Oliver the Eighth

Oliver and Stanley own and run a barbershop. When Stanley sees an advertisement for male company from a rich woman he tells Ollie and they both write letters. Ollie posts his but hides Stanley. When the woman sees Oliver's letter she plans to take revenge on him for her first love – also Oliver – who broke her heart, just as she has killed seven other Olivers before. Oliver and Stan arrive assuming that they have it made but begin to suspect something afoot.

Can I ever get enough Laurel and Hardy? Probably not! This entry starts really well and is very funny despite tailing off a bit in the final 10 minutes or so. The opening is classic banter between the two men and with some really funny lines and the invisible food etc is all good. However the ending is more physical comedy that doesn't work as well as what went before. And the ending is a real cop out and just felt like they ran out of ideas for what to do next.

The two leads are very funny no matter what and are at their best when exchanging equally foolish dialogue. Barty is OK as Jitters but the whole `invisible' card thing didn't really grab me. Likewise no-one could accuse Busch of giving a subtle, comic or measured performance and just goes all out to leave the audience in no doubt as to her character.

Overall this is still funny but the ending didn't work very well for me and the last 5 odd minutes suffered in the same way. But for the most part I was laughing out loud and was happy to see service as normal.

This was made in 1934 ! One thing I hadn`t realised untill I saw this film again on BBC 2 a couple of days ago was that a lonely hearts column is used to kick start the plot , a lonely hearts column in 1934 ?Here`s me thinking sad anoraks and wall flowers sending off ads to publications in order to meet equally desperate people was a relatively recent concept . Mind you I thought the same about post modernism untill I saw the Bing and Bob ROAD TO... movies so what do I know ?

Anyway as some of the other reviewers on this page have noted this has a very strange , very dark feel to it . In many ways it feels like Stan and Oliver have walked into a film based on a work of Edgar Allan Poe , and for the first time watching the season of L&H shorts on BBC 2 I couldn`t help noticing gaps in logic in the story , watch OLIVER THE EIGHTH and I promise you that you`ll be saying " Hey , why didn`t they ....? " . Despite these criticisms this certainly one of the better shorts , the bedroom scenes had me laughing out loud , but not for the first time we`re treated to a really bad cop out ending . Oh well nothing is perfect

Stan and Ollie decide it's time to get married, especially since a rich widow is advertising for a husband. Stan writes a letter, but Ollie hides it under his hat so it never goes out. When they get to her mansion, Jitters, the butler, explains how there have been seven husbands already, all dead, all named Oliver. Of course, they end up trapped in the place and she is on the prowl with a very large knife. What follows is an effort to get out of there. Everything they can manage is used in the process. Stanley manages to screw things up time and time again. The ending is a little pat, but it doesn't matter because the whole thing is hilarious. Jack Barty as Jitters and Mae Busch as the grieving widow are some of the best of the supporting casts that have embraced these L & H films. Jitters is especially nutty with his magic tricks.

In this episode they play barbershop owners who write to a rich widow. But Stan's letter is rejected, and still wants to tag along with Ollie. Then, in a dream, they go to her mansion and encounter a kooky butler and Ollie becomes engaged to the widow only to find out later on that she's a homicidal maniac who's killed seven other Olivers and plans to make Ollie her eighth victim!

The funniest scenes were when Stan and Jitters were playing with invisible cards and doing that 'pick a card' trick! And the dinner scene with invisible food was another one of L&H's comical moments! And Jack Barty was hilarious as the crazed Jitters and Mae Busch was totally impeccable as the widow and other characters she played in L&H films, too!

This episode is for any L&H fan to see! I give it 4 stars!

Jack Barty is hilarious and performs one of the best pantomime scenes I have ever seen.

Stan, Ollie and Mae Busch all join in to create an incredible pantomime dinner party.

Stan and Ollie are with perfect partners in this film.

The interaction between all the characters is perfect. Barty's speaking voice is also hysterical. It has a bit of English sound, mixed with a deep rasp. His enunciation is sublime.

Sublety abounds. "Madame" (Mae Busch) is perfect as she slides in and out of a sort of schizo-dementia.

You will be glad to see this masterwork and to have in your collection when you need a lift. What great great actors.