Way Out West (1937)

WAY OUT WEST

I love Laurel & Hardy. They were comedy genius' that nobody can ever replace. These 2 gentlemen are the funniest people that ever lived.

Way Out West is one the best films in my opinion. When I was a kid I watched this film so many times, and every time I laughed just as much as the last time.

The story is about these 2 men who have to go and see a young lady to give her the bad news about her fathers death and hand over a deed to a gold mine that he left for her. When her guardians hear about the deed, they trick the 2 men into handing over the deed to them. Their mission is now to get the deed back and hand it to the correct person.

This really is so funny that I have tears running down my face every time I see it... but it is like that when I watch any Laurel & Hardy film. There are so many memorable scenes in this movie. One of my favourites is when Stan & Ollie are running around a room with the 2 guardians fighting over the deed, then Stan puts the deed down his top, but when the lady tries to take it out she is tickling him... when he starts laughing I can't help but laugh so hard it hurts. Stan has the most convincing and contagious laugh ever!

This film also has one the most famous Laurel & Hardy songs... Trail of the Lonesome Pine, which reached number 2 in the charts when it was released on single.

The film is only on for an hour, but it is really worth watching. The film was made in 1937, so as you can imagine the effects and picture are not brilliant, but for it's time it was amazing.

The film also stars James Finlayson. James starred in a lot of other Laurel & Hardy movies and shorts... he has such a funny face. The expressions he pulls in these movies is hilarious. I always look forward to seeing James in the films when I watch them.

Other stars were Sharon Lynn & Rosina Lawrence.

Stan and Ollie have the greatest partnership ever in cinema. They work so well together and even though they fight through most of their films, you can see they have such a respect and love for each other. It really is amazing. They have perfect comedy timing and their faces can be so funny when they just look at the camera.

This is the first film I have reviewed that is going to get 10 out of 10.

This is pure genius and a classic... and even though we have been without Stand and Ollie for a lot of years now... their movies and comedy never get's old or out dated. I have met a lot of famous people in my life and got a lot of autographs, but I am so gutted I am too young to have met these guys. That would be the best meeting ever!

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Fmovies: Laurel and Hardy have to deliver the deed of a valuable gold mine to a girl called Mary Roberts (Rosina Lawrence).James Finlayson is the bad guy of the movie.He plays a man called Mickey Finn and when he hears the story of these two fellas he decides to fool them with the saloon singer Lola Marcel (Sharon Lynn).They introduce Lola as Mary Roberts to these two dummies.And they buy it.Way Out West from 1937 is a classic comedy from Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.It's one of their best comedies among with many others.It's enjoyable to watch the slapstick comedy with these two comedians of last century.This movie includes many funny parts that made me laugh and I just couldn't stop.Just like Stan couldn't after Lola tickled him.Watch Way Out West if you want to see Laurel and Hardy at their best.Nobody does it the way they did.

As with any classic Laurel & Hardy, the plot is unimportant and just a frame on which to showcase their sweetly innocent brand of humor. Here they're trying to keep ownership of a goldmine out of the greedy clutches of a saloon owner and his blonde canary. The boys don't show up until 10 minutes into the proceedings, but from then on they are center stage with one routine after another.

Most are pretty funny, though the keep-away parlor chase goes on a shade too long as does the break-in escapade. However, when Hardy smugly revels in his superiority only to lose his outer garments and dignity to Laurel's witless bungling, we get a good look at the core of their appeal.

The comedy bits may be entertaining, but the several song and dance numbers are sublime. Notice how effortlessly the duo picks up on the hiccuping beat of the musical Avalon Boys. The resulting dance duet is among the most charming in film annals. Hardy in particular transforms from ungainly fat man into nimble blithe spirit, a beguiling triumph of grace over bulk, and more meaningful in its implications than the miles of over-produced, over- choreographed numbers from Hollywood's army of Big Musicals.

Sadly, theirs is the fey, gentle humor of an era gone by. Quite simply, there's been no one like them before or since. But at least a permanent record of their achievement remains for the rest of us who enjoy this lighthearted look at classic comedy.

Way Out West fmovies. Way Out West is unique in two ways. Not only is it the only Western Laurel and Hardy ever made, but it's the only feature with a title card reading, "A Stan Laurel Production." It also has one of the oldest plots since movies first flickered onto the screen, that of a daughter inheriting a gold mine from her father, which Laurel and Hardy have to deliver.

The boys have come west to give the deed to Mary Roberts (Rosina Lawrence), a present from her late father Sy. She works for Mr.Finn (James Finlayson), who runs the local saloon with his wife, singer Lola Marcel(Sharon Lynn). Together they plot to steal the deed from Mary. As Laurel and Hardy have never seen Mary, Lola pretends to be her, full of sweetness and light. Stan is his usual tactful self.

Lola: Tell me about my dear, dear daddy. Is it true that he's dead?

Stan: Well we hope he is, we buried him.

Later, when they meet the real Mary Roberts, the boys are determined to get the deed back. As Stan tells Ollie, "We'll get that deed back or I'll eat your hat!"

A running gag has the two crossing a lake to get in and out of town (on the Roach lot, this was known as Lake Laurel and Hardy). Stan crosses without incident, but Ollie manages to find the deepest part every time. As he sinks into the water, only his hat is left, floating on top.

Meanwhile the boys almost succeed in getting back the deed, but Lola corners Stan in a locked bedroom and tickles him until he hands it over (a very funny scene). Chased out of town by the sheriff, they contemplate their next move (Ollie has fallen into the lake again so his wet clothes are drying on the line). Ollie reminds Stan about the statement he made regarding a certain hat. He then forces Stan to eat it. At first he begins to cry, but after a while he gets a big napkin, sprinkles some salt on it, and begins to enjoy it. Ollie quickly pulls it away, but as Stan goes to check on his clothes, Ollie takes a bite and chews. He spits it out, disgusted. Although Ollie is disdainful of Stan, he's also a little jealous. After all, if ignorance is bliss, Stan must be ecstatic.

Just as he used his thumb as a pipe and smoked it in Blockheads, Stan is able to light a candle with his thumb in this film. All through the movie, a jealous Ollie tries to do it; when his thumb finally goes on fire, he's so terrified Stan has to come blow it out.

Way Out West is also one of their most musical pictures, featuring a duet on "Trail of the Lonesome Pine" and a great dance scene. Ollie had a fine voice, having been trained as a singer early in his career. In fact, as wonderful as their singing and dancing is, it's amazing that it occurs so infrequently in the films.

One problem that somewhat spoils the duo's great dancing is that, for some reason, it was filmed on a sound stage with obvious back projection. The only time back projection should ever be used is when someone is riding in a car or train. But even that can go terribly wrong if not done carefully. The worst back projection I've ever seen is when Lauel and Hardy are driving in the car at the end of County Hospital. It ruins what would otherwise be one of their finest shorts.

Laurel & Hardy travel out west to Brushwood Gulch to keep a promise to an old prospector . On his death they must take a locket and the deeds to a valuable goldmine to his daughter. When they arrive at the saloon where she works, the saloon owner sees a chance to get rich and gets one of his dancers to pretend to be the daughter, Mary. When they discover their mistake the pair try to get the deeds back but are driven out of town. They plan to return that night and rob the safe of the deeds and return them to Mary.

I have been watching plenty of Laurel & Hardy shorts recently but it's been many years since I saw anything longer from them, so it was with great joy I saw this in the TV schedule and settled down to watch it. My first observation as a short watcher is that it is surprisingly close to the consistency of the shorts, even if it is over three times longer than those. The plot is detailed enough to provide several really good routines but also plenty of really enjoyable gags.

Of great enjoyment to a fan of the shorts were several comic scenes that showed them to be more than just funny men. The soft shoe shuffle is the oft-quoted favourite and is quite amusing but the songs are all enjoyable without intruding on the comedy in the way some films of the time did. The most pleasurable aspect is Hardy's voice – he is a charming baritone and is really surprising. Laurel is good too and the pair are cool on `Trail of the Lonesome Pine'.

Both Laurel & Hardy's delivery is impeccable and the routines and gags are only made better by their talent. Finalyson is excellent and for me is easily the king of that double take/squint thing that he does so very well! Lynn and Lawrence are both OK but are really secondary characters behind the men.

Overall fans will rightly love this film and it may also win over some who have yet to experience the pair. It has music, dance, routines and gags – all delivered by the great duo themselves. What more do you need?

What did Rosina Lawrence's dying father expect when he entrusted Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy to deliver the deed to a gold mine to her in Way Out West? I mean even in death was his judgment that seriously impaired?

The boys are up to the necks in it in the town of Brushwood Gulch when they try to do their good deed. In fact Ollie's up to it even before as Stan innocently dumps the freeloading Ollie who is snoozing in a travois drawn by their donkey while Stan is guiding the poor animal. Dumps Ollie in a creek mind you. Serves him right actually.

The boys arrive in town and wouldn't you know it, they tell bartender James Finlayson what their mission is. So the quick thinking Finlayson gets his wife Sharon Lynne to pose as Lawrence and the boys sign the deed over to her.

Later on they discover their mistake and the rest of the film is spent trying to make up for their mistake and get the deed to the rightful owner. Of course it's one mishap after another, including Stan lighting Ollie's thumb on fire. Don't ask how.

Everybody looks like they're having a great old time in Way Out West. Finlayson is a terrific Snidely Whiplash, Lynne does a great imitation of the kind of brassy dame that Gladys George or Binnie Barnes had a specialty in, and Lawrence is a fabulous little Nell heroine.

Way Out West is one of Stan and Ollie's best feature film comedies. It even got an Oscar nomination for Best Musical Scoring. But I still wonder, wasn't their anyone else Lawrence's father could get for such a mission?