Not quite a short and not quite a feature, still, whenever Laurel and Hardy get together it will be a fun time. The last time I saw this picture was probably over fifty years ago and it still seemed familiar. I guess the boys have that kind of effect on their fans from the old days.
And to think, it was a picture of Jean Harlow that sent Stan and Ollie off to join the Foreign Legion. The forlorn Ollie will come to learn that she broke the hearts of nearly everyone else that wound up in the desert, while Stan remains clueless as ever through virtually every escapade.
But you know, I couldn't help thinking that the picture probably couldn't even be made today considering how militant the PC police have gotten. Early on, when Ollie is happily explaining to Stan that he's getting married, Stan's question about who it might be gets twisted and tangled and Ollie responds - "Did you ever hear of anybody marrying a man?" Well....
And then there's the entire business of the Foreign Legion fighting the Arab Riffraff (I know it was Riffians, but Riffraff sounds better); when the Arab leader invokes Mohammed one can only imagine modern day progressives decrying the racist element of the story line. I guess for all those folks, Ollie's sentiment that "This is no time for levity" would seem appropriate. For all the rest of us though, and I'll speak for all Laurel and Hardy fans here, this is exactly the time for levity.
Oh yeah, can't forget - this is the picture that revealed Oliver Hardy's middle name - it was Nobel!
And to think, it was a picture of Jean Harlow that sent Stan and Ollie off to join the Foreign Legion. The forlorn Ollie will come to learn that she broke the hearts of nearly everyone else that wound up in the desert, while Stan remains clueless as ever through virtually every escapade.
But you know, I couldn't help thinking that the picture probably couldn't even be made today considering how militant the PC police have gotten. Early on, when Ollie is happily explaining to Stan that he's getting married, Stan's question about who it might be gets twisted and tangled and Ollie responds - "Did you ever hear of anybody marrying a man?" Well....
And then there's the entire business of the Foreign Legion fighting the Arab Riffraff (I know it was Riffians, but Riffraff sounds better); when the Arab leader invokes Mohammed one can only imagine modern day progressives decrying the racist element of the story line. I guess for all those folks, Ollie's sentiment that "This is no time for levity" would seem appropriate. For all the rest of us though, and I'll speak for all Laurel and Hardy fans here, this is exactly the time for levity.
Oh yeah, can't forget - this is the picture that revealed Oliver Hardy's middle name - it was Nobel!