jacobs-greenwood
One of the better (Stan) Laurel and (Oliver) Hardy comedies has the boys going West to find the daughter of a deceased miner in order to give her the deed to his mine, full of riches. Unfortunately, once they reach their destination, the first people they run into are con artists who conspire to steal the deed for their own as they try to simultaneously become the legal guardians of the miner's daughter, Mary Roberts (Rosina Lawrence), who works in their saloon establishment. Mickey Finn (James Finlayson) and saloon singer Lola Marcel (Sharon Lynne) are the would-be thieves.The film's musical Score was nominated for an Academy Award (Marvin Hatley's first Oscar recognition). It was directed by James Horne, with a story by Jack Jevne and Charley Rogers, who wrote the screenplay with Felix Adler and James Parrott.It features the comedy duo doing a synchronized dance routine to singing by the Avalon Boys, appearing as themselves with their lead singer Chill Wills. Stanley Fields appears as the Sheriff determined to run "the boys" out of town, oblivious to the subterfuge being perpetrated by Mickey and Lola. After Stanley inadvertently lets Mickey know the reason for their visit to town, Ollie brings him further into their confidence with the rest of the story. When Mickey, who works Mary as a slave driver would, learns that they don't know what the miner's daughter looks like, he has Lola pretend to be her. All goes according to plan until, when the boys are leaving the establishment, they meet the real Mary. In the longest scene in the film, they are then unsuccessful in retrieving the deed from Lola, who tickles it out of Stan again, and Mickey, who locks it in his safe.That night, with help from their mule Dinah, Laurel & Hardy try to sneak quietly into the saloon to relieve the safe of its bounty, but of course end up making enough noise to wake the dead. Dinah even ends up on the second floor of the saloon. In a routine that's been copied since in countless cartoons, Mickey pounds on the keys to injure the boys as they hide in a piano. But of course, all works out in the end.
lugonian
WAY OUT WEST (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1937), directed by James Horne, a Stan Laurel Production for the Hal Roach Studios, is a way out western comedy starring that classic team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. If not their funniest, it's definitely one of their finest achievements. Placing Laurel and Hardy in a western setting is a welcome change of pace. For a western, Laurel and Hardy retain their character traits and derby hat trademark. For a western, they don't ride sidesaddle on horses, but travel along in the company of their donkey, Diane. For a western, it's their only attempt in that genre.The plot is basic and simple. It deals with Stan and Ollie traveling west to Brushwood Gulch where they are to locate and hand deliver a gold mining deed to the daughter of the late Cy Roberts. While on the stagecoach to town, Ollie gets overly familiar with a woman passenger (Vivian Oakland) who turns out to be the sheriff's wife. Learning of his wife's annoyance, the Sheriff (Stanley Fields) orders the two dudes to leave town on the next coach. Ollie obliges, but he and Stan must first fulfill their mission, and they do. After locating the whereabouts of Mary Roberts at a local saloon, they encounter Mary's guardian, saloon owner Mickey Finn (James Finlayson), who give it to his wife, entertainer Lola Marcal (Sharon Lynne), as the rightful heir. After passing off the deed to "Mary Roberts," Stan and Ollie later meet with the real Mary Roberts (Rosina Lawrence), a sweet but extremely overworked young lady working in Mickey Finn's Palace. Realizing their blunder, Stan and Ollie attempt on getting the deed back from these two crooks, which comes with much difficulty to hilarious results.With 66 minutes of non-stop comedy, song interludes are inserted, none intrusive to the plot, with those including: "Won't You Be My Lovey Dovey?" (sung by Sharon Lynne); "Commencing to Dancing" (Sung by Chill Wills and the Avalon Boys); "In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia," and "Way Down South in Dixie" (sung by Rosina Lawrence, Laurel and Hardy). Of these fine tunes, the "Commence to Dancing" sequence is most memorable due for Laurel and Hardy's soft shoe dancing.For many years on broadcast television, the "Lovey Dovey" number was usually edited, with film opening with Stan and Ollie traveling down the dirt road bound for Brushwood Gulch. It wasn't until sometime in the late seventies when WAY OUT WEST would be shown on TV uncut, starting with Public Television, giving repeated viewers a chance to enjoy the movie intact. It's also worth noting how, in the New York City area during the late 1960s, how sometimes TV Guide programmers would confuse the Laurel and Hardy comedy with that of the William Haines own western-comedy of WAY OUT WEST (MGM, 1930) to be shown on the late-late show, or visa versa.While Haines' WAY OUT WEST is seldom revived these days (even on Turner Classic Movies), it's Laurel and Hardy edition of WAY OUT WEST that's stood the test of time. Interestingly, it's a little known fact that WAY OUT WEST did get nominated for an Academy Award. No, not for best original screenplay (by Jack Jevne, Charles Rogers, James Parrott and Felix Adler), or Best Picture, but for best musical direction (by Marvin Hatley). Accordingly, slapstick and dialog are the essence for WAY OUT WEST or any Laurel and Hardy comedy. Once seen, it's hard to forget Hardy's repeated disappearance into a hidden hole while strolling or running through the riverbed; Laurel's surreal moments singing in both baritone and monotone, and ability to turn his thumb into a flaming torch of fire; Laurel paying homage to Claudette Colbert's classic hitchhiking scene from IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (Columbia, 1934); Laurel going into hysterics while on the bed of bad girl Lola as she goes through his pockets for the deed; and best of all, James Finlayson, a regular in many Laurel and Hardy comedies dating back to the silent era, doing his now familiar yet often funny direct stares to the camera and intake of air during his constant signs of disbelieve. Finlayson is one of a kind. And where else where can anyone find a movie such as this where the donkey appears to be much smarter than Stan and Ollie.Distributed to home video in the 1980s (black and white or colorized versions), WAY OUT WEST can be found as a double feature package, along with Laurel and Hardy's other classic, BLOCKHEADS (1938) on DVD. Presented on various cable television channels in later years, including the Comedy Channel (late 1980s), American Movie Classics (1994-96) and finally Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: April 1, 2005). As much as SONS OF THE DESERT (1933) and BABES IN TOYLAND (1934) have become best loved Laurel and Hardy products, WAY OUT WEST will definitely be no disappointment either. Commence to laughing. (***1/2)
kensworld-135-305975
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!
Michael_Elliott
Way Out West (1937) *** (out of 4) Laurel and Hardy head out west to deliver a gold deed to Mary Roberts (Rosina Lawrence), which was left to her by her deceased father. Upon arriving in town the two men run into issues with the Sheriff and are eventually duped into giving the deed to the wrong woman by a conniving couple (Sharon Lynn, James Finlayson) who have control over Mary. Once they realize their mistake, it's up to Laurel and Hardy to break into the house and try to recover the claim.Way Out West isn't the duo's greatest film but it still manages to keep the viewer entertained, due in large part to Laurel and Hardy's natural charm that can keep a smile on anyone's face. I'm not sure what it was about the Old West but it seemed every comedian from the 1920's through the 1950's had to go there at least once in their career. Even with the short running time of 65-minutes I couldn't help but think this film would have been better served as a short but the lightening pace more than makes up for that.There are several key scenes that most Laurel and Hardy fans rank among their favorite.The most famous scene is where Hardy begins singing "On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine", only to be interrupted by Laurel. Another memorable scene occurs in the bedroom where villain Sharon Lynn tickles Laurel into handing over the deed. As with most Laurel and Hardy shorts or features, the ending is left for a madhouse with various object being broken, Hardy falling through roofs and floors and the manic direction by James M. Horne keeps all of this well timed and played out.
