Be Big!

Laurel and Hardy are about to leave for a weekend in Atlantic City with their wives when Baldwin Cooke calls up to tell Ollie to come over to the club.... there's a party on in his honor, and the description, unheard by the audience, convinces Ollie.... and convinces the audience that it's going to be something racy. Ollie affects an attack of nerves and the Boys send their wives on ahead. But the best laid plans of mice and men, as the saying goes.

Stepping out on the wives was not a new plot when this short was made, and it wouldn't be the last time Stan and Ollie used it; what, after all, is SONS OF THE DESERT? But farce comedy is not about the plot, it's about the gags, and a good deal of this one is expended on Mr. Hardy trying to get some boots off, while Mr. Laurel is mostly unhelpfully helpful. It's funny. What more do you want?

This particular Hal Roach short with Laurel and Hardy seems to have worked so well that the idea was later expanded into their classic Sons Of The Desert comedy.

Stan and Ollie are a couple of henpecked husbands who have planned to take a joint vacation to Atlantic City with the wives. But then Ollie gets a call from a hunt club that he and Stan belong to and it seems as though the gang is throwing them a bash. And since this is a guys only type gathering, they have to ditch the wives.

Ollie fakes a tremendous headache in the usual overactive Ollie fashion and the wives decide to make it a girls only trip to Atlantic City. With the ruse working, Ollie and Stan have to get into their hunting outfits.

Personally I find it hard to believe that some hoity toity outfit would even have Laurel and Hardy as members let alone as honored guests at a party. But leaving that aside, most of the film from this point on is taken up with Hardy having managed to squeeze into Laurel's boots by mistake now trying to get them off his feet with Laurel's inept assistance.

I've never seen one gag milked so successfully for a film, granted it's just a short subject. Seeing poor Laurel struggling to get those boots off Hardy's feet, dragging him around the apartment and wrecking half of it is hilarious.

Who could have known that in reality the title Be Big referred to Ollie's feet.

"Be Big" is one of the better short slapstick movies that the legendary couple made.Like always the story is not as important as the many jokes and visual expressions. The phone and doorbell of Hardy is hilarious as well as the doorbell of Laurel. Still,the biggest laughs come after the wives have left and when Ollie & Stan put on their boots for the club.These scenes are,although sometimes a bit long,really funny.

Of course it ends all wrong,but that is typical for these short features.A very nice piece of work. 9/10

Laurel and Hardy are both married in this comedy short. They are about to take their wives to Atlantic City when Hardy gets a call. The men at the club will honor Hardy tonight so he must be there. Hardy fakes he is suddenly ill and he wants Laurel to take care of him while the ladies must have their fun in Atlantic City. Laurel and Hardy change for the evening but there is some trouble with Laurel's boot on Hardy's foot. Hilarious sequences is what we get to see.

Although almost the entire short deals with the boots, Laurel and Hardy find enough ways to make us laugh. Hardy takes some nasty falls and Laurel has some nice moments with his stupidity. A very entertaining short.

Once again the boys try to fool their wives by feigning illness. This time instead of taking them to Atlantic City, Ollie gets wind of a stag at their lodge and apparently it's in his honor. After convincing Stan that he is not actually sick, they set about preparing for the event. However, it takes half the episode to get Stan's boots off Ollie, who has accidentally put them on. Stan's boots are way too small. Nothing ever works out because the women have to return and the boys are caught red handed. Nevertheless, while the women are away, things are hilarious. We would ask ourselves, if this were a realistic venue, why these guys are so cavalier in their efforts to try to get up to something when these things are doomed.