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Busy Bodies

  • 1933
  • Approved
  • 19m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
3.1K
YOUR RATING
Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel in Busy Bodies (1933)
SlapstickComedyFamilyShort

Stan and Ollie do battle with inanimate objects, their co-workers, and the laws of physics during a routine work day at the sawmill.Stan and Ollie do battle with inanimate objects, their co-workers, and the laws of physics during a routine work day at the sawmill.Stan and Ollie do battle with inanimate objects, their co-workers, and the laws of physics during a routine work day at the sawmill.

  • Director
    • Lloyd French
  • Writers
    • Charlie Hall
    • Oliver Hardy
    • Stan Laurel
  • Stars
    • Stan Laurel
    • Oliver Hardy
    • Dick Gilbert
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    3.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Lloyd French
    • Writers
      • Charlie Hall
      • Oliver Hardy
      • Stan Laurel
    • Stars
      • Stan Laurel
      • Oliver Hardy
      • Dick Gilbert
    • 41User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos43

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    Top cast7

    Edit
    Stan Laurel
    Stan Laurel
    • Stan
    Oliver Hardy
    Oliver Hardy
    • Ollie
    Dick Gilbert
    Dick Gilbert
    • Shoveler
    • (uncredited)
    Charlie Hall
    Charlie Hall
    • Shop Worker
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Hill
    • Shop Worker
    • (uncredited)
    Tiny Sandford
    Tiny Sandford
    • Shop Foreman
    • (uncredited)
    Charley Young
    • Shop Worker
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Lloyd French
    • Writers
      • Charlie Hall
      • Oliver Hardy
      • Stan Laurel
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The final gag has Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy accidentally driving their Model T through an industrial band saw; the blade passes between them and cuts their vehicle in half. Laurel & Hardy biographer Charles Barr claimed the comedians were nearly killed filming this scene, but Roach Studios special-effects director Roy Seawright asserted that they were never in danger. "That gag was a collaboration between Fred Knoth's mechanical department and my photographic department," Seawright said. "It was done with a traveling matte, a traveling split-screen. We had one half go through first, and then we introduced the other half. So, ultimately, it was accomplished on an optical printer."
    • Goofs
      When Hardy yanks at the hose connected to the sink, he is wet. When he comes out of the sawdust chute, there isn't ANY sawdust stuck to him.
    • Quotes

      Ollie: Would you mind opening the window?

      [watching in disgust as Stan goes and opens the shop window behind him]

      Ollie: Not THAT window - THIS window!

      [seeing Stan pull out a large sheet of heavy paper and study it carefully]

      Ollie: What are you doing?

      Stan: Well, I was looking at the blueprint to try to figure out how to open the window.

      Ollie: Why, that's a blueprint of the BOULDER DAM!

    • Alternate versions
      There is an Italian edition of this film on DVD, distributed by DNA Srl ("NON ANDIAMO A LAVORARE", Various Shorts on a single DVD). The film has been re-edited with the contribution of film historian Riccardo Cusin. This version is also available for streaming on some platforms.
    • Connections
      Edited into Dance of the Cookoos (1982)
    • Soundtracks
      Ku-Ku
      (1928) (uncredited

      Written by Marvin Hatley

      Played during the opening credits

    User reviews41

    Featured review

    A Good Variety of Gags

    A Laurel & Hardy short feature with a good variety of gags, "Busy Bodies" has the two raising havoc in a woodworking shop. The shop's tools, materials, and workers furnish good background material to the pair's own valiant but doomed attempts to make themselves useful. There is a wide range of comic material, from old standbys like Ollie getting conked in the head repeatedly by two men carrying a board across his path, to clever ideas like the "radio" in their car. There are also some very funny interactions with the shop's other workers.

    This is a funny short comedy that all Laurel & Hardy fans will enjoy.
    • Snow Leopard
    • Jun 26, 2001
    • Permalink

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 7, 1933 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official Site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Helan och Halvan i klämma
    • Filming locations
      • 517 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA(Laurel and Hardy stop the car to change the phongraph record under the car's bonnet)
    • Production company
      • Hal Roach Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      19 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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