Bonnie Scotland

Stan & Ollie arrive in BONNIE SCOTLAND to claim Stan's inheritance. Through a series of mishaps, the Boys end up in the British Army, stationed in India & threatened with imminent death at the hands of a fierce tribal chief...

With rather more plot than usual in a typical Laurel & Hardy film - the romantic subplot has virtually nothing to do with Stan & Ollie - this is still a delight for fans of the Boys. By this point in their joint career they were past perfection & beyond praise. Seeing them act together is like watching an intricate piece of clockwork. Among the highlights here: the candle under the bed; the `invisible' accordion; and the dance to ‘A Hundred Pipers'.

Stan & Ollie are given fine support by the rest of the cast: Mary Gordon, as the hotel proprietress; David Torrence, as a crusty old lawyer; Daphne Pollard, as a feisty little maid; and James Finlayson, the Boys' eternal foil, as their long-suffering Sergeant Major. June Lang & William Janney supply the romantics.

The lovely opening shots of Village life set the mood beautifully; early scene where blacksmith Lionel Belmore hammers out the `Cuckoo Song' - while the Boys make their first appearance & march towards the camera - is a joy.

Stan and Ollie travel all the way to Bonnie Scotland to collect on an inheritance left by Stan MacLaurel's late grandfather. Both he and his cousin June Lang are provided, but she's not of age and she's under the firm guardianship of Colonel Vernon Steele and his scheming Mrs., Anne Grey.

William Janney, the clerk in lawyer David Torrence's office is in love with June Lang, but she's spirited off to India during the British Raj. Never mind, Stan and Ollie and poor young Janney also find their way there as the scene of the plot shifts from Bonnie Scotland to India with the Highlanders.

It's all a pretty thin plot, but good enough to hang some of Stan and Ollie's best screen moments on. One of my all time favorites is when Ollie has an encounter with a snuff box which was half of Laurel's inheritance the other half being a set of bagpipes. Another is when Stan and Ollie try to use the bedsprings in their hotel to grill some fish and nearly burn poor Mary Gordon's establishment down.

After the boys go into the Indian Army they become the bane of the existence of their old nemesis, Sergeant James Finlayson. In the end Janney, Finlayson, and the boys provide a hilarious ending to a tribal rebellion.

Films like Lives of a Bengal Lancer and Charge of the Light Brigade about the British Raj take one good beating from producer Hal Roach and his intrepid and incomparable stars. For fans of Stan and Ollie the world over.

This Laurel & Hardy movie is not among their best. It has way too much story and subplots present and because of this the boys are not given the full opportunity to show their skills and antics in this movie.

There are lot of scene's in which Laurel & Hardy are not even present. There is an unusual amount of dialog and story present which works perhaps only distracting from Laurel & Hardy and their silly slapstick moments. Most people are not waiting for a movie like this. Most people just want to see Laurel & Hardy act silly and get into some troubling and silly situations. The whole story makes perhaps a bit of a pointless impression and the ending is not satisfying enough because it leaves too many loose ends.

But before I really am beginning to sound negative, of course the movie is still fun. There are some good jokes present, of which some are also truly quite memorable. It also is always fun to see James Finlayson in a Laurel & Hardy picture. This time he plays the boys their sergeant in the army in Imperial India. He provides the movie with some good and memorable moments.

Yet it is the story that is most overly present in the movie. The movie is not really about Laurel & Hardy, not really about slapstick moments but it's more a serious story disguised as a comedy instead. This might slightly disappoint some of the fans, although there still is plenty to enjoy for them and for everyone else of course. The gags still work, despite the 'serious' (serious for Laurel & Hardy standards of course, I mean.) story.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

This is a good film, but unfortunately some dunderhead insisted on adding a side love interest that did not in any way involve Stan and Ollie. Why, if you have the greatest comedy team ever would you insist on adding pointless subplots? Who cares if the boy gets the girl--I want more Stan and Ollie. And, because of this, the amount of funny stuff that the boys do is limited to probably a short's worth of humor--stretched out to feature length! When Stan and Ollie ARE on film, they are good--not great. But, even good Laurel and Hardy is well worth watching.

For a better full-length Laurel and Hardy movie, try PARDON US, A CHUMP AT OXFORD or especially SONS OF THE DESERT. And, try to avoid the musical Laurel and Hardy full-length films such as THE DEVIL'S BROTHER or BABES IN TOYLAND. Once again, I want JUST Laurel and Hardy--no love stories, subplots or music--just 100% pure Stan and Ollie!

Laurel and Hardy go to Scotland, because Laurel has an inheritance there from his Scottish uncle.In Scotland boys join the Indian army-by accident.Bonnie Scotland is a nice Laurel and Hardy comedy from 1935.It has some very funny parts, like when the boys are making the fish and who could forget the dancing scene with the boys.