Soup to Nuts

Well, folks, I dunno' . . . maybe I'm just a little nutty myself, but I really like this film. For the record, I also like the movie "Meet the Baron" and a couple of the Fox Laurel & Hardy movies; on the other hand I think "Dancing Lady" is very BORING, and I think "Swing Parade" is BEYOND boring and a terrible waste of talent, especially in the finale. So that's where I stand...

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The story moves along briskly with one colorful character popping up after another, with the jokes doggedly marching along. If you don't like one gag, you'll laugh at the next—well, smile anyway... Happily enough, there are indeed a number of Rube Goldberg's "inventions" on display throughout the film.

The Three Stooges appear suddenly in the first instant of the first live-action shot of the movie, and the whole scene is very funny. They sing and do the sand-bag routine (later reprised in the 1950s on the Ed Wynn Show. Here it is more logically framed and much better timed with a stronger ending). I find Ted Healey very charming and funny, too. His girlfriend Queenie (Frances McCoy) is perfect: darling and hilarious, and remains one of the great mysteries of film--absolutely nobody seems to know whatever happened to her!

There is actually quite a lot of Stooges, and they have as merry madcap a fire department you could please. If you think of the movie being in 3 parts, they are in two-thirds of the film.

The quality of the Fox 2005 reprinting is GREAT, both image and sound. Imagine: a 1930 movie that no one cared about, saved at the last minute and looking so good. OK, it's just not a "great" film, so 7 stars out of 10; but the restoration is 9.99 stars. (One curiosity is that the end music is quite long, but there is no picture!)

We should be so lucky to see the Laurel & Hardy movies again in such pristine condition. Hallmark should be shot.