IMDb RATING
6.8/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
Two bumbling circus performers inadvertently help drive the circus into ruin and then end up in possession of a flea circus and an oversized chimp.Two bumbling circus performers inadvertently help drive the circus into ruin and then end up in possession of a flea circus and an oversized chimp.Two bumbling circus performers inadvertently help drive the circus into ruin and then end up in possession of a flea circus and an oversized chimp.
Bobby Burns
- Tenant
- (uncredited)
Baldwin Cooke
- Bit Part
- (uncredited)
Estelle Etterre
- Laid-off Circus Performer
- (uncredited)
James Finlayson
- Ringmaster
- (uncredited)
Bess Flowers
- Circus audience Member
- (uncredited)
Charles Gemora
- Ethel - the Chimp
- (uncredited)
Billy Gilbert
- Joe - the Landlord
- (uncredited)
Dorothy Granger
- Ethel - the Landlord's Wife
- (uncredited)
Beatrice Hagen
- Circus Performer
- (uncredited)
Harry Harvey
- Circus Worker
- (uncredited)
Jack Hill
- Circus Audience Member
- (uncredited)
Lois Laurel
- Girl in Audience
- (uncredited)
Dorothy Layton
- Laid-off Circus Performer
- (uncredited)
George Miller
- Circus Owner
- (uncredited)
William J. O'Brien
- Circus Owner
- (uncredited)
Dick Rush
- Circus Worker
- (uncredited)
Featured reviews
While not their best short, Laurel and Hardy provide some amusement in "The Chimp." Charles Gemora played Ethel, not a chimp, but a gorilla actually, as he did in several other films, such as "Murders in the Rue Morgue," "Swiss Miss," and "At the Circus." One reviewer writes that he "looks like a guy in a cheap ape costume and I HATE when movies put people in crappy ape costumes." Ironically, I am writing this the day after this country has yet another mass shooting in which 19 children and two teachers were killed. This reviewer used the word "hate" often in his reviews and it is terrible. Don't we have enough hate in this country without his need to use it repeatedly?
The boys find themselves inheriting a chimp named Ethel in this classic comedy short that features a wonderful dance sequence with the chimp Ethel, wearing a tutu.
Only true Laurel and Hardy addicts will appreciate this sub-standard short that has the boys doing their best to demolish a circus tent with explosive gun powder, after which STAN LAUREL is given a flea circus for a parting gift, and OLIVER HARDY, a chimp called Ethyl.
Naturally, when they decide to look for lodgings they get a hard time from landlord BILLY GILBERT who refuses to have them under his roof when he spies the chimp. Gilbert is already in a dither because his wife hasn't come home yet--his dear Ethyl.
The rest of the short has the boys getting into one sticky situation after another, but the laughs are meager and the obvious use of a man inside an ape costume takes a lot away from the gags. Funniest line has Stan sighting a loose lion on the prowl and Oliver asking him what's the matter. "I've seen MGM," is his straight answer.
But the slapstick happenings are not on par with the duo's best comedy shorts. This is strictly an early Laurel and Hardy featurette from Hal Roach that needed a much better script. At least BILLY GILBERT gets to do his customary energetic job as the irate husband who overhears Hardy telling the chimp, "Come to bed, Ethyl."
Good potential material, but it should have been a lot funnier.
Naturally, when they decide to look for lodgings they get a hard time from landlord BILLY GILBERT who refuses to have them under his roof when he spies the chimp. Gilbert is already in a dither because his wife hasn't come home yet--his dear Ethyl.
The rest of the short has the boys getting into one sticky situation after another, but the laughs are meager and the obvious use of a man inside an ape costume takes a lot away from the gags. Funniest line has Stan sighting a loose lion on the prowl and Oliver asking him what's the matter. "I've seen MGM," is his straight answer.
But the slapstick happenings are not on par with the duo's best comedy shorts. This is strictly an early Laurel and Hardy featurette from Hal Roach that needed a much better script. At least BILLY GILBERT gets to do his customary energetic job as the irate husband who overhears Hardy telling the chimp, "Come to bed, Ethyl."
Good potential material, but it should have been a lot funnier.
This is my all-time favorite L&H episode! Ollie and James Finlayson are my favorites. But what I don't like about this is Stan Laurel. He acts too whiny and emotional and for a comic genius he takes his role as a childishly innocent man way too far!
A brief synopsis: Stan and Ollie get laid off from the circus in which they were working, Stan gets a flea circus and Ollie gets a chimp named Ethyl. Along the way they encounter a frustrated landlord whose wife shares the same name as the chimp, and a lion on the loose.
The funniest part was when Ollie asked why Stan was so scared and Stan screamed, "I saw MGM"! When I heard that I laughed myself sick and almost fell off my chair! James Finlayson's role as the ringmaster in this was exceptionally awesome as was his other roles in L&H movies and episodes.
So, if any of you are L&H fans, please check this one out!
A brief synopsis: Stan and Ollie get laid off from the circus in which they were working, Stan gets a flea circus and Ollie gets a chimp named Ethyl. Along the way they encounter a frustrated landlord whose wife shares the same name as the chimp, and a lion on the loose.
The funniest part was when Ollie asked why Stan was so scared and Stan screamed, "I saw MGM"! When I heard that I laughed myself sick and almost fell off my chair! James Finlayson's role as the ringmaster in this was exceptionally awesome as was his other roles in L&H movies and episodes.
So, if any of you are L&H fans, please check this one out!
This is not amongst my favourites of the many Laurel and Hardy shorts I have seen, but it was a perfectly passable short subject.
James Finlayson as ever is a boon of a presence; making a brilliant foil to the pair. Laurel and Hardy are as wonderful as ever, though possibly a slight weariness is evident; the antics here being so very similar to many other of their shorts. What especially enervates this film are the early, possibly all too brief, sequences in the circus; to see, largely in atmospheric long shot, the great duo comically spoiling the planned circus gags, only to create new ones in their bungling, is a wonderful spectacle. The spatial atmosphere given by a visible audience - though amusingly small - is quite a refreshing dichotomy; the performance-within-a-performance air of this section is beautiful to watch.
Yes, things slip towards far more laboured chimp-related gags, but this is professional stuff; Laurel and Hardy executing the comedy finely. It does tend towards going through the motions, but, cripes, this is the funniest and most loved double act of all, on screen for our benefit. And thus, it's a film more laudable than so many.
Rating:- *** 1/2/*****
James Finlayson as ever is a boon of a presence; making a brilliant foil to the pair. Laurel and Hardy are as wonderful as ever, though possibly a slight weariness is evident; the antics here being so very similar to many other of their shorts. What especially enervates this film are the early, possibly all too brief, sequences in the circus; to see, largely in atmospheric long shot, the great duo comically spoiling the planned circus gags, only to create new ones in their bungling, is a wonderful spectacle. The spatial atmosphere given by a visible audience - though amusingly small - is quite a refreshing dichotomy; the performance-within-a-performance air of this section is beautiful to watch.
Yes, things slip towards far more laboured chimp-related gags, but this is professional stuff; Laurel and Hardy executing the comedy finely. It does tend towards going through the motions, but, cripes, this is the funniest and most loved double act of all, on screen for our benefit. And thus, it's a film more laudable than so many.
Rating:- *** 1/2/*****
Did you know
- TriviaLois Laurel, cast as an uncredited audience member in the circus, is Stan Laurel's real-life daughter.
- GoofsThe picture of "Ethel" the landlord is holding, and the actress portraying her are two different people.
- Quotes
Ringmaster: Ah-ha! Something for men only. Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom.
- Alternate versionsWhen re-released by Film Classics in the 1940s, the opening titles were reversed. Instead of going the right way: "Mr. Hardy's aesthetic nature thrilled at the beauties of circus life -- Mr. Laurel never got any further than the monkey cage", it was reversed and started with "Mr. Laurel never got...."
- ConnectionsFeatured in Omnibus: Cuckoo: A Celebration of Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy (1974)
- SoundtracksSobre las Olas (Over the Waves)
(1887) (uncredited)
Written by Juventino Rosas
Played for the Woman Standing on a Horse sequence
Details
- Runtime
- 25m
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content