Sorry I've been away so long, but here's something good for you to look at- my new movie review!
WAY OUT WEST
Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Sharon Lynne, James Finlayson, Rosina Lawrence, Stanley Fields, Vivien Oakland, The Avalon Boys, and Dinah.
Produced by: Stan Laurel Productions
Genre: Comedy, Western.
Black and White or Colour: Black and White
Year: 1937
Rating: 5/5
Plot: Stan and Ollie are sent with the deed to the gold mine to give to a girl called Mary Roberts. They have to walk all the way to Brushwood Gulch with their mule and deliver the deed when they arrive. They get tired on the way so take a carriage. There is a woman inside who Stan and Ollie flirt with. Unfortunately, she is the wife of a sheriff (Stanley Fields) who demands they leave on the next carriage or he will shoot them. They accept.
When they get to Brushwood Gulch, The Avalon Boys are playing “At The Ball, That’s All” and they do a wonderful soft-shoe dance together to it. (Many people on the internet have added different tracks to it but they are not the original. This is the best version.)
When they go inside, they discuss the deed with the sneaky Mickey Finn (James Finlayson), who immediately tells his wife, Lola Marcel (Sharon Lynne.) Lola is to pose as Mary Roberts, so they can get all the money.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Stan and Ollie are getting “the best in the house” when they hear one of The Avalon Boys playing “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine” and the boys join in. It is interesting to note here that Stan’s high voice is dubbed in by Rosina Lawrence (Mary Roberts), his low voice is dubbed by Chill Wills, and his regular voice is not dubbed at all.
Finn (James Finlayson) comes downstairs and tells them to come up. Lola (Finn’s wife) is acting like she really misses her father and is pretending to cry. They have a crazy conversation. Here are two excerpts from it.
Lola (pretending to be Mary): Is it true that he’s dead?
Stan: Well, I hope he is. They buried him.
Lola: What did he die of?
Stan: I think he died of a Tuesday. Or was it a Wednesday?
They give her a locket as well which is a family heirloom but Stan has trouble getting it off Ollie. Then they go downstairs and meet the real Mary and realize that Lola is not Mary at all and they have been tricked.
They talk to Lola for a bit and find out this: Mary’s father, Sy Roberts left her to Finn and Lola when she was very little and they are her legal guardians.
Stan and Ollie leave her and they are now determined to get the deed back. Stan even says to Ollie, “We’ll get that deed back or I’ll eat your hat!” Now, that is what Ollie calls determined!
When they go in and confront Finn and Lola, they snatch the deed away and run. They have a wild fight to get it back and Finn and Ollie end up in the study, trying to get out, and Stan and Lola end up in the bedroom. Stan puts the deed in his shirt and Lola tickles him to get it out. Stan can’t stop laughing and this makes it incredibly easy for Lola to take the deed away. Finn locks the deed away in the cupboard, and the sheriff comes.
Finally- the law! They can fix this! But no, it is the sheriff whose wife the boys flirted with, and he wants to drive them out of town! Stan and Ollie speed out of there and later that night, they are out in the woods.
Ollie’s clothes are being dried because he has fallen in the river. Ollie asks Stan to light his cigarette and Stan does- with his thumb! Ollie is shocked and frightened. He asks Stan to check if his clothes are dry and he does. Ollie tries out the trick while Stan checks and it doesn’t work for him.
Stan comes back with his hat which has dried. Ollie says to Stan, “Today you made a statement. You said if we didn’t get the deed you would eat my hat. Eat it!”
Stan says, “Oh, now you are taking me illiterally!”
Ollie says,” Never mind! Eat it!” and Stan does! He puts salt and pepper on it and even wears a bib! Ollie tries it too but he spits it out. Yuck!
They sneak off to the bank late at night and have a lot of trouble getting in. Finally they do but Ollie gets stuck. Stan finds Mary and he explains what’s happening. He also says when they get the deed they’ll take her out to Dixie. Stan gets Ollie out after a lot of trouble and then they sneak up to get the deed. Stan hits jackpot on a slot machine and Ollie finally is able to light his thumb on fire (which Stan has to blow out.)
Finn has been woken up by the loud noises and he rushes downstairs. The boys have to hide in the piano and Finn plays it. They pop out and the tables have been turned. Ollie takes Finn’s gun and forces Finn to give them the deed and Stan takes it. They tie him up in the chandelier, they take Mary and the mule and they leave Brushwood Gulch.
Ollie asks “Now that all our troubles are over, where do we go from here?”
They find out they are all from Dixie (Stan allegedly) and they decide they’ll go out there. They sing “We’re Gonna Go Way Out in Dixie” and the movie ends.
Critique: Way Out West is one of Laurel and Hardy’s greatest films if not the greatest for a couple of reasons.
1-The movie has Laurel and Hardy’s greatest songs (excluding Honolulu Baby from The Sons of the Desert) including: “At The Ball, That’s All” and “The Trail of The Lonesome Pine” which are both peformed beautifully.
2-This has Stan and Ollie’s greatest routines in it such as: Stan’s thumb going on fire, Stan actually eating Ollie’s hat and the “What did he die of?” gags.
3-Stan and Ollie are quite young in this and it is easy to understand what they’re saying. The movie plays much more on Stan and Ollie's personalities than the story itself. For instance, in The Bullfighters, Stan and Ollie are in it more for the story and it is less about their personalities. Stan's hair isn't normal in it, he is acting as two people instead of the nice lovable one we all love, and sometimes the movies center more on the love story than Stan and Ollie themselves. In A Haunting We Will Go the movie centers a lot more on a group of gangsters than Stan and Ollie and they aren't thorougly involved. In this one they are. Way Out West wins out against all of their other movies almost every single time.
4-The Boys are still used to silent films so in some scenes (like their intro scene in the movie) are done almost completely silently.
This is a great film and it still has most of their origins in it. I think it’s a great film and I love it very much. I would like to thank Stan and Ollie for keeping on making us laugh. Well done, boys!
