Swiss Miss (1938)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

John G. Blystone

Writers:

Felix Adler (writer)
Charlie Melson (writer)

Release Date:

20 May 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

They're mousetrap salesmen in the Alps - and are the mice happy !

Plot:

Stanley and Oliver are mousetrap salesmen hoping to strike it rich in Switzerland, but get swindled out of all their money by a cheesemaker...

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Piano | Gorilla | Saint Bernard Dog | Chase

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Stan
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie
Grete Natzler	...	Anna Albert (as Della Lind)
Walter Woolf King	...	Victor Albert
Eric Blore	...	Edward, Advisor to Victor Albert
Adia Kuznetzoff	...	Chef
Charles Judels	...	Cheese Factory Proprietor
Ludovico Tomarchio	...	Luigi
Franz Hug	...	Flag thrower
Jean De Briac	...	Enrico
George Sorel	...	Joseph, Albert's Chauffeur
Charles Gemora	...	Gorilla (as Charles Gamore)

Runtime:

72 min | USA:65 min (edited version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #4115) | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

Stan Laurel was ill during filming, appearing pale and tired.

Quotes:

Stan: I see a monkey.
Oliver: That doesn't surprise me a bit

Movie Connections:

Featured in Another Romance of Celluloid (1938)

Soundtrack:

The Cricket Song

A poor L&H film – 70 minutes just for 2 or 3 good scenes!?

Laurel and Hardy are travelling through Switzerland selling mouse traps (unsuccessfully it has to be said). When a man offers to buy the business from them, Hardy accepts and takes the foreign money. After the duo eat a large meal at a posh hotel they find that the note is worthless in Switzerland and are forced to work in the hotel to pay off their debt (and pay for every plate they break). While they are there they also get involved in a marital spat between a composer and his famous singer wife.

As someone who has seen more of their shorts than I have of their features, I was worried that a longer running time (70 minutes) would be too much for the duo to sustain. Having seen other features I knew they COULD do it if they were given the chance – sadly here they weren't given that chance. Instead they are given surprisingly little screen time and not allowed to work their magic for very long, with an off-putting amount of time devoted to the martial problems I have previously alluded to.

I don't know who made the decision that Laurel and Hardy were unable to carry a feature and required a structure to base their routines around - they should always be within the structure! The mistake shines through though in several funny scenes where Laurel and Hardy are given the good material – the gorilla (in Switzerland!) on a bridge may not make much sense but it is funny, although my highlight was Laurel trying to coax brandy out of a St Bernard's! Sadly the chances for them to produce are limited by the tradition (and overdone) song and dance numbers (where we also have the usual `Laurel does funny voice' stuff) and the romantic subplot.

Hardy is good as is Laurel, but Laurel's character is much stronger than in the shorts – he still bears the brunt of stuff but he is more forceful than before, not to mention a lot chubbier! I personally didn't take to this as well as I'd hoped I would – for whatever reason the changes were made, they off balanced the relationship that I love between the two. The support cast are roundly OK but it is hard to get interested in them simply because, while they are on, Laurel and Hardy aren't.

Overall this is a very weak feature from the usually reliable pair. The majority of the running time is taken up by the songs and the romantic subplot, with the duo only given a few chances to shine (which, happily, they take). In the 70 minutes it took to watch this I could have watched three of their shorts – each of which would have been better than this!