IMDb > The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930)

The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   375 votes
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Director:
Writer:
H.M. Walker (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 September 1930 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy decided they needed a rest -- They had been out of work since 1921.
Plot:
It looks like the boys won't need to fish off the end of the pier to feed themselves any longer when Stanley's rich uncle Ebenezer Laurel dies... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
One of the more ludicrous Laurel & Hardys; much uproarious fun. more (12 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Additional Details

Runtime:
30 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This is the first short film in which Oliver Hardy says to Stan Laurel, "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: The killer's knife is obviously rubber. more
Quotes:
Oliver: Where were you born?
Stanley: I don't know.
Oliver: Fancy not knowing where you were born!
Stanley: Well, I was too young to remember.
more
Movie Connections:
Edited into Noche de duendes (1930) more

FAQ

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful.
One of the more ludicrous Laurel & Hardys; much uproarious fun., 4 May 2003
8/10
Author: Tom May (joycean_chap@hotmail.com) from Sunderland, England

This is another L & H short that deviates in some way from the general pattern of them; but this time, the central tennet is drastically different: the boys are implicated in a frankly absurd murder case. Dell Henderson's wonderfully creaking, slow turn, is a comic parody of horror movie 'housekeepers' and butlers before Universal horror really took off. I like the way an authority figure is sent up (as often in L & H); this time a bumbling, melodramatic detective, the actor hamming it up for all it was worth. There's barely a bone in this film's skeleton that isn't light and giddily brittle; only the early scene of Ollie musing on his friendship with Stan, the two of them sitting by the waterside, really seems like a typically L & H scene. And beautifully played and written it is too. It has that comic pathos that is entirely relinquished by the film from then on.

The remainder of this picture spirals off into the most obvious, overplayed silliness; but I loved it. Laurel and Hardy in a creaking, almost chuckling set, standing in for a haunted house; absurd, devilish do propagated by a leering, comatose housekeeper; predictable gags; a bat or two. Just bring it all to mind, and smile... give it a viewing some day, and I'm sure you'll be amused. "The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case" is a wonderfully enjoyable short; and a refreshing variant within their very consistent, fine work during this pre-feature length era.

Rating:- ****/*****

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