The Chimp

This is my all-time favorite L&H episode! Ollie and James Finlayson are my favorites. But what I don't like about this is Stan Laurel. He acts too whiny and emotional and for a comic genius he takes his role as a childishly innocent man way too far!

A brief synopsis: Stan and Ollie get laid off from the circus in which they were working, Stan gets a flea circus and Ollie gets a chimp named Ethyl. Along the way they encounter a frustrated landlord whose wife shares the same name as the chimp, and a lion on the loose.

The funniest part was when Ollie asked why Stan was so scared and Stan screamed, "I saw MGM"! When I heard that I laughed myself sick and almost fell off my chair! James Finlayson's role as the ringmaster in this was exceptionally awesome as was his other roles in L&H movies and episodes.

So, if any of you are L&H fans, please check this one out!

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short. In lieu of salaries, a bankrupt circus gives its property away to its workers. Stan gets the flea circus - Ollie is given Ethel, THE CHIMP. The big simian takes an immediate dislike to Ollie, but becomes very fond of Stan. Deciding to sell Ethel to the zoo, the Boys look for a hotel to spend the night. Trying to do so with a great, hairy beast in tow is hard enough; an escaped lion and a volatile landlord only ensure that getting a good night's sleep will be almost impossible.

A very funny little film, with genuine belly laughs. Watching Stan dance with Ethel is priceless. That's James Finlayson as the circus Ringmaster; Billy Gilbert plays the dyspeptic landlord.

Only true Laurel and Hardy addicts will appreciate this sub-standard short that has the boys doing their best to demolish a circus tent with explosive gun powder, after which STAN LAUREL is given a flea circus for a parting gift, and OLIVER HARDY, a chimp called Ethyl.

Naturally, when they decide to look for lodgings they get a hard time from landlord BILLY GILBERT who refuses to have them under his roof when he spies the chimp. Gilbert is already in a dither because his wife hasn't come home yet--his dear Ethyl.

The rest of the short has the boys getting into one sticky situation after another, but the laughs are meager and the obvious use of a man inside an ape costume takes a lot away from the gags. Funniest line has Stan sighting a loose lion on the prowl and Oliver asking him what's the matter. "I've seen MGM," is his straight answer.

But the slapstick happenings are not on par with the duo's best comedy shorts. This is strictly an early Laurel and Hardy featurette from Hal Roach that needed a much better script. At least BILLY GILBERT gets to do his customary energetic job as the irate husband who overhears Hardy telling the chimp, "Come to bed, Ethyl."

Good potential material, but it should have been a lot funnier.

I have a fondness for "The Chimp" as it was the first time I saw a Laurel and Hardy film. That was about 1983 and I haven't stopped laughing at Stan and Ollie's antics ever since. In the above film, they are members of the local circus. Due to their blundering incompetence, the circus has to close up. Regulars James Finlayson and Tiny Sandford make welcome appearances during the opening scene. Ollie doesn't particularly care for a comment made by Stan at the beginning of the film. The owner being flat broke, gives his employees a share of the circus in place of their salary. Each person draws a certain animal. In the case of Laurel and Hardy, the former picks the box of fleas and the latter a gorilla named Ethel. After being chased by the lion of the circus, the three of them need to find a room for the night. That is where the trouble begins! I laugh myself silly, every time I watch the bit where Ollie can't retrieve his own trousers and Ethel lends a hand! Her and Ollie don't get on too well but she likes Stan alright. The scene where Ollie is stalked by the same lion is very funny. Billy Gilbert is on top form as a somewhat perturbed landlord of the boarding house where Ollie attempts to procure a room. He has hardly rung the doorbell before he is yanked into the building and wonders what the hell is going on! To his credit, Billy Gilbert is sincere in his apologises. Gilbert was certainly blessed with a powerful voice and he puts it to good use (David Niven eat your heart out). The dancing scene was well done as Stan and Ollie struggle to get some sleep. "The Chimp" is a bit longer than the usual comedy short, clocking in at 25 minutes. It is a joy though.

This is not amongst my favourites of the many Laurel and Hardy shorts I have seen, but it was a perfectly passable short subject.

James Finlayson as ever is a boon of a presence; making a brilliant foil to the pair. Laurel and Hardy are as wonderful as ever, though possibly a slight weariness is evident; the antics here being so very similar to many other of their shorts. What especially enervates this film are the early, possibly all too brief, sequences in the circus; to see, largely in atmospheric long shot, the great duo comically spoiling the planned circus gags, only to create new ones in their bungling, is a wonderful spectacle. The spatial atmosphere given by a visible audience - though amusingly small - is quite a refreshing dichotomy; the performance-within-a-performance air of this section is beautiful to watch.

Yes, things slip towards far more laboured chimp-related gags, but this is professional stuff; Laurel and Hardy executing the comedy finely. It does tend towards going through the motions, but, cripes, this is the funniest and most loved double act of all, on screen for our benefit. And thus, it's a film more laudable than so many.

Rating:- *** 1/2/*****