Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy star in this, the first of their comic operettas. They play wandering travelers forced in a life of crime after their loot is stolen. They end up assisting professional thief Dennis King though they're not above betraying him if it meant a better reward. I'll stop there and just mention one good scene of first Ollie singing before King takes over and just slays him with his warbling. I also loved seeing Stan getting drunk and then the laughing both he and Ollie do. Oh, and James Finlayson is also here and does his usual bumbling around the boys. Another supporting player named Henry Armetta is also a hoot here. Neither the songs nor Thelma Todd are bad either but, of course, it's the two men that are slim and heavyset that we've come to see. So on that note, The Devil's Brother gets a recommendation from me. Oh, and if you watch this on DVD, I also highly recommend the commentary track done by Hal Roach historians Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann.
Review of The Devil's Brother
The Devil's Brother
(1933)
Laurel & Hardy provide their usual fun in The Devil's Brother
20 January 2013