A compilation of gags,pratfalls,physical comedy, funny dialogue song and dance makes this Laurel & Hardy adventure all the more entertaining. There's a tickling scene as a fight for a deed to a gold mine ensues resulting in an infectious laughing from Stanley. The only mystery about this movie with all their clumsiness is how did they pick the lock on the security gate? The block and tackle scene is also memorable as things fall in reverse as the Mule is airlifted but that you'll have to witness for yourself. Ollie receives most of the abuse in the department of physical comedy falling into deep puddles and getting his head stuck in a floor. Seeing is believing and I believe that this comedy is one of their best!

I must be out of step on this one, as everyone seems to acclaim this as Laurel & Hardy's best film. OK it has it's amusing moments, but one is left with the feeling that it went on for too long and that if you squeeze an orange to excess, you are just left with the pips. The only memorable scene for me was the duo's performance in the saloon of 'The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'Wasn't it Stan Laurel that said he preferred the short films they made? I think he was right, ('The Music Box' was certainly proof of that). The only exception to this rule perhaps was 'Blockheads', which was a funnier film than this.So for Laurel & Hardy at their best I will be sticking to the shorts!

A superior feature with Stan and Ollie traveling out West to deliver the deed to a gold mine to a deserving young woman, Mary Roberts, who works in a saloon. Naturally they are hoodwinked by James Finlayson and wife into turning it over to them. After some scuffling they retrieve the deed and escape with the virginal Mary Roberts.The plot is nothing more than a peg on which the gags are hung. Many of the jokes are pretty old or else so silly that they don't really amuse. Four people shouting and chasing each other in a frenzy around a table isn't really very funny in itself. I used to watch this with my kid when he was ten or twelve and enjoyed it more in his responsive company.But it's still pretty good. Some of the jokes work just fine. Ollie is undone when Stan tries to hoist him by block and tackle to a balcony, with a mule on the other end of the rope. Ollie is so heavy that the mule winds up on the balcony and Ollie crashes through the cellar door. We all know what cellar doors are, I hope. I don't think they have them anymore. They're the things that Jimmy Cagney used to slide down as a child in "Public Enemy." There's a running gag about the two men walking across a shallow creek and Ollie suddenly disappearing with a monstrous splash into a deep hole. It's old but it's done splendidly.And there are a couple of unexpected but delightful treats. Stan and Ollie do a charming little dance in front of the saloon and later they sing a duet to "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine." The verbal gags are often successful too. Stan and Ollie inform the (fake) Mary Roberts that her father is dead. She replies mournfully, "What did he die of?" Stan: "He died of a Tuesday, I think." If it's not uniformly successful, it's still often amusing and it's never dull.

"Way Out West" is quite simply, Laurel and Hardy's best film. Some people (and most film critics) say "Sons of The Desert" is Laurel and Hardy's best movie, but the reason I like "Way Out West over "Sons of the Desert" is because it never slows down. It is jam-packed with verbal jokes and slapstick (and two great song and dance routines). There is also some great support from James Finlayson and Harry Bernard. I think the cast of a Laurel and Hardy film tends to be over looked. Who can imagine "The Boys" movies without Charlie Hall, Mae Busch and Tiny Sandford? An interesting thing to note is that the readers of "Total Film" voted it the 26th greatest comedy film of all time. One of the very finest screen comedies.