Les jambes au cou

If you're a Laurel and Hardy fan, you know that anything with Mae Busch is a howl. GOING BYE BYE is filled with gags and one liners, exceptionally directed by Charley Rogers. He may have just let he cameras roll and had the boys improvise their material, which was the key to their success.

Stan and Ollie's testimony have locked away tough guy Walter Long --for LIFE. Of course, Long declares somehow, someway he'll get out of prison and wrap their legs around their necks! The boys decide to get outta' town fast and advertise for a companion to pay expenses. Who else but Mae Busch --Long's gal pal? As can be expected, he crashes out of the big house and there's trouble ahead.

Lots of goofy stuff; Long is locked inside a trunk and the boys try to get him out --not knowing who he is. By the way, watch the room fall apart during an explosion. The production folks were very creative.

Interesting footnote, mentioned many times; Stan Laurel liked using Walter Long as a heavy, because --as he put it --he had no comedic ability. Best as a bad guy with NO smiles.

Mae Busch is a stylish dresser in this one, looking just fabulous.

This short is one of a handful that was colored for vhs back in the 1980s and 90s, but the old black and white prints have never lost their charm. Also remastered dvd and blu ray. Thanks to both METV and MOVIES Net for running these gems daily.

This is so very funny. Walter Long plays Butch, a murderer who Stan and Ollie have helped convicted. With that stern, ugly, threatening smirk, Butch tells them in court that he will escape, catch them, and tie their legs around their necks. He goes off to prison, but, of course, he escapes and the fun starts. The boys leave town but they need some financial aid and advertise for a travelling companion. It turns out to be Mae Bush, who is Butch's girlfriend. The arrive a her apartment shortly after Butch, who hides in a steamer trunk. The boys are take with Mae who is quite voluptuous in a 1930's kind of way. Butch realizes he can't get out of the trunk and much of the episode involves the duo trying to get him out, not realizing they are about to seal their fates. Tremendous character acting by Long and a really great plot.

This is one of the better Laurel & Hardy two reelers I have seen. The good thing with this short film is that it is not only entertaining and making you smile, the gags still work as good as they probably did back then. I laughed a lot with this short. Only the last five minutes are a little less funny, but those minutes are very original. The final gag belongs to the best I have seen in a Laurel & Hardy short.

The story shows us how Laurel & Hardy are responsible for the conviction of a criminal. The criminal tells them that when he comes out he will harm them very badly. Laurel & Hardy plan to leave town. They want to take a passenger to share expenses. A lady offers to go along and of course she knows the criminal who by that time has escaped.

The story is predictable, some of the gags are too, but they all work. Highly recommended.

The critic in me says that the entire film is structured for the sole purpose of the sight gag with which the film ends. But, OH, WHAT A SIGHT GAG!

I saw this the other night at a local arts club screening, but available nowhere else. Why isn't this (or for matter, their masterpiece "The Music Box") on video?

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.

Stan & Ollie are GOING BYE-BYE! Butch, a notoriously violent criminal has threatened them with great bodily harm for squealing on him. Wanting to get out of town fast, and not aware that Butch has escaped the police, the Boys arrange to travel with a shady lady to share expenses. Naturally, she turns out to be Butch's girlfriend and the hilarity begins when they all show up at her apartment...

A very funny little film - the slapstick `trunk sequence' is wonderful. That's Mae Busch as the girlfriend and Walter Long as Butch.