Films made in 1934 through 1936

Film Stills 1934 Film Stills 1935 Move the cursor over the image to reveal the film's title. Film Stills 1936

Film Titles 1934 Sons of the Desert (photo) With a familiar theme, this film is one of the duo's very best efforts. Ollie and Stan want to attend a convention, but their wives forbid it. Ollie fakes an illness, which requires a long sea voyage to help him recover, accompanied by his friend Stan. The wives agree, and the boys happily depart -- for the convention! Whilst they are having a wonderful time, the ship they're supposed to be on, sinks. The wives are terribly upset and regret having been so hard on their husbands. In the cinema, they then see footage of the convention, which features Stan and Ollie! Meanwhile, the boys have arrived home where they read the news in the paper, and decide to hide in the attic. The wives come home, and start to search the house, leading Stan and Ollie to seek refuge on the roof. Eventually, they get down, ring the doorbell and tell a highly complicated and unlikely story of surviving the shipwreck. The story is met with disbelief, and Stan confesses. His wife comforts him, but Ollie keeps lying until the bitter end and suffers the consequences. The Private Life of Oliver the Eighth Ollie and Stan are barbers, struggling to make a living. An ad by wealthy widow looking for a husband promises the opportunity they need. However, the widow and her butler are clearly mad, leading to a terrifying night for the duo. Ollie wakes up to find it was all a nightmare. A disappointing film, with few funny moments. Hollywood Party This is a musical, with Laurel and Hardy providing some sketches. Generally considered a film that should not have been made. Going Bye Bye (photo) Laurel and Hardy are the star witnesses in the court case against Walter Long, who is convicted on the basis of their testimony. He makes threats to them, which makes them decide to leave town. They team up with Mae Busch as a travelling companion. Unfortunately, May is Walter's girlfirend. When the convict escapes and turns up at the house, Mae hides him in a trunk which becomes locked. The boys, still unaware of what is going on, help Mae to break open the trunk -- with blow torches, water and so on, causing much distress to Walter Long. He takes his revenge when they finally free him, before he is arrested by the police. Them Thar Hills (photo) This film creates a wonderful sense of anticipation -- gout-ridden Hardy and his friend Laurel hire a trailer to head for the mountains, so Hardy can recuperate. They set up camp near a water well into which bootleggers have dumped their alcohol. When the bos start sipping from the enriched water, they get very merry. Charlie Hall and his wife Mae Busch drop in after their car breaks down. Charlie goes off to get gasoline, and Mae stays to enjoy the hospitality which includes lots of well water! When Charlie returns, he finds Mae intoxicated and having a great time with Stan and Ollie. A battle ensues resulting in the total destruction of the campsite -- and the well, after a match is dropped into it. Babes in Toyland In toyland, evil Barnaby tries to force Bo Peep into marrying him. Laurel and Hardy, the toymaker's assistants, come to her aid and defeat him. Babes in Toyland contains good dialogue, but few slapstick routines. The film is rarely shown in its complete form. The Live Ghost Walter Long is the captain of a ship which is reputedly haunted. Since this gives him problems recruiting sailors, he hires Laurel and Hardy to shanghai crew members for him. They do this with great efficiency, using eggs as the prop: Stan goes into a bar, selects a victim and says "I bet you can't hold this egg in your mouth without breaking it." The man puts the egg in his mouth, Stan hits him under the chin and the infuriated victim chases him out of the bar, where Ollie is waiting with a frying pan to knock him out! This works until Stan enounters Charlie Hall who reverses the trick. Film Titles 1935 Tit for Tat (photo) Ollie and Stan open a new electrical appliance store. They decide to introduce themselves to ther shopkeepers next door -- who turn out to be Mr and Mrs Hall from the Them Thar Hills camping trip... Mr Hills is not keen to see them and gets very upset when he later spots Ollie coming with Mae, and escorting her down the stairs (there's a perfectly sensible explanation for this). Charlie takes revenge on Ollie, and the battle moves to both stores, Ollie and Hardy damaging items in Charlie's delicatessen, and Charlie wrecking things in the duo's store. Events get more and more violent until there is nothing left to destroy. A wonderful film. The Fixer Uppers (photo) In this funny remake of Slipping Wives, Stan and Ollie star with Mae Busch. Tne boys are greeting card salesmen who listen to the sad tale of Mae -- she is being neglected by her artist husband. She enlists Hardy to make her husband jealous, which works well, too well in fact because the man challenges Ollie to a duel, to take place the following dawn. Ollie and Stan get drunk in a bar, and when a cabbie takes them home he finds the artist's address in Ollie's pocket -- so he takes them there! Ollie and Stan fall asleep in the marital bed, which infuriates the husband when he finds them. After a few complications, the pair manage to escape unharmed. Thicker Than Water This is the last two-reeler made by Laurel and Hardy, before they moved exclusively to feature films. Somehow, Hardy needs a blood transfusion, and who better than Laurel to give it to them. Unfortunately, the transfusion goes wrong -- blood goes back and forth between them. When they both wake up, the personalities have got mixed up. Bonnie Scotland A disappointing film, telling the tale of the duo travelling to Scotland to inherit an inheritance. This turns out to be a snuff-box with only sentimental value. Film Titles 1936 The Bohemian Girl (photo) This is the last of operatic spoofs made by Laurel and Hardy. It does have some funny segments, but is fairly weak overall. Our Relations (photo) Sailors on leave Stan and Ollie are spending time with two "ladies" in a bar, whilst nearby their twin brothers (with whom they have lost contact years ago) are entertaining their wives. Needless to say, there is much confusion when the brothers are mistaken for the other, and wives and girlfriends are puzzled not to say enraged. A further complication is a diamond ring that the sailors are looking after (left with the captain for safekeeping) and which has attracted the attention of gangsters. Everything gets sorted in the end, and hte twins are re-united.