Flying Elephants (1928)

Director:

Frank Butler

Writers:

Hal Roach (story)
H.M. Walker (titles)

Release Date:

12 February 1928 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

Laurel & Hardy, in pre-historic times, vie for the hand of the same Stone Age beauty.

Plot Keywords:

Daughter | Toothache | Laurel And Hardy | Goat | Prehistoric Animal

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Little Twinkle Star
Oliver Hardy	...	Mighty Giant
James Finlayson	...	Saxophonus
Edna Marion	...	Cavewoman
Dorothy Coburn	...	Gorgeous Wrestler
Viola Richard	...	Blushing Rose
Fay Lanphier
Budd Fine	...	Hulking Caveman
Tiny Sandford	...	Hulking Caveman
Leo Willis	...	Fisherman

Also Known As:

Were Women Always Wild? (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:17 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Moapa, Nevada, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

Edna Marion appears in publicity stills for this film, but her scenes were sadly cut prior to the film's release.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Dance of the Cookoos (1982)

Not bad compared to other silent comedy shorts, but not up to the standards of later Laurel and Hardy films

This is a bizarre little film in pretty much every way I can think of off the top of my head. Although it technically is a Laurel and Hardy film, it was made early after they became a comedy pair and it was obvious from this film they still hadn't gotten the formula exactly right. Instead of the usual situation in which Stan and Ollie are friends, they are actually rivals in this peculiar film.

The film begins in the Stone Age. The king has made a rule that all men or they will be "banished and banned--or both". So all the bachelors are out trying to get married. And, in caveman fashion, this means meeting a nice lady and bashing her over the head with their giant clubs. The special effects and sets are pretty minimalistic, as the cast and crew went into the California hills and wore animal skin clothes. The only "prop" other than that was a fake Triceratops. While the film is almost entirely action-oriented (partly because it was a silent film), the film had very peculiar subtitles that had the actors speaking in old English?!

Overall, this is a very odd little curio and is not an especially good representation of the team's work. This isn't because the film is silent, as they made some excellent silent shorts, such as BIG BUSINESS or SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME?--it's more because the film is just weird and one long and not especially hilarious joke. Plus, the movie appears, in spots, to be pretty much filmed without a script and the actors just mug for the camera. For devout fans of the team, this is a must, but for all others, it's pretty skip-able and you should seek out some of their better shorts first.