A colleague of mine, knowing about my love of Buster Keaton
and especially Charlie Chaplin asked what I thought of Laurel and Hardy. I had
to admit to him that I’d never actually seen one of their films and he helped
to rectify that by lending my Sons of the
Desert, a film which he told me was one of their most accessible. Laurel
and Hardy make a pledge that they will go to the Sons of the Desert Convention
in Chicago but
have trouble convincing their wives to let them go. After sweet talking fails
to work they resort to deception but trouble is waiting for them when they get
back home.
For my first Laurel and Hardy film I was mildly impressed
but not left with an urge to see more of their work straight away. I enjoyed
the story and the characters are great but I didn’t laugh that much. Rather, I
had a satisfied smile on my face which only broke into laughter on a couple of
occasions. The naughty little boy act was quite fun and Oliver Hardy’s looks to
camera were something that seemed familiar to me despite never seeing one of
his films before.
