Olivier le huitième

Original title: Oliver the Eighth

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Keen to climb the social ladder by marrying a rich widow, Oliver finds the nerve to cheat on his partner Stanley. What he doesn't know is that her favorite hobby is murder--and it looks like... Read allKeen to climb the social ladder by marrying a rich widow, Oliver finds the nerve to cheat on his partner Stanley. What he doesn't know is that her favorite hobby is murder--and it looks like he's next. Who can save Oliver the Eighth?Keen to climb the social ladder by marrying a rich widow, Oliver finds the nerve to cheat on his partner Stanley. What he doesn't know is that her favorite hobby is murder--and it looks like he's next. Who can save Oliver the Eighth?

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

1.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Featured reviews

wishkah7

Another hilarious misadventure for Laurel and Hardy!

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!

9Hitchcoc

Oliver Proposes Matrimony

Stan and Ollie decide it's time to get married, especially since a rich widow is advertising for a husband. Stan writes a letter, but Ollie hides it under his hat so it never goes out. When they get to her mansion, Jitters, the butler, explains how there have been seven husbands already, all dead, all named Oliver. Of course, they end up trapped in the place and she is on the prowl with a very large knife. What follows is an effort to get out of there. Everything they can manage is used in the process. Stanley manages to screw things up time and time again. The ending is a little pat, but it doesn't matter because the whole thing is hilarious. Jack Barty as Jitters and Mae Busch as the grieving widow are some of the best of the supporting casts that have embraced these L & H films. Jitters is especially nutty with his magic tricks.

10alain-james

Masterful

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.

10Boba_Fett1138

Perhaps the most perfect Laurel & Hardy comical short.

I absolute adore this movie. It's quite a dark comical one but still features all of the typical humor and slapstick moments.

Finally the boys meet some persons who are even crazier than they are. Mae Busch as the widow and Jack Barty as Jitters are some real good crazy and scary persons. They give the boys a hard time and the movie does actually succeed in making the movie tense and unpredictable. Normally it aren't the supporting actors who make a Laurel & Hardy short to be a classic and comical one but this movie is truly an exception to that.

Honestly there isn't a thing that I dislike about this movie so that is why I regarded as the most perfect Laurel & Hardy short. A must-see!

10/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

10Ron Oliver

A Little Attempted Murder With Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy

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.

Trivia
Stan Laurel's actual brother Edward Jefferson (Teddy) died in a dentist's chair during the filming of 'Oliver the Eighth'. He went in to have some teeth extracted and died of heart failure after receiving the anesthetic. He was 33.

Goofs
When Stan is eating the "soup", he unbuttons some of his vest buttons, but in subsequent shots they are buttoned and unbuttoned.

Quotes
Stanley: [reading newspaper] Listen to this: "Wealthy young widow with large fortune wishes to communicate with congenial young man. Object: matrimony. Reply Box 204J."
Oliver: Probably some old crab with a face that would stop a clock! I wouldn't want to marry her no matter how much money she had.
Stanley: Well, I'd marry her.
Oliver: You would!
Stanley: Well, after all, beauty's only skin deep. I'd take some of the money and I'd have her face lifted. Then I could settle down and I wouldn't have to scrape chins any more - wouldn't have to work hard any more.
Oliver: Tell me that again.
Stanley: Huh?
Oliver: Let me hear that again.
Stanley: Well, if beauty was only knee--skin deep, I could take some of the money and I could have her skinned. Then she'd be able to look at a clock without having to work hard any more. Then we could settle down and I could scrape her chin and congenial, if-if I didn't have to work hard anymore.
Oliver: That's a good idea.

Alternate versions
There is also a colorized version.

Connections
Featured in Omnibus: Cuckoo: A Celebration of Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy (1974)

Soundtracks
I'm Sitting on Top of the World
(1925) (uncredited)
Music by Ray Henderson
Lyrics by Sam Lewis and Joe Young
Sung a cappella briefly by Oliver Hardy