County Hospital

Stan and Ollie's best shorts are filled to the brim with accidents, destruction and disasters from the tiny to the large: 'Big Business' (1929; silent), 'Busy Bodies' (1932), 'The Music Box' (1932), 'Towed in a Hole' (1932), and 'Dirty Work' (1933). Innocent Stan unwittingly causes no end of anxiety, trouble, exasperation and pain for long suffering Ollie.

'County Hospital' is true to this wonderful formula for the first two thirds of the film. Stan visits Ollie in the hospital, and continually exasperates him with his little behavioral quirks and oddities. Then after the doctor comes in, Stan lifts the truss weight from the floor, and very quickly the doctor winds up hanging out the top story window while Ollie is being hung upside down from the ceiling by the cast on his leg, the doctor's clothes are ripped, and as Ollie falls, his bed collapses.

All the scenes in the hospital are vintage Laurel and Hardy; even though he does most of his acting immobile in bed, Ollie is Ollie! The film dies as soon as they leave the hospital, and there is a flat back projection careening car ride with Stan supposedly sleeping while driving that is simply not funny because it is so obvious the boys are spinning in a car in front of a screen. The weak ending shows them spinning around in an L-shaped car (which had wrapped itself around a pole).

My grandchildren enjoy watching it, but the ending detracts too much for this to be one of their top top bests. I give it a 7.

With Hardy laid up in hospital with a broken leg, Laurel decides to pay him a visit, brining with him a gift of nuts and hard boiled eggs. He finds a relaxed and worry free Hardy, however the chaos the unwitting Laurel unleashes unto an unprepared hospital threatens to change all that.

The feeling of being a bit forced prevents this short from being considered Laurel and Hardy at their best. An example of what I mean is evident in the first few moments, Laurel finding Hardy's room gives rise to a little confusion but Laurel overplays his normal/confused/normal expression switches and for no real reason. Likewise many of the jokes are things they know work, but have to force to fit. There are some funny bits that are both subtle (Laurel eating the egg) or physical (hanging out the window) or climactic (the drive home) and most of them are good but it doesn't feel as fresh and lively as it often has.

Laurel overplays but Hardy is as good as ever. He is given less to do than he should have been and the film is allowed to rest too heavily on Laurel, but both still do pretty well. Overall this is an enjoyable short but feels like they are were lacking ideas and were treading water a tad for this one. That said, Laurel and Hardy treading water is often still better than many modern comedians who struggle to have an output of 1 or 2 films a year, never mind L&H's output!

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 'County Hospital' quite one of their very best, but it to me still very good and some of the best material is among their funniest.

Admittedly, the story is pretty thin and is pretty standard and it does run out of steam at the end complete with some very obvious back projection and sluggish editing, both of which fake-looking.

Despite that, 'County Hospital' is great fun, never less than very amusing and the best moments, being classic hilarity. It is never too silly, there is a wackiness that never loses its energy and the sly wit is 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. A lot happens yet it doesn't ever feel rushed or over-stuffed. The first half is terrific and one of the better first halves of Laurel and Hardy's output from this period.

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 'County Hospital' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

Excepting the editing at the end, 'County Hospital' 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, especially Billy Gilbert, but it's Laurel and Hardy's show all the way.

In summary, very good if not one of the best. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is one of the Laurel & Hardy comedies that show how resourceful they could be in getting the most out of the limited resources within a confined setting. Most of the gags work well, and only a somewhat uneven finale keeps it from being among the better of their two-reel comedies.

The simple story setup has Oliver in the "County Hospital" as a patient in traction, with Stanley stopping by to visit. You would hardly expect that anyone could get into so much trouble in a confined space, but they come up with a lot of comedy ideas, from hard-boiled eggs to the traction equipment, and more, with a couple of particularly good ones.

The climactic sequence is a bit hard to figure, because the back projection so obviously does not match the main footage. It's so much out of sync that you almost wonder whether it was done deliberately for the sake of comic effect, or whether it had to be left that way due to limits on time or money. In any case, this is a funny comedy with a few bits that are quite good.

This is a very funny and watchable Laurel and Hardy short. Ollie has been injured and Stan, like a pal, comes to visit and cheer him up. However, from the minute he arrives, Stan creates havoc--driving the staff mad and torturing Ollie in the process. I particularly liked how his playing with the counterweight to Ollie's broken leg resulted in Ollie's doctor being launched out the window! As a result, Stan AND Ollie are ejected from the hospital. The final driving sequence is the low-point, as at times it looked VERY fake, but the final scene makes this screwup forgivable. This film is good fun and only a crusty old curmudgeon would dislike it.

By the way, I am rather shocked to say that there is a better hospital comedy starring Billy Gilbert (who was also in COUNTY HOSPITAL). NIFTY NURSES is a mostly forgotten musical comedy that frankly is head and shoulders above this Laurel & Hardy film. While I adore Stan and Ollie, this other film is the funniest hospital short I've seen--better than COUNTY HOSPITAL and the Three Stooges' MEN IN BLACK.