La maison de la peur

The Boys read that the heirs of Ebenezer Laurel should present themselves at his mansion for a reading of the will. Naturally, Mr. Hardy sees riches in front of his eyes, which he will share with Mr. Hardy. However, there is no will. It's a set-up by the police, in the form of perpetual dumb cop Fred Kelsey to trap the old man's murderer.

It's pretty elaborate for Laurel and Hardy, with an immense cast; they were quite capable of making a great short with just the two of them, and Charlie Hall to fight. Because of that, the cast takes up too much time, with too little of the boys being scared out of their.... well, they never had much in the way of wits before.

The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Laurel and Hardy have been out of work for nearly a decade when they read the paper and see that their luck might have changed. The relative of Laurel's has died and is leaving his estate of three million dollars. The two dimwits find themselves at the will reading and learn that the relative was actually murdered and they're going to have to spend the night.

THE LAUREL-HARDY MURDER CASE is really a spoof of those "old dark house" movies that were so popular during the silent era and would remain popular throughout the 1930's. This really is a terrific spoof as the two comic legends are in fine form and the screenplay perfectly pokes fun at some clichés like the creepy butler and the fainting woman. The first fifteen minutes mainly has dialogue jokes and some pretty good ones but it's the second half of the film that really comes to life as we get some terrific physical gags including a hilarious one dealing with Laurel sneaking back under the covers. Best dialogue:

Hardy: Is your uncle alive?

Laurel: Nope, he died of a broken neck. Fell through a trap door.

Hardy: Was he building a house?

Laurel: No, they were hanging him.

As a spoof of murder-mystery movies and plays this movie is great fun. It has all the clichés from that genre in it and perfectly spoofs those clichés and characters in this movie. The movie has the usual suspects in it and a police inspector (Fred Kelse) who tries to solve the case. Yes, like I said before, it perfectly spoofs some of the murder-mystery clichés. As a spoof it sill applies today.

The 'spooky' elements of the movie are also a welcome addition and provides the movie with some fun moments. Seeing the boys being chased by a white-sheet is a pretty funny sighting. Frank Austin is also perfectly spooky as the stereotype old butler.

Too bad that the pace of the movie isn't the best at times. The movie is dragging on for too long at times, which makes some of the jokes feel stretched out a bit too much.

It overall does have its moments, especially when it spoofs the murder-mystery genre but it's a bit too much dragging movie to find it a hilarious one, or a must-see for the Laurel & Hardy lovers among us.

7/10

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This is one of the most original films Laurel and Hardy made together. In so many of their wonderful shorts, there is a tendency to repeat the same themes again and again, so I was thrilled at this film. Now it isn't the funniest film they ever made, though it is better than average and provided some excellent laughs. The film begins with Stan and Ollie in their usual situation--they are hungry and don't have a job. However, Ollie sees a classified ad seeking to disburse a fortune to a man who Stan happens to be related to! However, just before they walk in to claim the fortune, the police announce that the uncle was murdered and everyone--including Stan and Ollie, are suspects. The rest of the film are the to be expected haunted house gags, but they are done very well. And the conclusion is also done excellently. The film is a nice departure and one I strongly recommend you see if you want a laugh.

A little longer and more slow-paced than most of their short features, "The Laurel & Hardy Murder Case" combines the duo's usual comedy gags with some old-fashioned gloomy-old-house atmosphere. When Stanley reads in the paper about the death of a rich man named Laurel, he and Ollie head to the house for the reading of the will, hoping that Stanley will inherit something. Instead, they are soon caught up in a murder mystery and a series of spooky/comic events. The attention paid to the ominous house and occupants slows things down, and makes this a lot less frantic than their best comedies, but it is still entertaining, and has a couple of hilarious sequences.