I maestri di ballo

crazy storyline, disjointed scenes..but that never stopped them before.

they run a Dance Studio and the opening scenes are good: Hardy kicking up his heels in a beautifully lit sequence, Stan defying gravity doing his trademark "Pelican dance". their best scene in years involves Robert Mitchum and hood buddy sellin' 'em insurance or ELSE! too bad, and how depressing, though, to watch opportunity after opportunity go by..and here they are even given a cast! Margaret Dumont! Charles Rogers! Daphne Pollard! (the lady who played Hardy's wife in THICKER THAN WATER)...even the guy who later did the voice for Mr. Ed! newcomer/model Trudy Marshall is a-OK, too. why not have Dumont the owner of the studio, constantly confused and exasperated by the decidedly unmethodical Stan and Ollie? all L & H fans should watch this once in a while, despite the flaws.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's appeal, as has been said quite a number of times, has always been completely understandable. They had such great comic timing and memorable contrasting and distinct personalities. The chemistry was considered legendary, seeing them in their prime there is a very good reason for that. Their best material, both verbal and particularly physically, was amusing to hilarious, with quite a fair share of classics.

Unfortunately, Laurel and Hardy had a drastic decline in the post-Hal Roach period post-1940 (know that a few of the late 30s films were less than great but not to this extent). A period when Laurel and Hardy became underused, they and their material on the most part were tired, they were put in settings that they didn't gel in, the films seemed to forget what made Laurel and Hardy's prime period as great as it was, a lot of the verbal humour was dumb and trite, the supporting casts were variable and a few were too plot-heavy and the plots were far from great. Some of that can be seen in one of the lesser films from this period 'The Dancing Masters'. As one can see from my average/mixed feelings rating, it is not a terrible film but it could have been much better.

Laurel and Hardy are the best things about it. They have great comic timing that makes one remember what made them so great in their prime, they actually feel like leads instead of being underused and too sidelined amidst less interesting material, their personalities are interesting and entertaining and most importantly they are a lot of fun to watch. They also seem to be enjoying themselves and their chemistry sparkles. Their material here is also great fun, none of it classic but it amuses and it doesn't veer too much into silliness. Also liked that there is more emphasis on the physical comedy than them utterly trite and insultingly dumb one-liners heard in some of their other post-Hal Roach films. The locked safe, rhetorical angle and the hiding from Margaret Dumont scenes fare the best.

Dumont and the cameo from Robert Mitchum are the supporting cast standouts, the only ones who stood out for me. Some of the film is nicely photographed.

However, 'The Dancing Masters' is lacking elsewhere. The worst thing about it is the story, which is a muddled mess, with too much going on over-complicating the action and some of it adds nothing. The bus chase sequence, as well as looking particularly cheap, is utter illogical chaos.

Too much of the dialogue is trite and other than some of the photography 'The Dancing Masters' is one of the worst looking Laurel and Hardy films, not just from this period but throughout their filmography. Especially the editing, with the rollercoaster scene inducing nausea, and some blatantly obvious back projection in the bus chase. Other than Dumont and Mitchum, the rest of the supporting cast don't stand out in any way.

In conclusion, watchable but lacking in a lot of areas. 5/10 Bethany Cox

In a remarkable coincidence, I found out in the morning paper that today is the day Oliver Hardy died 50 years ago. That made me want to watch The Dancing Masters right away since I checked that out of the library last Sunday. Since this was one of Hardy's and partner Laurel's latter-day features they made for, in Stan's words, "those Fox people", there isn't much in the way of logic in the comic set pieces that are depicted here but for the most part the movie is pretty amusing with many laughs and smiles from me when the boys are by themselves or whenever they have someone new, like leading lady Trudy Marshall, participate in one of their routines. In fact, Ms. Marshall recounted to one L & H biographer how she told Stan and Ollie how she'd love to do comedy so they let her in the "Mixed Hats" routine in which she also incorporated plates. She became known as "One-Take Marshall" from that incident in her cherished memory! Also appearing, without credit, was Robert Mitchum in one of his early thug roles, here talking a little fast for his usual character. Also, Margaret Dumont, usual Marx Brothers foil, provides some amusing moments. Alas, the movie falls apart at the end with a really illogical bus chase that mixes obvious back projection scenes with obvious model scenes to uneven results. Stan's line at the end does partially make up for that. So while The Dancing Masters is not an L & H classic, it's certainly worth a look for die-hard fans of the boys. Rest in eternal peace, Mr. Hardy.

Though generally regarded as one of their weakest films, this has a fair quota of laughs. Stan's "dancing" at the beginning is amusing and Robert Mitchum has a good cameo "selling" the boys insurance. Best scene is where they try to hide from Margaret Dumont, eventually launching her husband into the swimming pool.

I love Laurel & Hardy movies. They're so darling! In The Dancing Masters, they're roommates and partners who own a dance studio. Ollie likes ogling the girls in his hula dance class, and Stannie dresses in drag as he teaches his ballet class. It's very funny, and all their classic gags are alive and well in this movie: the eye rolling, looking in the camera, crying and scratching his head. The pair is a tad older, but just as lovable as ever. They're the perfect blend of absurdity and relatability, making any one of their movies a perfect afternoon treat.

If you rent this charming comedy, be on the lookout for a very young Robert Mitchum. He's part of a gang who sells "protection" to different businesses, and while he only has two scenes in the movie, it's very cute to see him in his early days.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. There's a scene towards the end where Ollie goes on a rollercoaster and the camera loops up and down the tracks, and it will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"