real Ethyl turns up, and the Chimp removes the cover and makes a quizzical grunt noise. Gilbert is furious and insists they take Ethyl out. But she does not want to go, and finding Gilbert's pistol on the floor starts firing it - and Stan and Ollie run about the room in a panic as the short ends. A very amusing short - and one that shows how low the level of the boys' mental abilities was in comparison to the animal kingdom.