Maison de tout repos

As we all know Stan Laurel does not do well in a crisis, especially those of his own making. Just a simple act of kindness visiting his good buddy Oliver Hardy in the hospital causes mayhem in the hospital and also out on the road.

By the way do any of you doubt the reason that Ollie is in the hospital in that contraption with a broken leg is because Stan did something to cause it?

Anyway the highlight of this is poor Ollie hung up with his leg still in the cast while Dr. Billy Gilbert is hanging out the high window at the same time. Poor befuddled Laurel can't figure out what to do.

William Austin playing his usual silly twit Englishman is Ollie's roommate and I have to say that the boys and Hal Roach were most generous giving Gilbert and Austin their share of laughs.

In the end a tranquilizer kicks in as Stan is driving Ollie home. What havoc is wrought.

One of their funniest short subjects.

I've probably seen this Laurel & Hardy short more than any other. I watched it with my dad in the early Fifties. I have to admit, I really felt for Oliver in this one. He is really in bad shape and his good buddy comes along and ruins it for him. From the beginning when Stanley brings him a gift of some hard boiled eggs and some nuts, it's all over. Stan causes so much trouble that they are both thrown out of the hospital. After several harrowing moments, Stan sits on a hypodermic needle that contains a sedative. Of course, he has to drive Oliver home. There is a great line when Oliver asks his friend why he didn't bring a box of candy. He says Ollie never paid him for the last one.

Stan and Ollie's best shorts are filled to the brim with accidents, destruction and disasters from the tiny to the large: 'Big Business' (1929; silent), 'Busy Bodies' (1932), 'The Music Box' (1932), 'Towed in a Hole' (1932), and 'Dirty Work' (1933). Innocent Stan unwittingly causes no end of anxiety, trouble, exasperation and pain for long suffering Ollie.

'County Hospital' is true to this wonderful formula for the first two thirds of the film. Stan visits Ollie in the hospital, and continually exasperates him with his little behavioral quirks and oddities. Then after the doctor comes in, Stan lifts the truss weight from the floor, and very quickly the doctor winds up hanging out the top story window while Ollie is being hung upside down from the ceiling by the cast on his leg, the doctor's clothes are ripped, and as Ollie falls, his bed collapses.

All the scenes in the hospital are vintage Laurel and Hardy; even though he does most of his acting immobile in bed, Ollie is Ollie! The film dies as soon as they leave the hospital, and there is a flat back projection careening car ride with Stan supposedly sleeping while driving that is simply not funny because it is so obvious the boys are spinning in a car in front of a screen. The weak ending shows them spinning around in an L-shaped car (which had wrapped itself around a pole).

My grandchildren enjoy watching it, but the ending detracts too much for this to be one of their top top bests. I give it a 7.

With Hardy laid up in hospital with a broken leg, Laurel decides to pay him a visit, brining with him a gift of nuts and hard boiled eggs. He finds a relaxed and worry free Hardy, however the chaos the unwitting Laurel unleashes unto an unprepared hospital threatens to change all that.

The feeling of being a bit forced prevents this short from being considered Laurel and Hardy at their best. An example of what I mean is evident in the first few moments, Laurel finding Hardy's room gives rise to a little confusion but Laurel overplays his normal/confused/normal expression switches and for no real reason. Likewise many of the jokes are things they know work, but have to force to fit. There are some funny bits that are both subtle (Laurel eating the egg) or physical (hanging out the window) or climactic (the drive home) and most of them are good but it doesn't feel as fresh and lively as it often has.

Laurel overplays but Hardy is as good as ever. He is given less to do than he should have been and the film is allowed to rest too heavily on Laurel, but both still do pretty well. Overall this is an enjoyable short but feels like they are were lacking ideas and were treading water a tad for this one. That said, Laurel and Hardy treading water is often still better than many modern comedians who struggle to have an output of 1 or 2 films a year, never mind L&H's output!

This is a very funny and watchable Laurel and Hardy short. Ollie has been injured and Stan, like a pal, comes to visit and cheer him up. However, from the minute he arrives, Stan creates havoc--driving the staff mad and torturing Ollie in the process. I particularly liked how his playing with the counterweight to Ollie's broken leg resulted in Ollie's doctor being launched out the window! As a result, Stan AND Ollie are ejected from the hospital. The final driving sequence is the low-point, as at times it looked VERY fake, but the final scene makes this screwup forgivable. This film is good fun and only a crusty old curmudgeon would dislike it.

By the way, I am rather shocked to say that there is a better hospital comedy starring Billy Gilbert (who was also in COUNTY HOSPITAL). NIFTY NURSES is a mostly forgotten musical comedy that frankly is head and shoulders above this Laurel & Hardy film. While I adore Stan and Ollie, this other film is the funniest hospital short I've seen--better than COUNTY HOSPITAL and the Three Stooges' MEN IN BLACK.