Il fantasma stregato

Watching THE LIVE GHOST I was reminded of how this short resembles very many other L&H shorts . This isn`t meant as a criticism in any way but it`s remarkable how many other films feature Stan and Ollie fishing , we see them do the same in BONNIE SCOTLAND and MURDER CASE and a few other of their laugh fests . Does anyone know if these two comedy greats were obsessed with fishing in real life ?

THE LIVE GHOST also shows the duo are at their funniest when Stan plays the hysterical coward who sadly deludes himself if he goes running to Ollie he might able to do something which a big mistake since Ollie plays an arrogant and hypocritical coward lecturing Stan that there`s nothing be afraid of . The script telegraphs what the pay of is going to be ( Not to mention the title ) with Stan running around squeling EEEE - EEEE - EEEE , Ollie howling OOOOHHH - OOOOOOHHH - OOOOHHH and this reviewer going Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

The supporting cast of Long , Busch and Housman more or less play the parts that they do in all the other L&H shorts ( Again not a criticism ) so when all is said and done this is certainly one of the most typical short features with Stan and Ollie so is certainly worth watching

THE LIVE GHOST,out here in New York,is shown in conjunction with the annual Thankgiving showings of MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS---so I've pretty much memorized everything in it down to t he last comma.

Walter Long was saying his near-farewells,as only GOING BYE BYE and an overlooked bit in PICK A STAR(1937) remained in his work with Stan&Ollie.

The boys agree to help roughneck sea captain Long shanghai a crew;only to end up knocked out themselves and out at sea--with the men they abducted in an unforgiving mood.

Long is sensitive about people referring to his ship as "haunted" and growls that the next guy who says that "will get his head twisted around so when he's walking North he'll be looking South".

Their drunken shipmate Arthur Houseman falls into a vat of whitewash and Stan&Ollie end up the victims of the threat.

Mae Busch makes one of her last appearances with the boys,and Charlie Hall is cast against type as a roughneck seaman.

These days,the price of eggs would work against their shanghai-ing method.

And remember--the ocean is infatuated with sharks.

This Laurel & Hardy film makes great use of some their best regular supporting actors: Walter Long, Charlie Hall, Mae Busch and Arthur Housman. I don't know whether it gets enough often mentioned, but part of the hilarity of Stan's and Ollie's films are owed to these supporting actors too. For it is them who also become familiar to the viewer and therefore form an essential part of their humour in general. Knowing how tough guy Walter Long always is, you laugh twice as much at him than usual when you see that he does not care a bit when Stan hits his head with a pan. Another familiar laughing "bonus" is got from Charlie Hall's sadism and Housman plays again the drunk. Mae West's domina voice always guarantees you a freezing effect down at your stomach.

The film itself makes moderate use of the concepts laughter and fear. Hijacking crew into haunted ship is funny in itself too, but the Ghost that Stan & Ollie accidentally evoke crowns the whole show. This one definitely belongs into very essential Laurel & Hardy. It is a very pleasant viewing for both master and student.

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short. After helping a conniving captain kidnap seamen for his ship, Stan & Ollie end up shanghaied themselves. The trouble really starts, however, when the Boys accidentally `kill' one of their cabin mates. Dumping the body overboard, they are terrified to see THE LIVE GHOST stalking the decks.

Lots of laughs in this little film. Watching the Boys' reactions when they see the `ghost' is hilarious. That's Mae Busch as the captain's girlfriend.

When the L&H Fan Club "The Sons of the Desert" was formed in the early 1960's, Stan, who had sustained a crippling stroke, nevertheless gave his blessing to the formation of the club and supplied the motto for it, which I have repeated above. (Another of his witticisms which I like is "You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead").

Theo Robertson in his comment above wondered whether either of the boys were fishermen. I don't believe Hardy was but Laurel in his younger days was a keen big game fisherman and fished regularly off Catalina Island for swordfish or marlin. Catalina Island, Theo, is about an hour boat trip from Los Angeles, for your information. He loved the water and had his own boat in those days.

In 1962 I visited Stan at his apartment in the Oceana Hotel in Santa Monica. A wonderful experience and a fond memory for this writer. One question I asked him was about Walter Long, the villain of villains in many of their films. His reply was that surprisingly, Long was one of the mildest men he had ever known and absolutely would not hurt a fly. That came as a big surprise for me.