Them Thar Hills

Mr. Hardy is suffering from gout, so Mr. Laurel proposes they buy a trailer and go stay in the country. They park on a patch of land with a well on it. Little do they know.... well, anything. In this case, revenooers have poured moonshiner's products down the well. As they drink the water, their mood rises..... but here comes married couple Charlie Hall and Mae Busch. It all ends in one of the marvelous slow motion 'tit for tat' duels that the Boys got into.

Stan and Ollie were alternating their shorts with features by this point, and could choose to make a movie short or long depending on what they wanted to do. This undoubtedly contributed to their sustained level of excellence in this period.

Them Thar Hills, the story of Mr. Hardy needing good mountain climate, Mr. Laurel agreeing, and together they set out "for the mountains" with a small camper behind them, and the radiator overflowing. Being told to drink plenty of Mountain Water, they do so when they find a place with a well they drink as much water as possible; only what they don't know is that moonshiners dumped their liquor into the well. So, slowly, the boys become drunk, and when Mae Bush and Charlie Hall come to ask for gas, Mae becomes drunk as well; resulting in one of their funniest tit-for-tat sequences. The film has many of these hilarious moments, for instance, when Stan tries to carry Ollie, but through a little mishap, winds up dumping himself and Ollie in the bathtub! Also, while cooking and making everything ready for lunch, Ollie hums "The Old Spinning Wheel," and after a while, Stan gives in a good "Pum-Pum." This results in Ollie's hitting him over the head, saying, "I'm singing this song!"

This is an excellent Laurel & Hardy short subject, one that is a must-see for every Laurel & Hardy Fan. What is also exciting, is that apart from being a good film, this short will be celebrating its 70th anniversary on July 21, its initial release into theatres and the world in 1934.

Stan and Ollie hire a trailer and go for a camping trip to the remote countryside , get accidentally drunk ( It can happen you know ) and that`s basically it as far as the threadbare plot goes . However the film feels more cohesive than some of the other L & H shorts which are sometimes a series of set piece prat falls with little regard to the over all plot . There`s also a very memorable ditty that goes

La la la lala lala la la la

Pom Pom

Which will disappear into your head and then reappear in your memory sometime in the future and will have you scratching your head asking " Where does that song come from ? "

Just like everyone else on this page I liked THEM THAR HILLS but wouldn`t say it`s the greatest ever L & H short . In fact I wouldn`t even say it`s the greatest short featuring Mr and Mrs Hall because the sequel TIT FOR TAT released the following year is even better

This is a good Laurel & Hardy short comedy, with one particularly hilarious sequence. With Ollie suffering from too much high living, the two take a trip to the country to live the simple life for a while, but instead they find themselves getting into one caper after another. After some adventures of their own, they encounter a pair of stranded motorists. Their extended squabble with Charlie Hall in the last part of the film is non-stop laughs, and one of their funniest sequences. That, and plenty of other laughs in the rest of the film, make "Them Thar Hills" one of the best-remembered Laurel & Hardy short features.

Them Thar Hills is another favorite Laurel and Hardy episode of mine. In this one, Stan and Ollie go out into the country for Ollie's health. Along the way they encounter a fun loving wife (Mae Busch) and her exasperated husband (Charlie Hall), and they get drunk on some wishing well water that had been contaminated with alcohol by moonshiners.

The funniest part in this episode was when Stan and Ollie retaliate against Charlie Hall! Laurel and Hardy were both ingenious when it came to making episodes and movies, Stan Laurel had taken any gag he used and made it be extremely funny! Also, the way they played off each other in this episode and others were absolutely impressive. That's what made L&H so exquistite, comedy-wise. In fact, Laurel and Hardy are my second favorite comedy team of yesteryear!

Also, Charlie Hall was a great L&H regular, too! And the fun doesn't stop there! After you see Them Thar Hills, watch the bonus sequel Tit for Tat! Both episodes are a can't-miss for Laurel and Hardy fans!