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When a wealthy widow advertises for a new husband both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy decide to compete for her hand, with hilarious and unexpected results.

Absolute classic Laurel & Hardy, with the comedians at the top of their game, shelling out the non-stop slapstick humour amidst the rather dark elements (I. E. touches upon insanity and murderess) and there are too many great jokes such as the 'pick a card' and the bit when Oliver is trying to nap while Laurel is keeping an eye for the murderess who wants to slit Oliver's throat. There's a nice twist at the end.

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short. Ollie agrees to marry a wealthy widow - not realizing she's a homicidal maniac. She has a curious habit of finding men named "Oliver" and then slitting their throats the night before the wedding. She's killed seven times already; now she plans on making OLIVER THE EIGHTH victim. Locked in her mansion of death, the Boys are in for a night of comic terror...

This little film is somewhat of a change of pace for the Boys, but it's very funny and they lampoon its Gothic mood quite nicely. Mae Busch is lots of fun as the widow.

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.

You can never go wrong when you throw in some mystery or a haunted house, especially with Laurel and Hardy. And don't forget legendary Mae Busch. A silly takeoff (in name only) to THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY THE EIGHTH, released the same year.

Hardy gets mixed up with murderess Mae, whose last seven husbands were all named "Oliver." Only he doesn't know it --YET. Jack Barty, who worked with Stan Laurel in silent films, appears as Mae's eccentric butler, playing with an invisible deck of cards? There's also a funny scene with the boys being served dinner with empty glasses and plates, pretending to enjoy a hearty meal. Their next stop is to sleep in a creepy bedroom --waiting for Mae to enter to cut Ollie's throat!

Best bit is a "technical" gag scene where Hardy has to keep Stan awake. It involves a burning candle, a brick and a string. Where Hardy got the brick remains a mystery. Ollie rolls the string around the brick and hooks it above the candle. Next, Stan has to keep moving the string -- or else the string will burn and the brick will hit him on the head. Get it? Of course, Ollie gets whacked. His facial expressions throughout this film are priceless, let alone his moans and groans after nearly being shot.

On a sad note, Stan's brother, nicknamed "Teddy," died suddenly during filming. Teddy worked briefly as a film actor in the 1920s, but gave it up. In a bizarre accident, he died of a heart attack at the dentists office while being given laughing gas.

This film was co-written by Jack Barty, who also added dialogue to Laurel and Hardy's previous film, SONS OF THE DESERT.

Remastered dvd box set, both in black and white and in color. Thanks much to METV Plus for running these golden oldies every day. Also MOVIES Net on Saturday mornings.