Dick und Doof werden Papa

Two gentle eccentrics raise THE BOHEMIAN GIRL kidnapped by gypsies, unaware of her noble birth.

In evaluating this film it is important to understand that it is very different from the result first planned by Hal Roach. The mysterious and scandalous death (murder? suicide? accident?) of the leading lady late in 1935 caused extensive reshooting & reediting by the nervous Studio. Although Thelma Todd is still given third place billing, her participation has been slashed down to virtual insignificance. What a waste. This was the lovely & talented Miss Todd's final film, she was a credit to her

profession and she deserved better treatment. This probably also accounts for the abrupt cuts & scene transitions which plague the production.

As a result, Felix Knight's obvious role as romantic lead was also truncated and he is left with but one short appearance, singing a melodic ballad. This is also a shame, as he was a fine young actor and he never received another good chance to become a successful movie star.

The main attractions, Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy, never falter. They are hilarious even when sitting and doing nothing. Playing puckish pickpockets, they get to involve themselves in a fair amount of physical activity, which gives the viewer another opportunity to marvel at Stan's inventiveness and Ollie's remarkable grace & dexterity. Stan's latest finger trick and his attempt to siphon a barrel of wine into bottles, along with Ollie divesting a foppish nobleman of every last valuable accouterment, stand out, but only as gems among treasures.

Two of the great character actors from the Boys' films of the past appear with them again. Formidable Mae Busch, making her final appearance with Stan & Ollie, plays Hardy's spectacularly unfaithful wife and suspicious little James Finalyson comes in at the end as an officious captain of the guard.

OUR GANG cutie Darla Hood is darling indeed as the purloined infant. She grows up to become pretty Jacqueline Wells (an obvious replacement for Miss Todd). Former matinée idol Antonio Moreno plays Miss Busch's paramour, while elderly English actress Zeffie Tilbury brings life to the small part of the Gypsy Queen.

Irish prodigy Michael William Balfe (1808-1870) composed the 1843 operetta upon which the film is based. Many of the words of the songs, especially when performed by the Gypsy Chorus, are unintelligible. However, it is good to hear the wonderful old solo ballads "When Other Lips" & "I Dreamt That I Dwelt In Marble Halls" beautifully sung.

This is Stan's response when Ollie tries to explain the sight of his wife's lover giving her a chuck under the chin.

"The Bohemian Girl" is classic L&H. Two guys who are clearly out of place(does anyone really buy them as gypsies? Especially when Ollie is wearing the same wig he wore in "March of the Wooden Soldiers").

I'm sure everyone by now knows this is the film that was Thelma Todd's last picture, due to her untimely death. That's why the film is so choppy, too many edits.

But there are still so many classic scenes with the two boys. Stan's wine scene, when Ollie recovers his "stolen" property, Stan searching under Ollie's pillow, and on and on.

James Finlayson and Mae Busch steal the picture. They are both so right for their parts, they're hysterical.

I had never seen this film before, but heard plenty about it. For years I have heard my mother-in-law talk about this film that she saw when she was young, and how some of the scenes had stayed with her. She thought that the film was lost, but my wife and I found a copy on Ebay, and gave it to her for this past Christmas. This weekend she loaned us the tape, and I enjoyed it so much I'm sure that many of the scenes will stay with me for a long time as well.

In one of Laurel & Hardy's least-seen films Stan not the first time plays the brains of the outfit as he and Hardy cross to the wrong side of the law as a pair of gypsy pickpockets wearing funny hats Bob Hope would have envied in the only film they made with lovely but ill-fated Thelma Todd.

Very happy to contradict other reviewers of this movie, but it is a little-known gem. From the scene where they pickpocket the dandy, to the scene where Stan is filching Ollie's money-bag, to the scene where Stan is filling the wine-bottles, through to the final scene after the torture chamber, when they look at each other, it is a wonderful movie (Ollie: "I'm going to take my zither lesson"; Stan: "Oh, I slept like a top, too," followed by Ollie's great mug). The scene when Hardy is claiming "his" items from the dandy is priceless (his "lorgnette"--now how does a gypsy like Ollie know that word?! Vintage Ollie). I always loved the scene when Stan was singing in the two operatic voices. Great music, great cast (Darla Hood, Mae Busch, Finlayson, et al). See it for yourself (VERY hard to find).

In this Laurel and Hardy comedy the boys play the gypsies. The gypsies camp outside the count Arnheim's palace and Oliver's wife kidnaps Arnheim's little girl.Oliver raises the child as his own.The Bohemian Girl is a nice comedy from the boys, not their best but it offers some funny moments for Laurel and Hardy fans, like when Stanley is putting the wine in bottles and many others.