I'm a person whose taste in film runs to strong plots and structured stories. But in the case of Olsen and Johnson one doesn't really need them, they get in the way.
Even the Marx Brothers had to have a structured story line for their films, but Ole and Chic had to have them forced on their persons. All Over Town is the story of a couple Oklahoma filling station operators and part time vaudevillians with a seal act who are behind at their theatrical boarding house with their rent. Somehow the sale of their filling station which nets them the astronomical sum of $150.00 makes some think they've inherited a bankroll. As we learn that term is relative.
They try to get a show going at Mary Howard's theater, but the place has been closed down for years due to an actor's homicide there. Then another homicide of a potential show backer in the same place almost finishes Olsen and Johnson and the seal for good. But a choleric radio sponsor played by Laurel and Hardy regular James Finlayson gives them their break with a promise of them solving the crime. It's close run thing after that.
I have to say that in his scenes Finlayson proves just as perfect a foil for Ole and Chic as he was for Stan and Ollie. And Stanley Fields who does equally good in comedy and drama has a great scene as the murderer's henchmen who gets outsmarted by the seal.
All Over Town is a fine introduction to the zany comedy of Olsen And Johnson.
Even the Marx Brothers had to have a structured story line for their films, but Ole and Chic had to have them forced on their persons. All Over Town is the story of a couple Oklahoma filling station operators and part time vaudevillians with a seal act who are behind at their theatrical boarding house with their rent. Somehow the sale of their filling station which nets them the astronomical sum of $150.00 makes some think they've inherited a bankroll. As we learn that term is relative.
They try to get a show going at Mary Howard's theater, but the place has been closed down for years due to an actor's homicide there. Then another homicide of a potential show backer in the same place almost finishes Olsen and Johnson and the seal for good. But a choleric radio sponsor played by Laurel and Hardy regular James Finlayson gives them their break with a promise of them solving the crime. It's close run thing after that.
I have to say that in his scenes Finlayson proves just as perfect a foil for Ole and Chic as he was for Stan and Ollie. And Stanley Fields who does equally good in comedy and drama has a great scene as the murderer's henchmen who gets outsmarted by the seal.
All Over Town is a fine introduction to the zany comedy of Olsen And Johnson.