Laurel & Hardy Volume 13 - Sons of the Desert/Related Shorts [DVD]

Sons of the Desert is the best feature length L&H film you can buy.

Right from the beginning Stan has grave doubts about being a member of the 'Sons of the Desert' - "well the exhausted ruler said..." and is equally worried about whether his wife will let him attend the convention "if I didn't ask her I wouldn't know what she wanted me to do".

This film has many great set pieces, of which perhaps my favourite is their complete inability to get into the right house. They live next to each other in 2220 and 2222:

Stan attempts to get into Ollies house.

Stan shuts Ollie out of his own house.

Stan is locked out of his own house.

All this drives Mrs Hardy wild, and to make matters worse Stan starts eating the Hardy's Wax fruit - "thats the 3rd one of those thats gone missing this week" says Mrs H.

As with most L&H shorts or films the two guys are completely subservient to their wifes. Ollie believes he's runs things but in fact his wife does. Stan knows his wife wears the trousers, and consequently when the crockery is flying at the end its Ollie who suffers (as always)!

This is a consistently funny film, and whilst the two shorts are good, the reason to buy this DVD is the main black & white feature.

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Laurel and Hardy were undoubtedly the greatest comedy partnership to have lived. They spanned the silent and sound periods with effortless ease. Many of their contemporaries from the silent age failed to make the transition. Their comedy is simple but it also timeless. They still make me laugh after all these years, so that must surely be a good acid test that they have aged well.

Other reviewers have stated "Sons of the Desert" to be their very best feature length film, and I would agree with them absolutely. The Laurel and Hardy fan club did not call themselves "The Sons of the Desert" for no reason. The only work I felt to be better was their short "Below Zero", a virtuoso performance. But to compare such a short work with a feature is very unfair. But as I am unable to review that wonderful little work, I will pay my homage to it here.

The story of "Sons of the Desert" is a parable of what Sir Walter Scott wrote about so long ago, and has oft been quoted. "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive". Stan and Ollie would love to attend the "Sons of the desert" annual convention. Sadly their wives are not so enthused. (I can empathise here when I want to go on my climbing expeditions !!) So let the scheming begin. You know they are digging a big hole for themselves but you watch enraptured. A quack doctor who transpires to be a vet is hired to give a diagnosis that Ollie needs a long sea voyage as a curative. So a cruise to Hawaii is booked, or is it? (The song "Honolulu baby" features hilariously) The boys take themselves off to the convention where they have a great time and are caught frolicking on film. Meanwhile the ship they should have been on sinks in a typhoon with great loss of life. The wives are beside themselves with grief until in the cinema who should they see cavorting on the screen? Yes they are in big big trouble.

If I need a tonic to make me laugh this film always does the trick. It is still very much a fable for our times. Deceit can lead to big troubles. I enjoyed watching the colour restoration in the DVD. The quality of coloration these days is a lot better than it used to be. As a plus the DVD also comes with two of the boys shorts. I have watched many comedies and love "Bringing up Baby", "Some Like it hot" and "The Big Lebowski". But this is my own very personal favourite. I would urge you to buy this film at the giveaway prices offered at the time of this review. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I have. It is a rare treasure.

Laurel & Hardy Volume 13 - Sons of the Desert/Related Shorts [DVD] [1934]
an outstanding movie Sons of the Desert 1933 . amazon have the year date wrong on this movie Release Date:
29 December 1933 usa.
on this dvd set you have
Sons of the Desert 1933 (restored back and white version)
Sons of the Desert (computer colour version
we faw down 1928 (restored back and white silent comedy with music
their purple moment(1928)( restored back and white version
on the wrong trex (1936) (restored back and white version
all of this from the the great Grand Masters of Comedy . Mr.Oliver Norvell Hardy and Mr. Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson)