recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
From Soup to Nuts

**From Soup to Nuts** is a *Laurel & Hardy* silent short film released 24 March 1928. It was remade as a segment of 1940's *A Chump at Oxford*.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie are hired as waiters at an upper class dinner party for the Culpeppers. They arrive at the host's house, with Ollie taking charge before even entering the property. He insists he is the one to ring the doorbell. The maid shows them inside, where Stan puts their personal card on the table with a collection of others. On their card is the slogan, "All we ask is a chance." Ollie makes Stan take off his hat inside the house and a small fight breaks out.

As the Mrs. Culpepper inspects them, Ollie shows her a letter apologizing that the only available waiters were the duo, and their previous experience in waiting was at railroad eating houses. When she walks back to join the party, Ollie comments that she is "some wiggler!" Her husband, standing beside him, isn't impressed.

The pair enter the kitchen where Stan tells the busy chef not to wear his hat. Stan takes it off him several times but the chef keeps putting it back on. Stan soon loses his cool and throws the chef's hat away. The chef retaliates by grabbing the nearest plate and smashing it over Stan's head. Stan does the same back to the chef and they carry on until Ollie stops Stan from destroying a large, expensive looking plate. However, as Ollie walks off, he trips on the kitchen floor and smashes the plate, as the maid watches.

Meanwhile, the party goes on. Mrs. Culpepper struggles to eat her fruit cocktail with the cutlery provided. Stan and Ollie come into the room to begin serving food. Stan accidentally pours soup on Ollie's foot while he counts the guests. Ollie carries a very large cake to the table but slips on a banana skin left by the family dog and lands head first into the cake. Ollie manages to do this more than once, much to the bemusement of the guests, and of Stan, who accuses him of falling over on purpose at one point.

The pair continue to fall down while trying to serve the food, much to the anger of Mr. Culpepper. Stan loses his temper with Ollie's incompetence and with the guests.

Mrs. Culpepper then asks Ollie to serve the salad "undressed." Ollie tells Stan. Confused, Stan heads to the kitchen to tell the maid what he has to do. The maid says, "I always serve it that way." Stan can't believe this but goes ahead and undresses down to his underwear to serve the salad. The Culpeppers discover Stan undressed. After a futile attempt by Ollie to put a jacket on Stan, Mrs. Culpepper hits Ollie, who falls into yet another cake.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Mr. Laurel
* Oliver Hardy as Mr. Hardy
* Anita Garvin as Mrs. Culpepper
* Tiny Sandford as Mr. Culpepper
* Otto Fries as Chef
* Edna Marion as Maid
* Dorothy Coburn as Dinner Guest
* Sam Lufkin as Dinner Guest
* Gene Morgan as Dinner Guest
* Ellinor Vanderveer as Dinner Guest
Curfew for Kids

**Curfew for Kids** is the sixty-fourth short in the series, *A Laurel & Hardy Cartoon*. It first aired 28 January 1967 in syndication.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie are cleaning their place in preparation for a meeting of the Royal Order of Eager Beavers when their nephews arrive to spend the weekend. So they won't cause trouble at the meeting, they take them to the amusement park to tire them out. After a day's worth of mishaps, the plan does work and the little ones go right to sleep, but the Exalted President of the Beavers calls to say the meeting has been moved, to the amusement park.
Laurel & Hardy (Williams)

**Laurel & Hardy** is a British comic book series from Williams Publishing.

## Issues

* Laurel & Hardy (Williams) 75
* Laurel & Hardy (Williams) 92
* Laurel & Hardy (Williams) 98
* Laurel & Hardy (Williams) 113
* Laurel & Hardy (Williams) 121
* Laurel & Hardy (Williams) 125
* Laurel & Hardy (Williams) 126

## Trivia

Research is incomplete on this series. It ran over a hundred issues in the '60s and '70s. These were reprinted in many countries and translated into several languages, but the reprints usually did not use the same numbering systems.
Preparing Kristy's House

#### Dining Room

1. Dining Table: 1. Holding out because prep to sell? 2. With stains/lack of time think we will likely need to give away.
2. Side chairs: If they don't want them with the table will give away/ they're broken.
3. Grandma's fine china: Will need to find a place to store at mom and Dads\*.
4. Glassware in cabinets: Don't think there will be space for all of this in new place.

#### Backyard

1. Lawn Furniture: 1. Is there space at mom and dads? 2. Don't think mom will want the wooden table.
2. Hammock: Take down easy to store.
3. Bar for Pull ups: Will need to take down\*. Is there some larger project happening with the deck?
4. Trailer- Think you could give it away. Requires fixing. You don't naturally have room to store it anywhere and you could rent something if you really needed it.
5. Ping pong table- Bring it back to mom and dads.
6. Grills- I imagine you could give them away based on how much they actually get used.

#### Garage

1. Cleaning out all the cabinets: 1. What can stay and what can go?
2. Grandpa's tools: Will likely have to give away most.
3. Workbench
4. Tons of Slabs of wood- I don't think we need it.
5. All the storage above the garage.
6. Continuing to hold stuff for uncle mark.

### How will we dispose of the aforementioned furniture?

1. Good will
2. Garage Sale
3. Gift away
4. Throw away
5. Other?
One Good Turn

**One Good Turn** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 31 October 1931.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie are suffering during the Great Depression and begging for food. A friendly old lady provides them with some sandwiches. Enjoying their meal they overhear that the lady will be thrown out of her house because she was robbed and cannot pay her mortgage. They don't know that she is rehearsing a play. Stan and Ollie decide to repay the old lady by selling their car. During the auction a drunken man puts a wallet in Stan's pocket. Ollie accuses Stan of having robbed the old lady but when they return to her place they hear the truth. Stan takes revenge on Ollie.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stanley
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Mary Carr as the Old lady
* Jimmy Finlayson as a Community Player who plays the landlord
* Billy Gilbert as the Drunk
* Gordon Douglas as a Community player
* Dorothy Granger as a Community Player
* Snub Pollard as a Community Player
* Lyle Tayo as a Community Player

## Trivia

* Stan Laurel's daughter Lois was afraid of her "Uncle Babe", Ollie, because her father was hit by him in many of their films. So, Laurel wrote a scene in which he hit Hardy instead.
Night Owls

**Night Owls** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 4 January 1930.

## Summary

The police chief warns Officer Kennedy to make arrests to stop a burglary epidemic or face the sack. Kennedy comes across vagrants Stan and Ollie that night and persuades them to rob the chief's house so he can earn his boss's favor. The boys, believing it to be too dangerous, at first refuse. After Kennedy threatens them with ninety days on "the rockpile," and assures them he will get them released after they're caught, they agree to the ruse. Stan and Ollie encounter various problems but the chief catches Kennedy with various valuables in his house, and the boys escape.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan Laurel
* Oliver Hardy as Oliver "Ollie" Hardy
* Edgar Kennedy as Officer Kennedy
* James Finlayson as Butler Meadows
* Anders Randolf as the Police Captain
March of Comics

**March of Comics** was a long-running anthology comic book series published by Western Publishing. It was separate from their Gold Key Comics label, but often ran the same stories about the same licensed characters. Printed in a format that was smaller in both content and dimension than other comic books, it was not sold in stores, but given away at shoe and department stores.

488 issues were published from 1946 to 1982. Two of them featured Laurel & Hardy.

## Laurel & Hardy Issues

* March of Comics 302
* March of Comics 314
The Devil's Brother

**The Devil's Brother** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound feature film released 5 May 1933.

## Summary

In the early 18th century, the bandit Fra Diavolo returns to his camp in Northern Italy to tell his gang members about his encounter with Lord Rocburg and Lady Pamela. Disguised as the Marquis de San Marco, he rides with them in their carriage and charms Lady Pamela into telling him where she hides her jewels. He orders his thieves to ride to Rocburg's castle and steal his belongings and Pamela's jewels. Meanwhile, Stanlio and Ollio have also been robbed, whereupon Stanlio suggests to Ollio that they should become robbers themselves. After an unsuccessful attempt to rob a woodchopper, the duo encounters Fra Diavolo, who orders Stanlio to hang Ollio for impersonating him. Diavolo is then informed that his men have stolen Lady Pamela's jewels but have not brought the 500,000 francs hidden by Rocburg.

Diavolo, again disguised as the marquis, takes Stanlio and Ollio with him as his servants to an inn, where he plans to steal Rocburg's 500,000 francs, and where, as Diavolo, he again romances Lady Pamela. Stanlio and Ollio mistakenly capture Lord Rocburg, who has disguised himself as the marquis in an attempt to win back his wife. Diavolo's attempt to find the francs is, however, foiled after Stanlio drinks a sleeping potion meant for Rocburg. Diavolo's theft of Pamela's medallion is blamed on young Captain Lorenzo, the sweetheart of Zerlina, whose father, Matteo the innkeeper, has decreed that she is to marry a merchant named Francesco the next day. Lorenzo swears he will prove his innocence before Zerlina is forced to marry Francesco.

Meanwhile, Diavolo romances Pamela once again and finds out that Rocburg's fortune is hidden in her petticoat. Just as Diavolo steals the petticoat, Lorenzo finds out his true identity from Stanlio, who is "spiffed" after a visit to Matteo's wine cellar. Lorenzo's soldiers surround the inn and he then duels with Diavolo, whom he bests with a little inadvertent help from Stanlio. The good-natured Diavolo returns the jewels, and when Rocburg will not pay the reward for them to Lorenzo, Diavolo gives Lorenzo the money that he stole from Pamela's petticoat. While the jealous husband rushes upstairs to confront his wife, Lorenzo gives the money to Matteo, thereby saving him from having to sell the inn. Diavolo, Stanlio, and Ollio are then taken away to be shot by a firing squad. When Stanlio takes out his red handkerchief in order to blow his nose, a bull becomes enraged and charges the group, allowing Diavolo to escape on his horse and Stanlio and Ollio to escape on the bull.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stanlio
* Oliver Hardy as Ollio
* Dennis King as Fra Diavolo ("Marquis de San Marco")
* Thelma Todd as Lady Pamela
* James Finlayson as Lord Rocburg
* Lucile Browne as Zerlina
* Arthur Pierson as Lorenzo
* Henry Armetta as Matteo the inkeeper
* Matt McHugh as Francesco
* Lane Chandler as Lorenzo's Lieutenant
* James C. Morton as the old woodchopper
Twice Two

**Twice Two** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 25 February 1933.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie are married to each other's sisters. The wives are making preparations for a surprise party to celebrate their first anniversaries, during which a cake lands on Mrs. Laurel's head, causing her to bear an uncanny resemblance to a portrait of Elizabeth I on the dining room wall. Stan and Ollie arrive but the couples cannot help but squabble throughout the party. A delivery boy arrives with another cake which is thrown in Mrs. Laurel's face by an acrimonious Mrs. Hardy.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Mr. Stan Laurel / Mrs. Sandy Hardy
* Oliver Hardy as Mr. Oliver Hardy / Mrs. Fanny Laurel
* Baldwin Cooke as Soda Jerk (uncredited)
* Charlie Hall as Delivery Boy (uncredited)
* Ham Kinsey as Passerby (uncredited)
* Carol Tevis as Mrs. Sandy Hardy (voice) (uncredited)
* May Wallace as Mrs. Fanny Laurel (voice) (uncredited)
Tourist Trouble

**Tourist Trouble** is the sixty-first short in the series, *A Laurel & Hardy Cartoon*. It first aired 21 January 1967 in syndication.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie miss their tour bus. They hop on the next bus that comes, but it's an Army recruiting bus. The drill sergeant tries to instruct them, but soon kicks them out of boot camp. They hop on the first bus they see, but it's a Navy recruiting bus...
Ghost Town Clowns

**Ghost Town Clowns** is the seventieth short in the series, *A Laurel & Hardy Cartoon*. It first aired 11 February 1967 in syndication.

## Summary

While out driving through the western desert, Stan and Ollie have a blowout in the middle of a ghost town. They decide to spend the night there, and fix the tire in the morning. However, an outlaw by the name of Blackie Bart doesn't take too kindly to strangers hanging around his hideout. So he decides to scare them out of town, and he manages to not only scare them, but to get the attention of a real ghost by shooting through it. The outlaw runs for the nearest town so he can turn himself in, and when the boys realize that they were rescued by a real ghost, they run away too. The two ghosts remark how familiar the boys looked, due to the fact that they look and sound just like them.
Our Relations

**Our Relations** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound feature film released 30 October 1936.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie are respectable citizens with wives and steady employment. Their seafaring twin brothers, Alf Laurel and Bert Hardy, are dim-witted incompetents sailors aboard the SS *Periwinkle*.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan/Alf Laurel
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie/Bert Hardy
* Alan Hale as Joe Grogan, innkeeper
* Sidney Toler as Captain of SS *Periwinkle*
* James Finlayson as Finn
* Daphne Pollard as Mrs. Daphne Hardy
* Betty Healy as Mrs. Betty Laurel
* Iris Adrian as Alice
* Lona Andre as Lily
* Arthur Housman as the Drunk
* Ralf Harolde as the Gangster boss
* Noel Madison as the Second gangster
* Dell Henderson as the Night Court Judge
* James C. Morton as Grogan's barkeeper
* Harry Bernard as the confused policeman
Berth Marks

**Berth Marks** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 1 June 1929.

## Summary

A passenger train pulls into the station. Musicians Stan and Ollie, travelling to their next gig in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, manage to hop on board, but Ollie is annoyed that Stan left their music behind. They antagonize a very short man when they sit on him. Entering a private car looking for their berth, they frighten a woman who is dressing for bed. Her husband emerges, sees an innocent bystander, and rips his coat. The man, seeing another innocent man, proceeds to tear up his coat. This leads to a tit for tat of clothes tearing. Stan and Ollie spend most of the trip trying to change into pajamas and get comfortable in a cramped upper berth. By the time they sort themselves out, the train has reached their stop, and in their hurry to get off, they leave their musical instruments behind. The clothes tearing has spread through the whole train, and the conductor is stripped to his underwear and some rags trying to get through. Ollie furiously chases Stan and throws a rock at him.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Pat Harmon as Station master
* S.D. Wilcox as Conductor
* Eleanor Fredericks as Lady in berth
* Harry Bernard as Passenger
* Baldwin Cooke as Passenger
* Paulette Goddard as Passenger
* Charlie Hall as Passenger
* Sammy Brooks as Short passenger
We Faw Down

**We Faw Down** is a *Laurel & Hardy* silent short film released 29 December 1928.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie tell their wives they have a business engagement, then sneak off to a poker game. On the way, they stop to help two young ladies with a flat tire, and wind up splattered with mud. The girls invite them up to their apartment while their clothes dry, and they all proceed to get roaring drunk. A boyfriend appears, sending the duo scrambling out the back window, in full view of their wives.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stanley
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Bess Flowers as Mrs. Laurel
* Vivien Oakland as Mrs. Hardy
* Kay Deslys as Kelly's Girlfriend
* Vera White as Kay's Friend
* George Kotsonaros as "First Round" Kelly (uncredited)
The Finishing Touch

**The Finishing Touch** is a *Laurel & Hardy* silent short film released 25 February 1928.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie are contracted to build a house in one day. After a number of mishaps, they complete it. Just as they collect their pay, a bird lands on the chimney and it collapses, then the windows fall out. Tempers flare when the owner demands his money back. After playing keep-away for some time, they begin throwing rocks at each other until the boys grab the rock chocking the wheel of their truck and it rolls downhill, right into the house.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Ed Kennedy as The Cop
* Dorothy Coburn as The Nurse
* Sam Lufkin as The Homeowner
Tit for Tat

**Tit for Tat** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 5 January 1935. It is a sequel to *Them Thar Hills*.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie establish an electrical goods store next door to Charlie Hall's grocery store. Hall, still sulking and suspicious from their previous encounter with the liquor-spiked well-water, mistakenly thinks that Hardy is making advances towards his wife, and destroys a few items in Stan and Ollie's shop. Stan and Ollie leave their shop, without closing their door, to wreak havoc in Hall's grocery. While they are there, a shoplifter removes items from their store.At first he merely carries the items out by hand a few at a time, but he begins taking more and more as their confrontations with Hall escalate . Having come and gone unhindered several times, he boldly returns with a wheelbarrow. A policeman eventually comes and straightens out the brouhaha, but when Stan and Ollie return to their store, there's nothing left. The shoplifter has returned a final time with a huge moving-van, and taken everything away.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Mae Busch as Grocer's Wife
* Charlie Hall as Mr. Hall - Grocer
* Baldwin Cooke as Customer
* Bobby Dunn as Customer
* Jack Hill as Passerby
* James C. Morton as Policeman
* Viola Richard as Passerby
Defective Story

**Defective Story** is the twentieth short in the series, *A Laurel & Hardy Cartoon*. It first aired 22 October 1966 in syndication.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie open a detective agency. Their first customer is a rich man who believes someone wants to kill him. The culprit is his nephew and heir, who is going to try to get rid of the two detectives.
Their Purple Moment

**Their Purple Moment** is a *Laurel & Hardy* silent short film released 19 May 1928.

## Summary

Henpecked Stan and Ollie have been secretly saving money from their paychecks so they can enjoy a night on the town away from their wives. Stan's wife discovers the scheme and secretly replaces his hidden loot with cigar coupons. The boys are unable to settle a huge restaurant bill, and their evening ends in a pie-throwing brawl in the restaurant's kitchen.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan Pincher
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Anita Garvin as Ollie's girlfriend
* Kay Deslys as Stan's girlfriend
* Fay Holderness as Mrs. Pincher
* S.J. Sandford as Waiter
* Lyle Tayo as Mrs. Hardy
* Leo Willis as Cab driver
* Jimmy Aubrey as Cook
* Ed Brandenburg as Waiter
* Dorothy Coburn as Hatcheck girl
* Harry Earles as Midget performer
* Helen Gilmore as Pink Pub patron
* Jack Hill as Doorman/Pink Pub patron
* Sam Lufkin as Waiter
* Gene Morgan as Waiter
* John B. O'Brien as Pink Pub patron
* Patsy O'Brien as Gossip
* Retta Palmer as Pink Pub patron
* Dorothea Wolbert as Waitress
Men O'War

**Men O'War** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 29 June 1929.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie are sailors on leave. They happen upon two attractive girls strolling through a park and invite them for a soda, but soon realize that they only have enough money for three. Ollie tries to explain this to Stan, but he cannot grasp that either he or Ollie will have to forgo a soda. They finally purchase three sodas, planning to share one between them, but the price is twice what they thought. Stan swallows both shares, so Ollie gets him back by leaving him to pay the check. Realizing he doesn't have enough and that he has nothing to lose, Stan deposits a coin in a slot machine in the soda shop and hits the jackpot.

With excess money in hand, the boys rent a rowboat with the ladies, but battle with other boaters on the lake, with various canoes getting overturned. The clerk alerts a policeman to the mayhem they are causing. Eventually all the people who have fallen into the water clamber into Stan and Ollie's boat, which causes it to sink.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* James Finlayson as soda clerk
* Anne Cornwall as Stan's girlfriend
* Gloria Greer as Ollie's girlfriend
* Charlie Hall as Canoer
* Baldwin Cooke as Canoer
* Pete Gordon as Bicycle rider
* Harry Bernard as Policeman
Towed in a Hole

**Towed in a Hole** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 31 December 1932.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie drive around town seeing if they can sell any fish. Stan suggests they catch their own fish and keep all the profits. Ollie likes the idea of cutting out the "middleman" so they buy a boat at a junk yard. After testing it for leaks by filling it with water, and some setbacks such as dropping an anchor through the hull and sawing through the mast, they make it seaworthy. When the boat is finally ready, the whole operation goes south when they decide to hoist the sail.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stanley
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Billy Gilbert as Joe the junkyard owner
Oliver the Eighth

**Oliver the Eighth** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 13 January 1934.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie are partners in a barber shop. Stan reads a classified ad in the newspaper from a wealthy widow looking for a new husband. Stan plans to respond to the ad but after explaining his plans to Ollie they both decide to answerit, shaking hands and saying "May the best man win." However, Ollie cheats on this agreement by mailing only his own response, and hiding Stan's in his hat.

The widow invites Ollie to her mansion, and when Stan discovers his unmailed response, he also goes along and demands half of whatever Ollie gets. At the widow's mansion, they encounter a deranged butler who pantomimes card tricks with imaginary cards, and serves an imaginary meal. The same butler tips off Stan and Ollie that the widow is a mass murderess, who had previously slit the throats of seven prior fiancees, all named Oliver.

The boys are sent upstairs, as the widow tells her butler to make sure all the doors and windows are locked. She tells Ollie, "I hope you have a nice, long sleep," as the butler plays "Taps" on a trumpet.

Unable to escape their bedroom, Stan finds a pump-action shotgun and accidentally shoots Ollie in the foot. They plan to take turns sleeping, so that one of them can watch out for the knife-wielding widow.

Ollie sets up a Rube Goldberg-style contraption to help Stan to stay awake. Tying a gold coated brick to a string, suspending it above Stan's head and then tying the other end of the string round a lit candle. Ollie then explains to Stan that he must periodically move the string in order to prevent the candle's flame burning through the string, resulting in the brick falling on Stan's head.

The brick falls on Ollie's head, knocking him unconscious. Moments later the widow is heard walking up the stairs, sharpening a long knife. When Stan goes to get the shotgun, he is locked in the closet as the widow enters the room. As she is about to slit Ollie's throat, a loud crash is heard.

Suddenly, Stan and Ollie are back at their barber shop, and Ollie leaps out of his chair, screaming and runs to the mirror to examine his throat. He explains to Stan, "I just had a terrible dream."

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stanley
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Mae Busch as Mrs. Fox, the widow
* Jack Barty as Jitters, the butler
Laurel & Hardy Wiki/Policy

Welcome to Laurel & Hardy Wiki! We hope you enjoy your time here. We expect you'll be on your best behavior when editing here, but nonetheless we do have a few rules we ask you to follow.

Everyone makes mistakes, so don't worry if you break one by accident. If it becomes a problem, we will warn you. Continued flouting of the rules after warning may result in a temporary ban from editing.

Posting pornography, harassment, or outright vandalism will probably result in an immediate ban without warning.

## Categories

Please do not create or add new categories with asking an admin first.

Categories with only one member are completely useless; avoid single-item categories at all times.

## Dates

We use the International Standard date format, **DD Month YYYY**. Please do not change these dates to another format.

If you find in our pages a date such as Month DD, YYYY, feel free to convert it.

## Templates

Any changes to templates are to be discussed with active admins. If the admins approve, then the changes will be instated.

## Fanon

This is not a fanon wiki. Please do not insert fanon, fan fiction, fan art, or the like into our pages.
Air Raid Wardens

**Air Raid Wardens** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound feature film released 30 April 1943.

## Summary

Not long after the Pearl Harbor attack, Stan and Ollie try various business ventures. Their store opens and closes in different guises but without success. They finally open it as a bicycle store, but it goes bankrupt and they close it down to enlist in the Army. They fail in every attempt in the military and return to their home town Huxton only to find out that their store now is open, with a man named Eustace Middling in charge, selling radios instead of bicycles. But Middling offers them to share the space in a joint venture. Stan and Ollie don't realize that Middling in fact is a German spy, using the shop as a front to cover a base for espionage on the US military.

The boys also join the civil defense by becoming air raid wardens in Huxton. To complete their training, they have to take part in an advanced military drill, and Stan receives a complicated assignment. They set out on their mission to rescue a very prominent banker, J.P. Norton, from a fire. They fail, burying the banker alive in a huge load of sand. Still, they are given one more chance to prove their aptitude as air raid wardens, tasked with ensuring that all the town citizens turn off their lights at night. They get into a quarrel with one of the more troublesome inhabitants, Joe Bledsoe, resulting in a commotion and a rumor that spy activity is taking place in Joe's home. The boys are knocked out, and in the end they are finally dismissed from the corps altogether.

When they return to their shop, they happen to overhear the spies speaking German, and follow them to a hide-out outside of town. They find out that Middling's real name is Mittelhause, and overhear him talking about blowing the town's magnesium plant to pieces with another spy, Rittenhause. They try to send a message to the civil defense, but instead they are captured by the German spies. Stan accidentally knocks out one of the spies and the boys flee and alert the civil defense, who arrive at the plant just in time to stop the sabotage. Stan and Ollie also expose Middling as a German spy.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Edgar Kennedy as Joe Bledsoe
* Jacqueline White as Peggy Parker
* Horace McNally as Dan Madison
* Nella Walker as Millicent Norton
* Donald Meek as Eustace Middling
* Henry O'Neill as Rittenhause
* Howard Freeman as J.P. Norton
* Paul Stanton as Capt. Biddle
* Robert Emmett O'Connor as Charlie Beaugart
* William Tannen as Joseph
* Russell Hicks as Maj. Scanlon
* Philip Van Zandt as Herman
* Frederic Worlock as Otto
* Charles Coleman as Norton's Butler
* Don Costello as Heydrich
Block-Heads

**Block-Heads** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound feature film released 19 August 1938.

## Summary

In the trenches of World War I, Ollie, Stan and the rest of their army company are ready to go 'over the top', but Stan is ordered to stay behind to guard the trench. Fighting is followed by Armistice. Twenty years pass, and Stan is still guarding the post, having accumulated a huge pile of bean cans, and worn a path pacing back and forth on guard. He is found by accident after firing on a plane he sees approaching, and goes home, feted as a hero. Ollie, who has been married for a year to the formidable Mrs. Hardy, sees him in a newspaper and visits him in the veterans' home. He finds Stan in a wheelchair, having apparently lost a leg, and invites him home. However, Stan is in fact just resting in another veteran's wheelchair and Ollie only finds out he still has both legs after pushing him around in the chair and then carrying him. They reach Ollie's automobile, which he says belongs to his wife and is 'practically new', but Stan quickly manages to completely wreck it.

The two men then start to climb thirteen flights of stairs to Ollie's apartment, because they think the elevator is out of order. A man insults Ollie, leading to a lengthy argument. Then they run into a brattish kid with a football, which results in Ollie kicking his ball down the stairwell, leading to another argument with the kid's burly father. When Ollie and Stan finally reach the apartment, Ollie's wife disapproves of Ollie bringing home yet another bum, so Ollie has to prepare a meal for Stan, but the pair only succeed in blowing up the kitchen. Ollie's attractive neighbor, Mrs. Gilbert, offers to help clear up the mess, but gets herself soaked and ends up in a pair of Ollie's enormous pajamas. Mrs. Hardy then returns, so Ollie and Stan have to hide her. When Mrs. Hardy finally leaves, Mrs. Gilbert's husband arrives and when he sees his wife there, he chases Stan and Ollie down the stairs, firing a shotgun. A large number of men without trousers jump out of windows.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Patricia Ellis as Mrs. 'Toots' Gilbert
* Minna Gombell as Mrs. Hardy
* Billy Gilbert as Mr. Gilbert
* James Finlayson as Finn (man on stairs)
* Zeffie Tilbury as Dowager seated near stairs
* Harry Anderson as Doorman
* Mike Behegan as Bugler
* Patsy Moran as Lulu
* James C. Morton as James, porter
* Karl Slover as Midget
* Chill Wills as Midget (voice)
* Tommy Bond as Neighbor's son
* Ed Brandenburg as Pedestrian
* Tex Driscoll as Bearded veteran
Angora Love

**Angora Love** is a *Laurel & Hardy* silent short film released 14 December 1929. It was their final silent film.

## Summary

A stray goat wanders away from a pet store. After Stan and Ollie feed her donuts, she follows them everywhere. They bring it into their apartment, but are not particularly effective at hiding its noise or aroma from their suspicious and outraged landlord. They try to bathe her, but the attempt quickly devolves into a water fight involving the landlord, a fellow tenant, and a policeman.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Harry Bernard as Policeman
* Charlie Hall as Neighbor
* Edgar Kennedy as Landlord
* Charley Young as Mr. Caribeau

## Trivia

* This film was remade in 1931 as *Laughing Gravy*.
Bacon Grabbers

**Bacon Grabbers** is a *Laurel & Hardy* silent short film released 19 October 1929.

## Summary

Repossession men Stan and Ollie serve a summons to Mr. Kennedy, who has failed to pay the installments for his radio since 1921. They wind up destroying both the radio and their car. Mrs. Kennedy returns home to announce she's just paid for the radio.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Edgar Kennedy as Collis P. Kennedy
* Jean Harlow as Mrs. Kennedy
* Harry Bernard as Policeman
* Eddie Baker as Sheriff
* Bobby Dunn
* Charlie Hall as Truck driver
* Sam Lufkin as Man in sheriff's hat
Ball Maul

**Ball Maul** is the eleventh short in the series, *A Laurel & Hardy Cartoon*. It first aired 1 October 1966 in syndication.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie are waterboys for a professional football team. When several players are injured, the Coach puts them into the game. They are no match for their opponents. However, when Stan holds the ball, Ollie kicks it and him through the upright for a field goal, earning the team's first three points of the season. After the game, the Coach visits them in the hospital to offer them starting positions, but they hobble away as quick as they can.
Habeas Corpus

**Habeas Corpus** is a *Laurel & Hardy* silent short film released 1 December 1928.

## Summary

Mad scientist Professor Padilla's latest scheme, to perform a medical experiment on a corpse, has drawn the interest of the police. Stan and Ollie happen to arrive at the professor's home in search of a free meal. He offers them five hundred dollars to steal a body from a local graveyard. They think the professor is balmy, but they agree to his offer anyway. The conversation is overheard by the professor's butler, Ledoux, who is also a police informant. Ledoux calls police headquarters and they tell him to go to the graveyard to thwart the theft. Meanwhile the police arrest the mad professor. At the cemetery, Stan and Ollie have a series of misadventures trying to enter the grounds and while digging up a fresh grave. Ledoux slips into the grave covered in a white sack. Stan and Ollie take Ledoux from the grave. With Ledoux's "corpse" slung over Stan's back, Ledoux's legs rip through the bottom of the sack, and he walks step for step behind Stan. Stan and Ollie realize their stolen corpse is still alive and run in panic. The chase ends when Ollie and Ledoux fall into a deep, water-filled hole.

## Trivia

* Although technically a silent film, it was released with a synchronized music and sounds effects track for theaters wired for sound.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Richard Carle as Professor Padilla
* Charley Rogers as Ledoux
* Charles A. Bachman as Detective
Duck Soup

**Duck Soup** is a *Laurel & Hardy* silent short film released 13 March 1927.

## Summary

A group of forest rangers are rounding up tramps to serve as firefighters. Laurel and Hardy take refuge in a mansion where the owner has gone on vacation and the servants are away. Hardy pretends to be the owner and offers to rent the house to an English couple, and makes Laurel pose as the maid. When the owner returns, he tells the would-be renters that he owns the house. Laurel and Hardy then flee, only to be caught by the rangers and forced to fight wildfires after all.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as James Hives/Agnes
* Oliver Hardy as Marmaduke Maltravers/fake Colonel Blood
* James A. Marcus as Colonel Blood
* William Austin as Lord Tarbotham
* Madeline Hurlock as Lady Tarbotham
* Bob Kortman as Forest Ranger McFidget
* William Courtright as Colonel Blood's butler
* Stuart Holmes

## Trivia

* *Duck Soup* was remade in 1930 as *Another Fine Mess*.
Call of the Cuckoo

**Call of the Cuckoo** is a *Laurel & Hardy* silent short film released 15 October 1927.

## Summary

Papa Gimplewart exchanges his house, in order to escape the antics of inmates of the lunatic asylum next door. Unfortunately, the new house was built poorly and quickly, in just two days. After several disasters occur, Gimplewart asks "Is there anything else can happen?" He then realizes that the inmates from the asylum have just moved in next door.

## Cast

* Max Davidson as Papa Gimplewart
* Jimmy Finlayson
* Charley Chase
* Lillian Elliott
* Stan Laurel
* Oliver Hardy
* Spec O'Donnell
* Leo Willis
* Frank Brownlee
* Edgar Dearing
* Otto Fries
* Charlie Hall
* Fay Holderness
* Charles Meakin
* Lyle Tayo
Rocket Wreckers

**Rocket Wreckers** is the seventeenth short in the series, *A Laurel & Hardy Cartoon*. It first aired 15 October 1966 in syndication.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie are hired to test fly a space capsule. Shot into space by a cannon, they crash land back on earth in the middle of Podunk's annual Mardi Gras celebration. Since everyone is costumed. The boys believe that they are on a planet inhabited by strange aliens.
Them Thar Hills

**Them Thar Hills** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 21 July 1934. The story is continued in *Tit for Tat*.

## Summary

On the advice of a doctor, Stan and Ollie travel to the mountains in order for Ollie to recover from gout. They park their travel trailer near a deserted cabin recently occupied by a gang of moonshiners who had been ousted by Prohibition authorities. The moonshiners, attempting to hide the evidence, had dumped their brew into the well, from which Stan and Ollie drink, thinking that it is healthy mountain water, remarking "that odd taste is just the natural iron in the water."

A motorist couple who have run out of petrol arrives and asks for help. While the irritable and overbearing husband walks back to his car with Stan's spare can of petrol, the man's wife, appreciating the boys' affable and respectful manners as a refreshing relief from her husband's crabby belligerence, willingly joins the boys for supper and some of the "mountain water." The husband returns with the car to find the three all roaring drunk. A "tit for tat" sequence culminates with the wrecking of the camper, Hall being tarred with molasses and feathered, with a toilet-plunger stuck to his forehead. Ollie then jumps into the well because his trousers are on fire. The alcohol in the water detonates, causing Ollie's explosive ejection, leaving him buried in the ground with his legs flailing in the air.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Mae Busch as Mrs. Hall
* Charley Hall as Mr. Hall
* Richard Alexander as Moonshiner
* Eddie Baker as Officer
* Bobby Burns as Officer
* Baldwin Cooke as Officer
* Bobby Dunn as Moonshiner
* Billy Gilbert as Doctor
* Sam Lufkin as Moonshiner
The Live Ghost

**The Live Ghost** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 8 December 1934.

## Summary

A gruff sea captain enlists fish-shop employees Stan and Ollie to help in shanghaiing men to be a crew for his next voyage. His vessel is rumored to be a "ghost ship" so men don't voluntarily enlist. The boys get each man chasing after them, but accidentally clobber the captain, so he shanghais them as well. He is so angry at the rumor that he makes a dire threat against the next man that tells him that he sails a "ghost ship".

When Captain Long gives his men shore leave, the boys opt to remain on board, fearing the men they shanghaied would seek revenge. Captain Long asks them to keep an eye on a drunken shipmate and make sure he stays aboard ship. But he sneaks off anyway, and while returning, falls into a tub of whitewash, then comes back onboard and crawls into his bunk to sleep it off. When the boys mistakenly believe they've shot him, they toss his sleeping body overboard, but he promptly wakes up and climbs back on board. When the duo next see him, they're convinced he's a ghost and run around the deck shrieking in terror.

Captain Long returns with a barfly whom he has talked into joining him, only for her to recognize the whitewashed sailor as the husband who deserted her years ago. She chases the drunken man. Already irate at this turn of events, Captain Long is further angered by Stan and Ollie both telling him that they saw a ghost. He thereupon carries out his threat: he twists their heads around so they are facing backwards. Hardy wearily utters his "Another nice mess..." catchphrase and Stan whimpers.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel
* Oliver Hardy
* Walter Long
* Arthur Housman
* Charlie Hall
* Mae Busch
* Leo Willis
Fancy Trance

**Fancy Trance** is the twenty-fourth short in the series, *A Laurel & Hardy Cartoon*. It first aired 29 October 1966 in syndication.

## Summary

Stan reads a book on hypnotism. Practicing in a mirror with a pocket watch, he puts himself into a trance. Before long, he begins acting like a dog. Ollie has to chase him all over the city.
The Hoose-gow

**The Hoose-gow** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 16 November 1929.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie arrive as new inmates at a prison, though they tell a prison officer they were only watching the hold-up raid. After attempting to escape, then surrendering after the officer shoots them in the seats of their pants, they are sent to dig ditches with other convicts on work detail. After sitting down to eat at the officer's table and chopping down a tree being used as a watchtower, they accidentally puncture the radiator in the prison inspector's car with a pickaxe and then try to patch it with rice on the advice of another convict. The rice cooks and spews out after the engine is started. This starts a rice-throwing melee with the visiting governor and his party.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Tiny Sandford as Warden
* Jimmy Finlayson as Governor
* Charlie Hall as Treetop Lookout
* Leo Willis as Leo
* Ellinor Vanderveer as Governor's guest
* Retta Palmer as Governor's guest
* Sam Lufkin as Prison camp officer
* Leo Sulky as Prison guard
* Dick Sutherland as Cook
* Eddie Dunn as Prisoner
* Chet Brandenburg as Prisoner
* Ed Brandenburg as Prisoner
* Baldwin Cooke as Prisoner
* Charles Dorety as Prisoner
* Ham Kinsey as Prisoner
* Tiny Ward as Prisoner
* Blackie Whiteford as Prisoner
Pack Up Your Troubles

**Pack Up Your Troubles** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound feature film released 17 September 1932.

## Summary

In 1917, Stan and Ollie are drafted into the American Expeditionary Force to fight in World War I. Their ineptitude during basic training antagonizes the drill sergeant and they are assigned to kitchen duties. They misunderstand the cook's instructions and empty the garbage cans into the general's private dining room. The cook, who is thrown in the stockade with them, curses their "snitching" and threatens them with violence after they are released. They escape his wrath when they are shipped to the trenches in France.

Serving close to the front line, they befriend soldier Eddie Smith, who receives a Dear John letter from his wife. When Eddie is killed in action, the boys determine to rescue Eddie's daughter from her brutal foster father and deliver her to Eddie's parents. They distinguish themselves in combat by losing control of a tank and accidentally forcing a German platoon into the open.

After the Armistice, Stan and Ollie venture to New York City to retrieve the girl and look for Eddie's parents. Using the city telephone directory, the task proves both monumental and problematic as the boys blindly attempt to visit each Smith until they find the grandparents. After taking punches from an annoyed prizefighter and disrupting a society wedding, they resort to telephoning first.

While operating their lunch wagon, the boys are approached by an unpleasant civil servant who demands Eddie's child so that she can be placed in an orphanage. The boys refuse, and the man says he will return with the police to have the boys arrested.

They try to secure a loan with their lunch wagon to finance their escape to another city, but the banker smirks that he'd have to be unconscious to make such a deal. While laughing, he topples a bust onto his own head and knocks himself out. Taking this as approval, the boys take what they need from the bank vault.

Tailed to their apartment by the police, the boys unsuccessfully try to hide Eddie's daughter in a dumbwaiter. The police bring the three of them to the banker for identification, and it is discovered that he is the Smith they had been seeking. Following a happy reunion, the banker drops the charges and invites them as his guests for dinner. When the cook storms out of the kitchen to tell his boss that he will not adjust the service on a moment's notice, he recognizes Stan and Ollie as the "snitches", and chases them with a kitchen knife.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Don Dillaway as Eddie Smith
* Jacquie Lyn as Eddie's Baby
* Mary Carr as Old Woman with Letter
* James Finlayson as General
* Richard Cramer as Uncle Jack
* Tom Kennedy as Recruiting Sergeant
* Charles Middleton as Welfare Assistance Officer
* Richard Tucker as Mr Smith Sr
* Muriel Evans as Wrong Eddie's Bride
* Grady Sutton as The Wrong Eddie
* C. Montague Shaw as Wrong Eddie's Father
* Billy Gilbert as Mr Hathaway
* George Marshall as Pierre the Cook
The Midnight Patrol

**The Midnight Patrol** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 3 August 1933.

## Summary

Stan and Ollie are policemen on night patrol. They are sent to investigate a reported break-in but while gathering the details from HQ they stumble upon a would be thief who is attempting to crack the safe of a small store. Stan mistakes him for the store owner, and assists him in the safe cracking. When Ollie enters to see what is keeping Stan, they realize that the thief is not the store owner and, rather than arrest him, order him to appear in court at a date to suit him. The boys head back to their car only to find the same thief attempting to steal it. Angered, Ollie insists that he must 'appear Tuesday' after all, a day the criminal is planning a bank robbery.

At the alleged crime scene, the owner of the mansion got locked out and so there is no actual robber or robbery at the location. The boys, unaware, break down the front door with great effort, causing a great deal of damage. They arrest the owner whom they perceive to be the robber.

The boys bring the suspect in with great praise from their colleagues, until they recognize him as the Chief of Police. Realizing their error Ollie explains that they are new. The boys flee as the Chief opens fire. The other officers then remove their hats and the Chief says "Send for the coroner."

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Officer Stanley Laurel
* Oliver Hardy as Officer Oliver Hardy
* Louise Beavers as Maid (scenes deleted)
* Harry Bernard as Jail visitor
* Billy Bletcher as the voice of the Radio dispatcher
* Frank Brownlee as Police Chief Ramsbottom
* Edgar Dearing as Policeman
* Charlie Hall as Tire thief's partner
* Bob Kortman as Tire thief
* James C. Morton as Policeman
* Walter Plinge (real name Frank Terry) as Safecracker
* Tiny Sandford as Policeman
Unaccustomed As We Are

**Unaccustomed As We Are** is a *Laurel & Hardy* sound short film released 4 May 1929. This was their first sound film, though others had been released with accompanying synchronized soundtracks for theaters wired for sound.

## Summary

Ollie brings Stan home for dinner. This surprise angers Mrs. Hardy, who storms out in a huff. Mrs. Kennedy, a neighbor from across the hall, offers to help the boys cook dinner, and they, in turn, help to set her dress on fire. Mr. Kennedy, a cop, returns home and the boys hide Mrs. Kennedy, dressed only in her slip, inside a trunk. Unaware that his wife is within earshot, Mr. Kennedy starts bragging to the boys about his "technique" in extramarital liaisons. His furious wife then confronts him about it before giving him a bit of her own technique, throwing everything within range at him. Next door, Stan, Ollie, and Mrs. Hardy continue eating while trying to ignore the crashing, banging, and shouting coming from the Kennedys' apartment. When the noise eventually stops, Mr. Kennedy arrives, battered and bruised. He leads Ollie out and beats him. He comes back for Stan, but his wife has not finished with him yet. She comes out of their apartment wielding a gigantic vase and, despite Mr. Kennedy's efforts to protect himself, she crashes it over his head, putting him out for the count. Having evaded a beating, Stan then leaves as though nothing has happened, but falls down the stairs. Ollie watches and flinches with every thump until he lands at the bottom with a loud crash.

## Trivia

* This plot was expanded into 1938's Block-Heads.

## Cast

* Stan Laurel as Stan
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Edgar Kennedy as Officer Kennedy
* Mae Busch as Mrs. Hardy
* Thelma Todd as Mrs. Kennedy