Double Whoopee

The Sound Era was fast, crashing down on the movie industry in when DOUBLE WHOOPEE (Hal Roach/MGM, 1929) was released on May 18th of that year. The Laurel & Hardy show had just about hit its pinnacle; following years of trial and error after their accidental pairing in 1926. The two distinguished members of the Hal Roach All-Stars, Stan & "Babe", had truly found their destinies for immortality together.

Stan's penchant for slowly and meticulously working out gags, slowing down the pacing in order to milk all of the situations of their maximum laugh potential. Working closely with the Boss Man, Hal Roach and Writer/Director and later Supervising Director, Leo McCarey and his principle of "Reciprocal Destruction", the Laurel & Hardy style was established and known. Now, polished both on the surface and on the inside, the Team was ready to conquer other worlds. But first, they had to complete the last of their Silent Shorts.

OUR STORY………..DOUBLE WHOOPEE begins with a double case of mistaken identity. With the Hotel's receiving word of the anticipated arrival of the 'Prince' and his Prime Minister, Stan & Ollie are falsely believed to be them. Every courtesy is extended to them; up to the point of being overly obsequious.

The Hotel Manager (William Gillespie) was right on hand to supervise the Front Desk Clerk (Rolf Sedan) in his registering the visiting "Royalty." The first extended gag of the picture occurs here as Ollie insists on the proper etiquette of having his hat removed while signing the register. The team s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s out the whole bit with Hardy's unsuccessful attempts to get Laurel to do the same.

Eventually the Royal Party does arrive, with the Prince (Hans Joby), an Eric Von Stroheim look-alike and Prime Minister (Charley Rogers). At that time the boys present a letter from their employment agency concerning the pair's limited abilities and competence as the Hotel's new Doorman (Babe) and Coachman (Stan).

The bulk of the film was occupied with the boys having troubles with the Prince and the Elevator, their interplay with a couple of Cabbies (Charlie Hall, Ham Kinsey) and their confrontation with the Cop pounding' the Beat (Stanley J. 'Tiny' Sandford). As Doorman, Ollie has a brief encounter with a lovely Blonde Bombshell (Jean Harlowe). Arriving by way of another Taxicab, the lovely Miss Harlowe (Woo, woo, woo, woo!) is greeted by 'Babe'with the line: "Might I presume that you would condescend to accept my escortage?" Then, offering his arm to her, he walks her to the revolving door, while catching the train of her dress in the Cab's door! DOUBLE WHOOPEE was one film that was even a little slower than most other L&H's, but by the same token, it was an excellent example of the Roach/McCarey/Laurel brand of slow moving, carefully designed and meticulously fashioned laugh schtick! And it appears to have been filmed at nighttime, after dark in and about areal, fancy old Hotel.

Along with BIG BUSINESS (Hal Roach/MGM, also 1929) gave the Laurel & Hardy silents a great send-off, with top notch, out door and beautiful looking shorts. They had successfully developed their style, routines and could practically "hear" the characters. Now that sound had arrived and other actors struggled with their real vocal gyrations; the danger being that the voice wasn't fit for the sound screen. Of course that was no problem for "the Boys" as their voices fit their screen persona perfectly.

After a few slow starts in sound, Stanley & Oliver regained their stride and never looked back. They would shortly conquer the new medium. They were then and now tops in the field! POODLE SCHNITZ!!

DOUBLE WHOOPEE is one of the last silent Laurel & Hardy shorts made before the advent of the talkie era. This one sees the pair taking up employment as doormen at a swanky hotel, where they fall foul of European royalty as well as glamorous actresses, policemen and irate staff members.

This short is effectively a tribute to the silent film era and there's much to recommend it, from the Eric Von Stroheim impersonator to the early appearance of Jean Harlow who's accidentally stripped by a clumsy Laurel. The focus of the short is inevitably on the slapstick, with characters blundering into accidents and a descent into farce as the duo's antics lead to widespread brawling.

As ever with these silent efforts, I miss hearing the sound of the famous pair, but DOUBLE WHOOPEE is good enough to make you forget the shortcomings of the era. It's also distinctive enough to be a worthwhile watch, even if it isn't one of their best works.

Laurel and Hardy are the new doorman and footman at a Times Square hotel. The agency thinks there's some rason to believe they are competent. Oviously, they've never met the Boys.

There are also a motley assortment of hotel guests, including Jean Harlow before she was anything more than a stunning blonde, and Erich von Stroheim's double doing a deadly imitation of Von.

You can see that they;'ve already made the shift to sound shorts with UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE, which was released two weeks before this. Not only are there plenty of sound effects, but the titles for dialogue are the sort of lines they would speak, reflections of their screen personalities. There's no shortage of laughs in this one.

For years there has been a half-truth among Hollywood lore that Howard Hughes "discovered" Jean Harlow when he cast her to star in HELL'S ANGELS. While this may have been her first big role, she'd already appeared in quite a few shorts for the Hal Roach Studios. This film, in fact, was the second Laurel and Hardy film in which she appeared (the other being LIBERTY). While her role is not huge, it's very clear that this is Jean--though her 1930s trademark looks are not present in DOUBLE WHOOPEE.

Aside from Jean, it's pretty much an average to below average Laurel and Hardy film. I think most of this is because while funny, the chemistry isn't quite right here, though it's hard to exactly put my finger on it. It just didn't seem quite like a Laurel and Hardy film--and by 1929 the style and format of their shorts was pretty much established.

The boys play employees that are sent by an agency to work at a nice New York hotel. At the same time, a rich European prince arrives and the folks at the hotel mistake Stan and Ollie for the prince and his Prime Minister. After finally discovering the mistake, they put the boys to work.

There are two main "big gags" in this film. The first involves a contrived bit involving an incredibly unsafe elevator. Through no fault of Stan and Ollie, the Prince keeps falling down the elevator shaft. This bit was a bit over-used and also had me wondering if they really made elevators like this. If so, then I am surprised that most Americans weren't killed! The second is a series of bit like you'd see in other Laurel and Hardy films such as TIT FOR TAT and TWO TARS. A small argument escalates and Ollie and a tough guy (Charles Hall--in a very typical role for him) start destroying each other's clothes--and Stan joining in for good measure. This bit is reprised later inside the hotel with the other hotel employees and soon everyone is fighting and destroying each other's outfits. Both gags are reasonably funny to watch but also seem amazingly contrived if not impossible--making the humor just a bit forced. Still, it's not a bad film at all, though one that is best remembered for a small part played by a young and relatively inexperienced Jean Harlow.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. Didn't find 'Double Whoopee' as one of their best and a bit disappointing compared to their late 1928 and previous 1929 efforts, which were among their best and funniest early work. It is still very good and has much of what makes Laurel and Hardy's work as appealing as it is.

It may not be "new" material as such and the first part takes a little bit too time to get going and is a little formulaic.

However, generally 'Double Whoopee' is in a good way not as subdued as 'Unaccustomed As We Are' and there is a return to the insane craziness and wacky slapstick that was properly starting to emerge.

When 'Double Whoopee' does get going, which it does do quite quickly, it is good enough fun, not always hilarious but never less than very amusing. It is never too silly, a wackiness that never loses its energy and the sly wit emerges here, some of the material may not be new but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive.

Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'Double Whoopee' we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'Double Whoopee' looks good visually, is full of energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. The supporting players are solid.

Overall, very good. Not essential or classic Laurel and Hardy, but a good representation of them. 8/10 Bethany Cox