Watch The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case For Free

Best movie of this year hands down!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case is an unusual one as it is more spooky than comedy. I watched it with my nephew when he was a toddler and he really got spooked out by the butler.Laurel and Hardy go to the home on a dark rainy night of Stan's late relative, for the reading of his will. However the police are there as they believe Ebenezer Laurel was murdered.As the evening wears on things go bump in the night and when the butler announces that you are wanted on the phone, do not answer.It is a shame that pacing issues let this down a bit and the slapstick is not quiet as funny.

As a kid during the Fifties, I tried to catch as many of these Laurel and Hardy films shorts I could; they were shown on TV fairly regularly. One of Stan's quips I picked up on I used for the longest time because it sounded so funny to me, and if you asked me before today what picture it came from I wouldn't have been able to tell you. But in this 'murder' case, he comes out with the 'Septober, Octember, No Wonder' line and it managed to crack me up all over again. So I'll probably be using it again.Like most comedy teams through the decades, this one features a version of a haunted house scenario, as the boys are confined to an old, dark mansion after they become suspects in a murder mystery. One can't help but notice the over the top delivery of the Chief of Detectives (Fred Kelsey) in this one. His portrayal epitomizes what for many actors coming out of the silent era must have been the need to over-enunciate and over dramatize their role for it's intended effect on the viewer. The other character that was a real hoot here was the Laurel Mansion butler (Frank Austin). Man, didn't he just give you the creeps? That scene with the teeth was a horror film delight.The picture utilizes a lot of the standard clichés of the era; besides the creepy butler you've got your black cat, the ghost lamp gimmick and the bat in the bed sheet to keep the would be millionaires on edge. The notion that all of this might have been a dream didn't bother me here as a lot of movies have managed to do, because all those other flicks didn't have Laurel and Hardy in them. It's no wonder I could watch these guys all day.

If you love Laurel and Hardy, you'll like this! Not only is it witty, but clever as well. By this I mean to say the two silly boys show their cleverness in getting themselves out of some very witty situations. How did this pudgy-faced minstrel and his awkward looking partner ever become so popular anyway? Oh well, no matter. We shall continue to enjoy their outrageously hilarious short subjects for many more years to come. Don't miss this remarkable true story about two vagrant bums who dream up a scheme to murder their rich uncle Alfred in order to collect the insurance money. All this and more. It's an excellent film, and everyone ought to see it.

***SPOILERS FOR EMILY***This is one of Laurel & Hardy's weaker short film entries from Hal Roach Studios. It suffers from a repetitive script and an ending that feels so tacked-on that I can't help but wonder if the crew realized they were filming a mess with no good resolution.The byplay between Stan and Oliver is the bright spot, though some of the gags in the bedroom scene are a little too hokey to get much of a laugh - that has to be the fakiest fake bat I've EVER seen in a movie.The opening scene, with the Boys fishing off the pier, contains most of the movie's funniest material. You can always find something good about even the weakest Laurel & Hardy film.