Customer Reviews

Laurel & Hardy: Leave 'Em Laughing [VHS]

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This two-reeler begins in the middle of the night. Stan is suffering from a toothache, and his problem is keeping Ollie up as well. Nothing he does helps him, but predictably makes things even worse. All of the commotion in their room brings short-tempered landlord Charley Hall storming in, and the boys have a violent altercation with him that sends him off fuming. Since everything has tried and failed, there seems no recourse but to go to the dentist. (The scene in the dentist's office was later remade in their first feature film, 1931's 'Pardon Us.') Things don't look good here either, since all of the patients are being carried out on stretchers. Stan resists going in, but is dragged there anyway. He's terrified of having the tooth pulled, and to calm him, Ollie says he'll show him how easy it is. Unfortunately, the dentist, who was asked to leave the room during this, tells his assistant he's done for the day and to go in and pull the tooth of the guy in the chair. Ollie ends up being snuck up on and chloroformed, with his tooth the one that's pulled. Ollie is so furious that he gets into a scuffle with Stan, and during this they release laughing gas from one of the tubes. The two of them begin laughing hysterically, and soon two of the nurses are laughing as well. (The theme of starting to laugh and then getting more and more carried away and hysterical was to be revisited in a few of their other films, such as 'Blotto.') The boys are still laughing up a storm as they get in their car and try to drive away, causing chaos and road rage all around them, not to mention the wrath of slow-burning cop Edgar Kennedy. This is a solid comedy all around, with not a dull or wasted moment, and a great combination of both physical and situational comedy. It's also a fascinating look back at how dentistry was conducted in the Twenties. Today dentists use Novacaine instead of laughing gas and chloroform, and it's no longer routine procedure to just pull teeth that are giving one a problem instead of just drilling the cavity or infected area out and putting a filling in.

Poor Stan has a bum tooth that needs pulling and they are not having much luck at it. Ollie drags him to the dentist. But seeing
other patients being carried out of the dentist`s office, Stan isn`t having a bit of it. After a near epic battle it`s Ollie who
ends up with a tooth pulled. But after getting into the laughing gas neither seems to care much.
On their way out, badly impared by the laughing gas, they run afoul of everyone`s favorite cop Edger Kennedy.
After having all he can stand Edger decides to run them in. Taking charge of their car Edger and the boys disappear down one of those
bottomless mud puddles that can only be found in the Laurel & Hardy universe.

Laurel and Hardy are arguably the second best (the Marx Brothers are the best)comedy team ever. 'Nuff said.