Customer Reviews

Laurel & Hardy: Flying Elephants [VHS]

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Stan and Ollie are cavemen in this silent farce comedy filmed in 1927. Laurel and Hardy weren't yet a team, so they appear mostly as solo characters: Stan as a sissy and Ollie as a bully. There is some decent visual humor (including a shot of the prehistoric "flying elephants"), but the soundtrack for this tape is terrible, as a single 78-rpm instrumental is heard for a mind-numbing ten consecutive times. Turn the volume down and enjoy the sight gags.

This isn`t really a L&H film, but they are both in it. Filmed in 1927 the boys had not yet beened teamed up together. They just
both happened to be cast by Hal Roach in this film as solo characters.
Still it`s a cute and funny film. The king of the cavemen has proclaimed that every young caveman be married and they set off in
search of prehistoric love with comic results.

This two-reeler is interesting in that it was released in 1928, after the boys had finally permanently been teamed, though they're back to acting like they're not a team in this one. They're in the same picture but on opposite sides and don't even appear together that often. It's also bizarre for the subject matter (prehistoric days), as well as how in many ways Stan and Ollie act the opposite of the screen personae we've come to know and love. Ordinarily I love when Stan acts the opposite of his character, for once sticking up for himself and appearing smarter than Ollie, but here it just doesn't go off well. The plot is one that's been done in a number of other comedy shorts, both before and since. The ruling caveman has decided that everyone is to be married very soon, or else, and this causes every caveman to rush to seek a wife. There are some interesting moments, such as the cavegirls dressed in flapper attire, prehistoric style, the presence of Jimmy Finlayson, and some of the antics with the various animals roaming about, but ultimately it's just not very memorable or one of their stronger pre-teaming shorts.