Them Thar Hills (1934)

Director:

Charley Rogers

Writers:

Release Date:

21 July 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

Stan and Ollie take a trip into the mountains ('the high multitude') so that Ollie can recover from gout...

Plot Keywords:

Mountain | Gout | Automobile | Camping | Two Reeler

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Stan Laurel	...	Stan
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie
Mae Busch	...	Mrs. Hall
Charlie Hall	...	Mr. Hall
Billy Gilbert	...	The Doctor

Runtime:

20 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

The tune Hardy is humming in the trailer is "The Old Spinning Wheel."

Quotes:

Ollie Hardy: [They have arrived at a clearing up in the mountains] Isn't this ideal?
Stanley Laurel: It sure is. One month up here and we wouldn't know each other. We've got a well and water and lot's of it and everything.
Ollie Hardy: Go in and ask the folks if they mind if we park here.
[Stan goes up to the door, knocks on it, it opens and the building is empty]
Ollie Hardy: Anyone home?
Stanley Laurel: Not now but there was a minute ago.
Ollie Hardy: Who was it?
Stanley Laurel: It was me. You see I was knocking on the door and...
Ollie Hardy: Nevermind the details. C'mon let's get some food, I'm famished. "I was knocking on the door." Hmph!

Movie Connections:

Followed by Tit for Tat (1935)

Soundtrack:

The Old Spinning Wheel

It's the iron in it

The comic geniuses, Laurel and Hardy, made so many hilarious shorts that it is hard to choose a best one. Certainly "The Music Box," which garnished the duo an Oscar, is as good as the best humor ever put on celluloid. Though Laurel and Hardy made at least two masterful feature films, "Way Out West" and "Sons of the Desert," their shorts are among their greatest moments on the big screen. "Them Thar Hills" is non-stop laughter both physical and verbal from beginning to end.

Mr. Hardy is in need of rest, says wise doctor Billy Gilbert. He has had too much high living. Mr. Laurel suggests that they move down to the basement, but Dr. Gilbert counters with recommending a trip to the mountains and to be sure and drink lots and lots of water. Laurel convinces Hardy to rent a hook-on trailer and the boys are off on another misadventure. Just before they decide on a camping spot near a well, a bunch of moonshiners dump their payload into the well to destroy the evidence as the revenuers close in on them. Though the idea of putting whiskey or moonshine into the drinking supply for comedic effect was not new--Charlie Chaplin used the ploy for one of his classic shorts, "The Cure," as early as 19l7--the situation is different and Laurel and Hardy adapt it to their unique brand of humor.

The two are doing just fine in an outrageously funny scene where the two prepare a meal with making a pot of coffee becoming as funny as falling off a chair backwards. Naturally they use the spiked well water for the coffee. Both proceed to get looped. Enter a couple who have run out of gas and seek the assistance of Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy. Bad mistake. what takes place is one of the funniest slapstick routines ever filmed. Aiding in the sequence is a Laurel and Hardy regular, Charley Hall, second only to the magnificent James Finlayson as a perfect foil for the boys. His companion in hilarity is another Laurel and Hardy regular, Mae Busch, one of the screens great comediennes.

Anyone who doesn't roll with laughter watching "Them Thar Hills" needs to have his/her funny bone checked out immediately. Those who enjoy "Them Thar Hills" should check out its sequel, "Tit for Tat," and let the fun continue.