Sons of the Desert (1933) User Reviews

A Good Start To Check Out The Boys

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 10 August 2006]

There are a lot of funny scenes squeezed into one of the thinest "plots" you'll ever see in a story. Our heroes - Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy - simply want to go to the annual convention of their group - "The Sons Of The Desert" and want their wives' approval to make the trip. As it turns out, they go anyway and, well, it's one wild scene after another.

Along the way, we see all the trademarks of these two famous comedians: Laurel scratching his head, crying when in trouble, having the better heart of the two and providing some clever slapstick and dialog. Hardy does his normal routine, too, with the dirty looks, the scheming and the pratfalls.

The women are the bosses and Hardy's wife is the toughest of the two, throwing plates at Olllie's head! These are tough old bags.

Oddly enough, on the second viewing of this film I found a bit slow going, which I didn't find the first time. Charley Chase, a famous silent comedian, is also in the film as are a few things you wouldn't associate with Laurel & Hardy: some sexual stuff! Really! There is a dance number in the middle of the film where I swear I saw a see-through blouse on the main dancer. Also, there was a play- on-words here about some woman "who likes to pump the organ." Well, this film was made a year or so before the Hays' Code went into effect.

At any rate, if you have never seen the famous duo, this is a good place to start.

Truth or Consequences

[lugonian · 8/10 · 8 May 2007]

SONS OF THE DESERT (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1933), a Hal Roach feature presentation directed by William A. Seiter, starring the comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, is not a foreign legion story set in the Sahara desert as the title might imply, but a domestic comedy with "Sons of the Desert" the name of a fraternity lodge brothers organization where Stan and Ollie are members, Oasis 13, Los Angeles, California.

As the story goes, Stan and Ollie (Laurel and Hardy), best friends ("two peas in a pod") and next door neighbors, both married (with their front doors reading "Mr. and Mrs. Stan Laurel" and "Oliver Hardy and Wife"), are introduced as late arrivals to the "Sons of the Desert" fraternity meeting where the exhausted ruler announces the club's 87th annual convention to take place in Chicago, where all members are expected to attend. After the swearing-in ceremony and singing of "We Are the Sons of the Desert," guilt-ridden Stanley tells Ollie he's afraid to ask his wife, Betty, if he could go. Oliver, strong-willed on the outside, fearfully henpecked on the inside, insists Stanley let Betty know that he's "king of his castle." Easier said than done considering Mrs. Laurel (Dorothy Christie) is an avid duck hunter who never misses her target with her rifle. As for Oliver's spouse, Lottie (Mae Busch), whom he affectionately calls "sugar," she's caring to her husband's needs, but at the same time, is quick-tempered and domineering. After learning about the convention, she makes it clear to Oliver that she has her heart set on going to the mountains and is not permitted to attend. Since Betty has granted Stanley permission to go, Oliver comes up with a scheme pretending to have a nervous breakdown, and with Stanley's help, hires an animal doctor, Horace Merrick (Lucien Littlefield) to make a house call, examine Ollie (like a dog) and suggest an ocean voyage rest cure to Honolulu. Since Lottie doesn't like the ocean and claims to be a poor sailor, it is suggested Stan "accompany" him. The plan works, and the boys go to the convention, having the time of their lives. They even get to meet up with a loud-mouth club member named Charlie Chase, who turns out to be Mrs. Hardy's long-lost brother. On the very day the boys are to return home, the wives receive news that the Honolulu steamship has sunk. Unable to acquire the names of the survivors, the girls wait it out by attending a picture show at a local theater. While there, they watch a newsreel presentation of the "Sons of the Desert" convention with Stan and Ollie in full view marching in the parade, mugging their faces into the camera. How will the boys be able to explain this now that the wives are fully aware they've been tricked? With this being a favorite among Laurel and Hardy devotees, it seems natural the film's title be adopted for the Laurel and Hardy fan club. Movies such as this were probably an inspiration to future TV shows, particularly "The Honeymooners" starring Jackie Gleason (fat) and Art Carney (skinny) as Laurel and Hardy counter-parts. With numerous battle of the sexes comedies featuring henpecked husbands being common place either in short subjects or feature length films, even when knowing how this will all turn out, viewers familiar with this formula will still want to see the results, and find out whether the boys will fess up to the truth or face the consequences from their wives. As with Gleason and Carney caricatures in "The Honeymooners," the overweight is over confident, full of ideas that backfires on him, and married to a woman who's one step ahead of him, while Laurel, the thin one with a cry of a child, is weak yet sensible, and highly influenced by his friend, married to a loving spouse who knows the wrong he does is not of his own choosing. While deceiving and lying are never solutions to anything, Stan sums it up best with his own philosophy, "Honesty is the best politics."

The current success of SONS OF THE DESERT relies on its fine script, witty dialogue and clever gags, sometimes violent, thrown in. Mae Busch as Hardy's wife is as fine casting as Kathleen Howard is for W.C. Fields in three notable films. Busch's Lottie has a vicious laugh (HA!) added to her hot temper, leading to the result of smashing a vase over her husband's head and everything else that goes with it. While spouse abuse doesn't wear well with today's society as comedy, this was common practice with the Laurel and Hardy formula. Dorothy Christy as Mrs. Laurel, is charming, but makes herself clear at one point with her stern sounding voice in telling Lottie, "Stanley would never lie to me. I'd hate to think of what might happen, if he, ev-err DID!" With many classic scenes too numerous to mention, the film does take time for a brief musical number, "Honolulu Baby" sung by a male vocalist, with overhead camera shot of dancing Hawaiian girls doing formations in the Busby Berkeley tradition.

Distributed on video cassette from various companies during the early days of home video (1980s), SONS OF THE DESERT played on various cable networks throughout the years: The Comedy Channel (late 1980s) , American Movie Classics (1994-96) and finally Turner Classic Movies (where it premiered April 1st, 2005). It continues to be a perennial favorite Laurel and Hardy film. In spite of its age, the film still holds up today, and at 67 minutes, plays like an extended comedy short. If not their best comedy, SONS OF THE DESERT definitely ranks their best in the domestic sense. (***)

Laurel & Hardy's Best

[JoeytheBrit · 9/10 · 28 August 2009]

Arguably the funniest of Laurel and Hardy's feature-length movies, Sons of the Desert is simply crammed with gags, most of which are as funny as anything you're likely to see from 30s Hollywood. Much has been written about why the advent of sound spelled the beginning of the end for such giants of the silent comedy as Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd – and, to an extent, Charles Chaplin, who didn't make a sound film until 1941 and whose output came to a near standstill once sound was established. There seemed to be no place for the physical comedy of the greats, and they seemed incapable of using words to win laughs. The likes of the Marx Brothers and Eddie Cantor were an entirely different breed of comedian from those who had reigned just a few years before their rise, and the plot was suddenly more important than the physical antics on-screen.

And yet, there were Laurel & Hardy, already a successful double act in silent days, effortlessly and seamlessly gliding into the world of sound with perfect voices for their characters and builds. They possessed none of the physical brilliance of Keaton or the graceful dexterity of Chaplin or Lloyd but they had something indefinable that left them unscathed while all about them were falling by the wayside.

Perhaps the key to their success was the fact that they combined both verbal and physical dexterity. Stan can get laughs both times that he mistakenly calls the Sons of the Desert's Exalted Leader their 'exhausted' leader while big Ollie can make tripping over a case look like child's play (have a try at it sometime and see how convincing you feel you were…). Laurel & Hardy also play characters who aren't too bright, which somehow made them more lovable than Chaplin's tramp and Lloyd's go-getting spectacles character. Sons of the Desert plays on the fact that Stan and Ollie aren't as smart as they try to be – and are definitely no match for their formidable wives. They hatch a plan to enable them to attend the Sons of the Desert convention in Chicago by pretending to go to Honolulu for Ollie's health while their wives go hunting bear in the mountains. With typical bad luck, the liner they would have caught home from Honolulu sinks in a storm and the boys have to hide in their own attic so that the wives don't catch on. Of course, even this simple ruse goes wrong and they find themselves falling into both a barrel full of water and the waiting arms of the law…

The laughs come thick and fast in Sons of the Desert, interrupted only by Honolulu Baby, a musical number featuring the rare sight of a belly dancer with no belly button.

Off To A Convention With Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 10 June 2000]

Ollie wants to attend the annual convention of THE SONS OF THE DESERT in Chicago & have lodge brother Stan go with him. Their wives, however, have other plans. From such tiny acorns of humor do mighty oaks of hilarity grow...

This is a wonderfully funny film, with the Boys at their very best. Watch Stan's face as he eats the wax apple, or Ollie as he attempts to stand-up to his formidable spouse. The Sons themselves are a spoof of every fraternal organization that's ever taken itself too seriously.

Hilarious Charley Chase is the epitome of every obnoxious conventioneer you've ever tried to avoid. Mae Busch & Dorothy Christy are good fun as the Boys' wives, while Lucien Littlefield scores as a veterinarian called in to doctor Ollie.

Extra-sharp movie mavens will spot Charlie Hall as one of the waiters at the beginning of the 'Honolulu Baby' sequence; they will also recognize the voice of Billy Gilbert as the steamship official giving the announcement about the shipwreck survivors.

The most pleasant comedy

[AaronHR1981 · 10/10 · 10 October 2001]

It's really the only good full-length Laurel & Hardy movie that isn't distracted by a sub-plot, therefore an interesting story develops, and we get to see more of Laurel & Hardy. This movie more than any other just lets us laugh at the two characters we love best: Stan and Ollie. We see them as kids, sneaking around to a juvenile convention to escape the clutches of their motherly, domineering wives. There are some great sequences, and some truly hilarious moments. Stan is especially at his best, and the sequence where Ollie is sick is classic. "Why did you get a veterinarian?" "I didn't think his religion would make any difference."

A must for any Laurel & Hardy fan, and indeed a must for everyone who enjoys an utterly pleasant experience and a truly divine comedy.

Tee hee

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 7/10 · 24 October 2005]

Stan and Ollie are part of a Freemason's lodge and take an oath to go to their annual convention in Chicago. No one has ever broken this oath in the zillion year history of the Sons of the Desert Lodge so they'd better now screw up.

Only Stan and Ollie are both dominated by their wives who won't allow them to do anything with-out strict approval first. So they concoct a plan that involves pretending to go to Hawaii for a relaxing cruise but really going off to the windy city.

Too bad the ship sinks on the way their and they have fake being rescued (much quicker than everyone else) when they come back from the convention. Loads of hectic hiding and digging out of deep trouble follow.

Much funnier than I've made it sound. Honest!

The boys go to a convention while wives think they're in Hawaii

[cove3 · 10/10 · 2 April 2005]

I love this movie. I was reduced to tears the first time I saw it and am reduced to tears every time I've seen it in the 50 years since. Talk about a movie holding up over 70 years. To my mind, it's the Citizen Kane of comedy. Everything about it is pitch perfect. To watch the boys as they sink deeper and deeper into absurdity in explaining their arrival back ahead of the rescue ship is a marvel to watch. There are so many subtle, nonsensical and memorable moments that stay in the mind years later one almost doesn't know where to start. The solemn dark lighting of the opening scene spoofing fraternal organizations, eating the wax fruit, the range of facial expressions of the wives throughout, the shot of the boys from the back sitting facing the fireplace as Stan disses his wife, Stan's wife in hunting regalia returning shotgun in arm carrying ducks, Ollie flirting on the phone not realizing it's his wife he's talking to, the stream of consciousness dialog in the attic, and on and on and on. A subtlety perhaps missed by many is the wonderful song and dance number at the night club....a simply wonderful lampoon to perfection of crooner Dick Powell and spoof of Busby Berkeley with those clunky but charming Hula dancers, struggling in a valiant but ultimately hopeless attempt to dance, fanning out to the camera and culminating in that marvelous overhead shot near the close. Just great. I could write a book on this movie, but I'll just suggest to viewers to get William K. Everson's book on the films of Laurel & Hardy and read what one of the great critics has to say about this gem.

Amusing Feature With Some Good Material

[Snow Leopard · 21 September 2004]

It's not easy to keep the Laurel and Hardy brand of humor going for a full-length feature, but here they accomplish it pretty well. Although the premise would have been tailor-made for one of their two-reelers, they successfully stretch it out into over an hour's worth of material, providing plenty of laughs and using some clever ideas.

The story has Stanley and Oliver as two members of the "Sons of the Desert", who are preparing for their national convention. This gets the two into difficulty with their wives, and from there things build up into the kinds of predicaments that are familiar from their shorter features. What's rather impressive is how well they keep things going for so long. There's nothing that's forced or pointless, and the pacing is generally just right. As the wives, Mae Busch and Dorothy Christy have relatively easy roles, but they (and also Charley Chase) have a few good moments.

Anyone who enjoys Laurel and Hardy's shorter features will probably also joining the "Sons of the Desert" in this amusing movie.

Amusing comedy gets better after a slow start...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 15 March 2008]

LAUREL & HARDY are next door neighbors (married to DOROTHY CHRISTY and MAE BUSCH, respectively), both strong-minded women who remind me of the "Alice Kramden" character on "The Honeymooners". Neither one wants their hubby to go to a Chicago convention of The Sons of the Desert, so the boys have to fake an excuse in order to bamboozle their wives into thinking Oliver is following his doctor's orders to get a restful vacation in Honolulu.

At the convention, it's a hoot to see dancing girls in Hawaian costumes (beefy and overweight by today's anorexic standards) while a slim male singer/dancer renders "Honolulu Baby" in a tenor voice. CHARLEY CHASE has a field day playing practical jokes on the boys, but it's the return home part of the story that really is the set-up for the best gags. In fact, it's the last twenty-five minutes that puts the film over the top as one of the best Laurel & Hardy features.

Written by Frank Craven (the film actor, who also contributed to several screenplays) and directed by George A. Seiter, it's obviously the forerunner of many situation comedies about quarreling husbands and wives trying to outsmart each other.

Stan is surprisingly funny when given a long, wordy sentence to say, and Oliver's facial reactions (especially when he fixes his gaze on the camera as if to say, 'Can you believe this?'), are priceless.

Lots of fun for fans of the comedians.

as good as you'll find Laurel and Hardy flick

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 28 June 2005]

When you see this film, you are immediately struck by how familiar the plot is. Stan and Ollie want to slip past their wives and go to a convention for their local lodge. The elaborate way they devise in order to go and the subsequent discovery of their wives was repeated on both the Honeymooners and the Flintstones--and copied, though not quite as directly, in MANY sitcoms over the years. It's all here folks BUT it's funnier and fresher because it's the original.

The most glowing endorsement I know of was my wife's reaction to the movie. She generally HATES all the old comedies (not just Laurel and Hardy, but Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, W. C. Fields, etc.) but laughed herself silly watching the film. She later denied it was THAT funny, but her belly laughs were a dead giveaway!

L & H trademarks

[ALauff · 7/10 · 3 October 2007]

Although this is considered Laurel and Hardy's greatest feature, the comic promise of their clandestine getaway isn't fulfilled until the boys return from Chicago and have to convince their wives that they're survivors of a shipwreck. Stan and Ollie were clearly at their expressive peaks, with Laurel's sudden crying fits, malapropism, and head-scratching proving hilarious once their ruse is up, and Hardy's trademark, dainty finger wave and pedantic diction coming across as an effortless personality quirk. My favorite moment is Stanley's sudden burst of articulate speech in the attic—Oliver's wide-eyed surprise and put-out gaze into the camera is priceless. In fact, the last 20–25 minutes are best-ever material, but it isn't as compelling for its entire length as Way Out West or their best shorts, such as Tit for Tat and The Music Box.

What has Mohammad got to do with my wife?

[krorie · 10/10 · 9 February 2006]

This has got to be one of the funniest movies ever made by Hollywood. The only other that comes close is Laurel and Hardy's "Way Out West." No other comedy team in the history of show business had the perfect comic timing of Stan and Oliver, not even the inimitable teams of Abbott and Costello or Martin and Lewis. Stan and Oliver had appeared separately in several films before they were teamed. Although they were both multi-talented (Oliver was one of the best singers around) and individually funny, together they broke all the comedic barriers. No such chemistry has existed between two entertainers before or since. Mel Brooks said it best, "Dying is easy. Comedy, that's difficult."

This time around the boys attempt to slip away from their domineering wives (Only Stan would choose a mate that was one of the best duck hunters around and thus a crack shot with a gun) to attend a convention of the illustrious "Sons of the Desert" in Chicago to hear the "exhausted" ruler speak, as Stan calls him. Oliver feigns illness, getting Stan to bring a fake doctor to advise a sea cruise to Honululu. Only Stan could make opening a door to exit a room excruciatingly funny. As usual Stan bungles it all and gets a Veternerian instead who just happens to bring his dogs along on the house call. The ruse works after a few hilarious scenes involved Oliver and the tub of hot water in which his feet are soaking. The boys ultimately end up in Chicago. The boat to Hawaii sinks and with the sinking of the ship, the boys' fabrication also fills with water.

As good as Stan and Oliver were, Charlie Chase, an almost forgotten genius of slapstick, nearly steals the show from the boys as a practical joker who just happens to have a sister who lives at the same address as Oliver Hardy lives. Chase was more than a match for the two and their scenes together represent the apex of their careers.

Stan and Ollie were not just gifted visual comics, their repartee with each other was exemplary. The lines though supposedly written by others would not have the same humorous effect if spoken by anyone else. I'm sure much of the dialog was added to or ad-libbed by the team. Stan tries to rationalize the situation, "Well if she didn't go to the mountains, then Mohammad would have to come here." Ollie jumps right in, "What has Mohammad got to do with my wife?" To read more of the brilliant lines, note IMDb's quotes taken from "Sons of the Desert."

If you enjoy "Sons of the Desert," by all means watch "Way Out West." The two represent Laurel and Hardy at their best. There are several Laurel and Hardy shorts that come close to matching the two feature length features, especially the Academy award winning "The Music Box."

Entertaining Feature From L&H.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 5 July 2010]

Honolulu baby, Where'd you get those eyes?

It's one of their better feature-length efforts. The plot outline is familiar enough. Laurel and Hardy live next door to one another and both are married to domineering wives. L&H belong to an organization, The Sons of the Desert, that is holding its national convention in Chicago, but Hardy's wife is intent on taking him along on a vacation to the mountains. They contrive to convince the wives that Hardy is ill and must spend some time in Honolulu, with Laurel as his companion.

Instead of going to Hawaii, L&H go to the convention, leaving their wives at home. They have a riotous good time in Chicago, drinking in night clubs, playing practical jokes, prancing along in a parade. Meanwhile the wives ponder the situation. Could the boys, somehow, have been up to something. Laurel's wife looks straight into the camera and declares in a steely voice, "Stan would never lie to me. I hate to think of what might happen -- if he ever did." The two wives discover that the ship on which their husbands are returning has sunk in a typhoon. They're frantic with worry. Then, in a newsreel, they watch a film of the convention in Chicago. There on the screen are Laurel and Hardy, making faces, tipping their hats, blowing kisses at the camera, dancing joyously in the streets.

Some of the monkey business is less funny than the rest. Laurel is so stupid in a childlike way that he can't tell his own doorway from that of his neighbor. The childishness extends to the acting. Laurel breaks into his familiar cries when he finally confesses. Hardy appears to mask his terror by running his chubby fingers nervously over the table top, as if it were a piano.

It's one of their best.

Much-Loved Laurel & Hardy Comic Masterpiece Of Marital Bliss

[ShootingShark · 5/10 · 21 August 2005]

Stan and Ollie pledge a solemn oath to their masonic brotherhood (the Sons Of The Desert) to attend the annual conference in Chicago, but Ollie's wife won't let him go. They hatch a harebrained scheme to pretend he is ill and must take a sea-voyage to Honolulu to recuperate as a cover-story, but disaster awaits ...

This is arguably Laurel & Hardy's best and most famous film (though Babes In Toyland and Way Out West are also sensational), a tremendous example of their combined slapstick and character-comedy style. Like the best farce, the progressively more ridiculous situations are absurd, but the path by which they are arrived at has a wonderful logic to it. It's stuffed full of funny moments, most of which are just Laurel's bewilderingly absent-minded nuances and Hardy's exasperated annoyance, but the last reel especially, when the ruse is discovered, is simply hilarious. Produced by the great Hal Roach; Busch is fantastic as Hardy's shrill crockery-smashing wife. Seventy years later, it's sometimes hard to see why these films were so astonishingly popular, but there wasn't much to laugh about in 1933, and this film brightened millions of lives.

I'd give it an 11

[Andy44 · 10/10 · 6 June 2006]

Almost perfect! The finish isn't up to the rest of the movie, but the absolutely hilarious beginning and middle make it one of the funniest movies ever.

Here are Stan and Ollie at their peak. Many of their trademark gags and takes appear, easily woven into the story, perfectly timed and crafted with comic panache.

The plot- henpecked husbands sneaking off for revelry- is now rather obsolete, but that doesn't diminish the clever narrative movement. Putting Charley Chase into a small role enhanced it, and the wives were very well played.

I don't rate many movies a 10, but one that gives pleasure over and over and over deserves it.

One of the greatest pictures L&H ever made

[Libretio · 10/10 · 18 March 2005]

SONS OF THE DESERT

Aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white)

Stan 'n' Ollie attend a convention in Chicago against the wishes of their domineering wives (Mae Busch and Dorothy Christy). Unfortunately, truth will out...

William Seiter's magnificent film ranks alongside WAY OUT WEST (1937) as the finest example of L&H's craft, a glorious concoction in which every scene, every bit of business, glows with joyous absurdity. Basically an expanded remake of the short film WE FAW DOWN (1928), "Sons..." is a riot of comic invention, from L&H's mirthful entrance, to their encounter with obnoxious colleague Charley Chase at the 'Sons of the Desert' convention, to a climactic sequence in which The Boys are forced to justify themselves to their outraged wives (including Busch, never better as Ollie's bad-tempered spouse!). A genuine comedy masterpiece. Originally released in the UK as FRATERNALLY YOURS.

A must see

[jcgreg · 2 August 1999]

I could watch this film at least once a day. Rich in sight gags and double takes. The Boys at their very BEST. It is a shame that the younger computer/films in color generation does not have a real appreciation for the Boys. My favorite scene is the floor show at the night club. Note the third rate chorus line, in particular the cutie with the special moves. I have never seen a group so bad, but they are charming.makes you want to sing and dance along with them. Also Ollie reading the newspaper story about the shipwreck . instant panic by Stany. Watch this scene in slow motion on your vcr to get a classic Stanny moment. Also, cannot leave out the news reel scene in the movie theatre. Loads and loads of fun. In fact, I am going to look for my copy now. Great Fun when you are having a bad day.

Strong Start, Then Gets Weak

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 12 March 2016]

When Stan and Ollie trick their wives into thinking that they are taking a medicinal cruise while they're actually going to a convention, the wives find out the truth the hard way.

This is not my favorite Laurel and Hardy. I am now beginning to think that their shtick works best in smaller doses, maybe 25 or 30 minutes. The first half of this film is really good, then it begins to sag with only a few parts really attempting to redeem it. The gag is pretty simple and does not require a full hour.

That being said, I do appreciate the influence this film has had on others. As others have pointed out, it seems to have been directly lifted for a Flintstones episode. (And with the Flintstones being more in the 25-minute range, it is perhaps more effective.)

This is indeed the greatest comedy of all time

[andy stew · 10/10 · 20 July 2001]

Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy, the two greatest laughter-makers ever to grace stage and screen (as I'm sure millions will agree) appear here in their finest and funniest feature film. This film is so full of masterful strokes of comedy that its warmth and humour will never fail to touch those who watch it - much the same as this beloved duo. I would speak for hours on this masterpiece (why it is such perfect comedy from beginning to end, in its structure, characterisation, performances, direction, editing, and so on; why it is so successful in encapsulating the fundamental innocence, craft and appeal of the greatest comedy team of all time; why it means so much to Laurel & Hardy admirers, and why it should mean so much to everyone who has ever experienced any sort of humour), if I could. But I can't. So I won't.

All I ask you to do is to watch this and relish Laurel & Hardy's timeless magic.

Mr Laurel & Mr Hardy, the laughter you've given to myself and countless others will never be replicated or surpassed, and is eternally appreciated.

And to Stan: Neither do I too. Isn't that nice?

OK but I've Laughed harder on other L&H movies

[djonin · 7/10 · 14 June 2000]

I got a little bored on this one, and I don't think it is their best work. Anything they've done is better than "Utopia" but this is not too much better. I can say I cried, because of my Love for L&H I bought this movie "sight unseen" and payed full price and I was very disappointed.

The Tell Tale Newsreel

[bkoganbing · 10/10 · 25 January 2011]

Most aficionados of Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy seem to rate Sons Of The Desert as their best feature film. I would be hard put to disagree and I find this the most flawless of their comedies, taking full advantage of the characters that Stan and Ollie have created and what movie fans have come to expect from them.

Although for the life of me I can't figure out why Dorothy Christy and Mae Busch as the wives of Stan and Ollie respectively would rather their husbands vacation in Hawaii together as opposed to going to Chicago for their Lodge Convention. It doesn't make rational sense if the idea is that they're ignoring their wives. But I suppose in their world they just hated that Sons Of The Desert Lodge so much that even a vacation in Hawaii with just Stan and Ollie is preferable. And the fact that Ollie preferred Stan's company to Mrs. Hardy says volumes in and of itself.

So the boys decide to say they were going to Hawaii, but two things happen. The ocean liner sinks that was supposed to take Stan and Ollie to Hawaii and the wives are in a panic. But not for long as the wives decide to kill time at a movie and happen to spot their husbands hamming it up for a newsreel cameraman who was covering the Sons Of The Desert convention. What happens afterward is sheer laugh bliss.

Best series of gags involve Stan, Ollie, and Mae Busch with a tub full of water as Ollie is trying to pretend he's ill. They all get wet every which way imaginable. Next best series of gags is the boys in joint attic of their two homes trying to get some sleep and hide from the wives who come home unexpectedly. Let's just say they're both in for a lot more water on that cold and rainy night.

Fellow Hal Roach comedian Charley Chase pops up at the convention scenes as a particularly obnoxious reveling conventioneer. And Lucian Littlefield plays a veterinarian who is called as Stan is blissfully unaware of his specialty. When Ollie asks why Stan called a veterinarian, Stan innocently replies that he didn't think the man's religion should have any bearing. A great line and Laurel is so preciously innocent delivering it, but I would have expected a gag like that to have been in an Abbott&Costello film.

Gags and lines are flawlessly executed in Sons Of The Desert. And we do learn that honesty is the best politics.

"Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into."

[Bored_Dragon · 6/10 · 25 January 2021]

Laurel and Hardy, or Fatty and Skinny, as we called them as kids, were a comedy duo who conveyed slapstick comedy in the style of silent film to talkies and added character comedy to it, stringing successes during three decades of cooperation. They were an inexhaustible source of entertainment for me as a child and I understand that in the first half of the last century they could have been hilarious to adults too. But to me as a forty-year-old in the third decade of the 21st century, they are now worth only as a historical curiosity and a dear childhood memory.

6/10

Might very well be the very best full length Laurel & Hardy picture around.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 10/10 · 20 October 2006]

This movie combines everything that made other Laurel & Hardy pictures so great and such a delight to watch; slapstick humor, crazy situations, well written dialog and a good comedy story. This movie has it all and therefor this movie can truly be regarded as perhaps the most definite Laurel & Hardy picture around.

The movie has a classic comedy story. It's very simple and it has been used in many different other variations before and after this movie but it's extremely effective. It's another fine mess the boys get themselves into after they secretly go to a convention of the 'sons of the desert' in Chicago after fooling their wives, by telling them that they are going to Honolulu to 'cure' Oliver's faked illness. However when the steam-liner the boys were supposed to be on sinks, the boys can't go home without letting their wives know were they truly had been. In between they also get themselves into some silly humorous trouble, which this time also involves fellow comedian Charley Chase, who was the brother of regular Laurel & Hardy picture director James Parrott.

This is not necessarily the movie with the best or most Laurel & Hardy jokes or slapstick moments in it but it's the whole package of the movie that makes this one such a great and enjoyable one that deserves a position among the greatest comedies of all time. It combines all of the best elements out of Laurel & Hardy movies and the end result is an hilarious, easy and pleasant to watch movie, from start till finish, that never loses any of its power.

The trouble the boys get themselves into is of course silly and therefor also extremely fun at the same time. It's the sort of simple light hearted comedy we unfortunately see so little anymore in movies these days. All of the silly moments are very well build up and executed in the movie and timed. It also is of course thanks to the talent of Oliver Hardy and Stanley Laurel that all the moments work out so well and effective in a comical way. They make the simple story work out way more effective than you could ever anticipate. The movie is also helped by some well written comical dialog. This movie perhaps has the most dialog gags out of all the Laurel & Hardy pictures that are still around.

Even the slower moments of the movie never get boring, thanks to the energetic comedy acting from Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Laurel & Hardy regular Mae Busch also shows up again as Mrs. Hardy. Busch is always a pleasure to watch in any Laurel & Hardy movie and was a real great comedy talent.

All in all, this might very well be the best and most definitive Laurel & Hardy picture ever made, that deserved to be ranked among other comedy classics.

10/10

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It's quite good but Not THAT great....

[gazzo-2 · 7/10 · 9 September 2005]

I really liked this, mostly. But it IS padded out too much, as the scenes w/ the shrewy wives kinda drag out, and you wish they'd wind it up quicker.

Love Laurel and Hardy. Liked the Grand Poobah stuff. Liked the whole bit they did to get away from home, sneaking back, etc. the sinking ship, all good.

Part I didn't care for was Mae Busch chucking a kitchen full of crockery at Hardy at the end. He's 300 lbs. He would squish her. I also felt the neighbour lady wasn't that great an actress, while Charley Chase just chomped down on the scenery a bit much. He was after all a fine silent comic and prob. should have stayed there.

Give this *** for Laurel and Hardy, add another 1/2 if you are star-struck by all their routines. They are in top form here.

THIS is considered one of the greatest comedies ever????

[preppy-3 · 1/10 · 1 April 2005]

Stan Laural and Oliver Hardy belong to a strange all-male organization called Sons of the Desert. They plan to attend an annual convention in Chicago. Unfortunately their loud, obnoxious, domineering wives won't let them go. So Hardy pretends he's sick and has to go to Honolulu (!!!) to recover with Laurel going with him. Instead they sneak off to Chicago...and things go wrong.

I have never seen a Laurel and Hardy film in my life so I decided to start with what is considered that best. THIS is their best???? I didn't laugh (or smile) once. I found the humor VERY dated, infantile and extremely violent. I'm not a fan of violent slapstick and that's primarily what this is. Also the sexual politics here are extremely dated with all the women portrayed as controlling witches.

I didn't even like Laurel and Hardy themselves! Their nonstop mugging got tiresome and I felt like hitting Laurel when he did that incredibly loud, whiny, unfunny "crying". Charley Chase was even WORSE as a "hilarious" prankster at the convention. However I do admit that Mae Busch did have some moments as Hardy's wife.

I realize there are people who love these two. Great! But I just don't like their type of comedy. I was bored and kept looking at my watch (and this movie is only 69 minutes!). I give this a 1.