weezeralfalfa Review of The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case

The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930)

Murder mystery becomes mostly a ghoulish, but humorus, fright fest

[7/10 · 16 November 2018]

If you hanker for a scary tale, with things that go bump in a rainy, windy, night, with a creepy old man with a candle roaming the dark halls , this is the right film. If you would prefer a dose of humor, at times, to accompany the fright, this is the right film. The first half of this 3 reel, 30 min. comedy short is mostly a none-too interesting preliminary for the shenanigans of the second half........According to the creepy butler(Frank Austin), when the detectives ordered that all those assembled in this house for the reading of wealthy Uncle Ebenezer's will, the boys got to sleep in the room where Ebenezer was murdered, which just magnified their already fearful minds. Thus, they tend to scare each other. Also, they hear some unexplained noises. One highlight occurs when a rope attached to a sheet-covered floor lamp becomes hooked on Stan, and as he walks around, it goes near Ollie, who panics, grabs onto the lamp, and carries it into the hall, and falls down the stairs, with Stan tumbling after. The detectives , at the bottom of the stairs are almost scared to death by the scene. While the boys are downstairs, a bat enters their room, and disappears under their sheet. When they get under the sheet, the bat tries to fly, scaring them. They are more scared when the bat rises, taking the entire sheet with it, so that it resembled a flying ghost. Again, they head for the hall, and tumble down the stairs........The butler, who seems to be in cahoots with a relative trying to qualify for the entire fortune, appears and says there is a phone call for Stan, in another room. But, the chief detective has his assistant take the call, instead. Soon is heard a scream, and the detective cannot be found. So, the chief detective goes in the room by himself, sits in the chair and picks up the phone. He too screams and cannot be found. Then, Stan and Ollie enter the room. Ollie says he had better try sitting in the chair and picking up the phone. The chair falls backwards down an opening in the floor, then springs back up, with Ollie screaming, but still present. Just then, the creepy relative who wants Stan dead so he can claim the fortune, enters to their back. He has a long knife, and is heading toward Ollie, perhaps confused as to which is Stan? Stan intercepts him before he strikes Ollie, and they struggle for the knife. Just then, Ollie awakens from his dream, and wrestles with Stan, until they fall off the pier into the water. I realize that making a tale a surprise dream at the end is a quick and simple way to end a film that has run out of time. But, in this case, it doesn't seem at all plausible. We kind of forgot about solving the murder mystery, unless we assume that the creepy relative(sorry, I don't know which actor) did it........This can be seen at YouTube, either in it's B&W form or the colorized form. Unlike the colorized versions of some other films in this series, this colorized film is well in focus.