Arguably the funniest of Laurel and Hardy's feature-length movies, Sons of the Desert is simply crammed with gags, most of which are as funny as anything you're likely to see from 30s Hollywood. Much has been written about why the advent of sound spelled the beginning of the end for such giants of the silent comedy as Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd – and, to an extent, Charles Chaplin, who didn't make a sound film until 1941 and whose output came to a near standstill once sound was established. There seemed to be no place for the physical comedy of the greats, and they seemed incapable of using words to win laughs. The likes of the Marx Brothers and Eddie Cantor were an entirely different breed of comedian from those who had reigned just a few years before their rise, and the plot was suddenly more important than the physical antics on-screen.
And yet, there were Laurel & Hardy, already a successful double act in silent days, effortlessly and seamlessly gliding into the world of sound with perfect voices for their characters and builds. They possessed none of the physical brilliance of Keaton or the graceful dexterity of Chaplin or Lloyd but they had something indefinable that left them unscathed while all about them were falling by the wayside.
Perhaps the key to their success was the fact that they combined both verbal and physical dexterity. Stan can get laughs both times that he mistakenly calls the Sons of the Desert's Exalted Leader their 'exhausted' leader while big Ollie can make tripping over a case look like child's play (have a try at it sometime and see how convincing you feel you were ). Laurel & Hardy also play characters who aren't too bright, which somehow made them more lovable than Chaplin's tramp and Lloyd's go-getting spectacles character. Sons of the Desert plays on the fact that Stan and Ollie aren't as smart as they try to be – and are definitely no match for their formidable wives. They hatch a plan to enable them to attend the Sons of the Desert convention in Chicago by pretending to go to Honolulu for Ollie's health while their wives go hunting bear in the mountains. With typical bad luck, the liner they would have caught home from Honolulu sinks in a storm and the boys have to hide in their own attic so that the wives don't catch on. Of course, even this simple ruse goes wrong and they find themselves falling into both a barrel full of water and the waiting arms of the law
The laughs come thick and fast in Sons of the Desert, interrupted only by Honolulu Baby, a musical number featuring the rare sight of a belly dancer with no belly button.
And yet, there were Laurel & Hardy, already a successful double act in silent days, effortlessly and seamlessly gliding into the world of sound with perfect voices for their characters and builds. They possessed none of the physical brilliance of Keaton or the graceful dexterity of Chaplin or Lloyd but they had something indefinable that left them unscathed while all about them were falling by the wayside.
Perhaps the key to their success was the fact that they combined both verbal and physical dexterity. Stan can get laughs both times that he mistakenly calls the Sons of the Desert's Exalted Leader their 'exhausted' leader while big Ollie can make tripping over a case look like child's play (have a try at it sometime and see how convincing you feel you were ). Laurel & Hardy also play characters who aren't too bright, which somehow made them more lovable than Chaplin's tramp and Lloyd's go-getting spectacles character. Sons of the Desert plays on the fact that Stan and Ollie aren't as smart as they try to be – and are definitely no match for their formidable wives. They hatch a plan to enable them to attend the Sons of the Desert convention in Chicago by pretending to go to Honolulu for Ollie's health while their wives go hunting bear in the mountains. With typical bad luck, the liner they would have caught home from Honolulu sinks in a storm and the boys have to hide in their own attic so that the wives don't catch on. Of course, even this simple ruse goes wrong and they find themselves falling into both a barrel full of water and the waiting arms of the law
The laughs come thick and fast in Sons of the Desert, interrupted only by Honolulu Baby, a musical number featuring the rare sight of a belly dancer with no belly button.