The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case

The Boys read that the heirs of Ebenezer Laurel should present themselves at his mansion for a reading of the will. Naturally, Mr. Hardy sees riches in front of his eyes, which he will share with Mr. Hardy. However, there is no will. It's a set-up by the police, in the form of perpetual dumb cop Fred Kelsey to trap the old man's murderer.

It's pretty elaborate for Laurel and Hardy, with an immense cast; they were quite capable of making a great short with just the two of them, and Charlie Hall to fight. Because of that, the cast takes up too much time, with too little of the boys being scared out of their.... well, they never had much in the way of wits before.

It seems like manna from heaven when Stan and Ollie are sitting by the river with Laurel dropping in a line for some dinner and Ollie messing it up for a change. Then Ollie finds a stray newspaper with an advertisement for the relatives of the late Ebenezer Laurel to meet at the usual grim old mansion.

But it ain't for a will reading it's the police wanting to sort through the relatives over who might have murdered the old guy for his loot.

After that it's a series of haunted house gags that the boys go through, the highlight being a bat in a bedsheet that everyone thinks is a ghost. Laurel is even willing to give up his possible riches.

In the end the boys find it all really doesn't matter.

As a spoof of murder-mystery movies and plays this movie is great fun. It has all the clichés from that genre in it and perfectly spoofs those clichés and characters in this movie. The movie has the usual suspects in it and a police inspector (Fred Kelse) who tries to solve the case. Yes, like I said before, it perfectly spoofs some of the murder-mystery clichés. As a spoof it sill applies today.

The 'spooky' elements of the movie are also a welcome addition and provides the movie with some fun moments. Seeing the boys being chased by a white-sheet is a pretty funny sighting. Frank Austin is also perfectly spooky as the stereotype old butler.

Too bad that the pace of the movie isn't the best at times. The movie is dragging on for too long at times, which makes some of the jokes feel stretched out a bit too much.

It overall does have its moments, especially when it spoofs the murder-mystery genre but it's a bit too much dragging movie to find it a hilarious one, or a must-see for the Laurel & Hardy lovers among us.

7/10

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A little longer and more slow-paced than most of their short features, "The Laurel & Hardy Murder Case" combines the duo's usual comedy gags with some old-fashioned gloomy-old-house atmosphere. When Stanley reads in the paper about the death of a rich man named Laurel, he and Ollie head to the house for the reading of the will, hoping that Stanley will inherit something. Instead, they are soon caught up in a murder mystery and a series of spooky/comic events. The attention paid to the ominous house and occupants slows things down, and makes this a lot less frantic than their best comedies, but it is still entertaining, and has a couple of hilarious sequences.

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.

Hoping to inherit the $3,000,000 left by the murdered Ebenezer Laurel, the Boys find themselves spending a terrified evening in haunted Laurel Mansion, full of things that go bump in the night & the usual (disappearing) suspects. Who will be left to solve THE LAUREL-HARDY MURDER CASE?

An elaborate little film, somewhat longer than usual, with lots of fine Gothic touches. It's a shame it has such a weak ending. Highlight: the bat under the sheet. That's Frank Austin as the creepy butler & Fred Kelsey as the police detective.