Mestres de Baile

Up until Fox released these two three-disc sets of Laurel and Hardy's later films, I had only seen the three that had been previously available on video - and "The Dancing Masters" wasn't one of them. I have to say that as a life-long Laurel and Hardy fan I was very pleasantly surprised.

Even taking the considerable negatives into account: rock-bottom production values, chop-shop editing, and an incoherent "narrative," it's downright astonishing to behold this pair so effortlessly mining genuine laughs from such old and cast-away material.

From the "safe combination" routine near the opening to the "wet pants" bit with co-star Bob Bailey, I found this film to be a real treat - and I screened it with a friend who is not a big L&H fan - he loved it. It's the little things Stan and Ollie did - the gestures, the expressions, the glances - that made their style of comedy absolutely unique in film history. Like "The Bullfighters," my favorite among the L&H Fox films, this one has plenty of those moments, and has such a short running time that you can stick it in your player again right away and savor what you missed the first time around. I can't speak for the legions of other L&H fans, but I personally experienced a higher laugh count from this film than from many of their more minor Hal Roach shorts (sorry, Fox-haters).

The only thing I did not like or understand about "The Dancing Masters" was the print quality. As released in this two-volume DVD set, the other five Fox films look to have been pressed from the actual masters, thus providing superlative picture and sound quality. But, this film suffers from a grainy, scratchy picture that even at times grows blurry and somewhat undefined. And, there several jarring "pops" and a lot of low-volume crackling on the soundtrack. Is there anyone out there who knows why Fox couldn't find a better print for release with this otherwise outstanding set?

I just can't see for the life of me why these enjoyable latter Fox movies have gotten such a bad rap all these years, as they actually hold up well now and I think they've suddenly become appreciated in a new light with the advent of new superior-looking DVD releases. THE DANCING MASTERS has a bunch of things going on all over the place and the plot is not very focused. Laurel and Hardy are only dance instructors for the first 5 minutes, and then that's that as they get involved with a young man, his girl, and an invisible ray invention. Meandering plot lines don't matter in the least because we're here to laugh at Stan and Ollie, and everything they do in this one is pretty funny. They're on screen a lot and this is a joy. Look out for a young Robert Mitchum (who's uncredited early on in a scene). *** out of ****

It's been remarked by some critics that Laurel and Hardy on the screen played it gay. I think most are reading too much into that, but in the case of The Dancing Masters this might be the exception.

Meet Stan And Ollie proprietors of a dance studio and seeing them at the beginning in costume, especially Stanley in ballerina drag might just make you wonder. It was quite a treat to see them as dance instructors especially Ollie. For such a big guy he moved pretty good.

They've got themselves in a situation. Already owing a lot of back rent to landlord Matt Briggs who has only been staved off from throwing the boys out by wife Margaret Dumont and daughter Trudy Marshall. Stan and Ollie get intimidated into buying insurance from some shady characters. The old protection racket with a veneer of legitimacy.

They are also guardians to Marshall and her boyfriend Robert Bailey who apparently years ahead of his time has perfected laser technology. The invention works, but in Stan and Ollie's hands only too well.

Although not up to the standards of their work with Hal Roach, Stan and Ollie do recapture some of the magic of those previous films. Best scenes are an auction where Ollie is suckered into buying some useless junk and the climax on a runaway bus. That final scene is more like an Abbott&Costello sequence, but it works for Laurel&Hardy.

Allan 'Rocky' Lane plays a favorite of Briggs whom he'd like to match up with his daughter. And Robert Mitchum plays one of the 'insurance' salesmen. Speaking of Lane, Briggs does a rather unconvincing 180 degree turn in regard to Lane and Bailey for the hand of his daughter. That does weaken the film somewhat.

Still die-hard fans of Stan and Ollie should like The Dancing Masters.

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.

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