Silent Films: pre-team 1921-1927 Laurel and Hardy Silents 1927 Laurel and Hardy Silents 1928 Laurel and Hardy Silents 1929 Laurel and Hardy sound films (alphabetical order): A-Haunting We Will Go Air Raid Wardens Another Fine Mess Any Old Port! Atoll K (aka Utopia) Babes In Toyland Beau Hunks Be Big! Below Zero Berth Marks The Big Noise Block-Heads Blotto The Bohemian Girl Bonnie Scotland Brats The Bullfighters Busy Bodies Chickens Come Home - The Chimp A Chump At Oxford Come Clean County Hospital The Dancing Masters The Devil's Brother aka Fra Diavolo Dirty Work The Fixer Uppers The Flying Deuces Fra Diavolo aka The Devil's Brother Going Bye-Bye! Great Guns Helpmates Hog Wild The Hoose-Gow Jitterbugs Laughing Gravy The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case The Live Ghost Me And My Pal Men O'War The Midnight Patrol The Music Box Night Owls Nothing But Trouble Oliver The Eighth One Good Turn Our Relations Our Wife Pack Up Your Troubles Pardon Us Perfect Day Saps At Sea Scram! Sons of the Desert Swiss Miss Their First Mistake Them Thar Hills They Go Boom! Thicker Than Water Tit For Tat Towed In A Hole Twice Two Unaccustomed As We Are Utopia (aka Atoll K) Way Out West Specials: Cameos Cartoons For Love Or Mummy Laurel and Hardy Memories "Stan"

Sons of the Desert Year: 1933 Story by: Frank Craven Directed by: William A. Seiter Duration: 68m DVD Availability: Try amazon (region 1)/sendit.com (region 2) Viewpoint: "Not pot. Pod-DUH." I feel almost obliged to write a review of Sons of the Desert, given that it inspired the name of the appreciation society founded in 1965. There's perhaps a case to be had that, as it features a lodge that holds conventions, its name was used for an irony-free title, rather than any great view of the picture itself. After all, an appreciation society entitled Way Out West would be meaningless. Nevertheless, Sons of the Desert has become passed down in lore as a Laurel and Hardy great, and arguably the biggest influence on dire 90s "Laurel and Hardy" revival movie For Love Or Mummy. For me personally, I'd never seen it as anything more than mediocre, and was amazed at how highly rated it is. Part of the problem is that I always remember it as a short, only to be constantly surprised that it lasts for over an hour. Yeah, Stan and Ollie were often guilty of stretching sparse material, but as this basically retreads their 1928 short We Faw Down (which lasted less than twenty minutes) then it gives some idea of how thin the plot is pulled. What's more, I don't particularly like the representation of Stan and Ollie as society men. Even though they're pulling the wool over their wives' eyes, having them cosying up to Charlie Chase's obnoxious character and wanting to belong defies their anarchic nature. Unlike Groucho, it seems they would belong to a club that would have them as a member, and they don't really do anything to sabotage this, either. So where's the joke? Well, that joke comes later, with a pay off that sees their wives catch them on film in Chicago. As a resolution Stan and Ollie hogging the camera is funny, but not worth waiting 49 minutes for. Notable lines include Stan's "I may not be king of my castle, but I certainly wouldn't allow my wife to wear any pants", which is one hundred times ruder in England than it is in America, something that would surely not be lost on Ulverston-born Stan. Yeah, any film that has Ollie's backside in a tub of boiling water can't be all bad, but atypically the boys are largely reactive foils to much of the comedy, rather than the central instigators. Watching them descend to second banana status for whole reels is a disagreeable sight, and the song in the middle has no real purpose, other than Stan and Ollie's hilarious reprise sometime later. In fairness to the film, another reason why I remember it as short is that, despite its thin storyline, it never drags, and Stan and Ollie eat up that hour length with aplomb. It is a decent movie, and one with plenty to smile about, but on a pound-for-pound basis then those laughs don't warrant a full six reels. A strong film that may be ruined for some by being so cruelly overrated.