Watch The Bullfighters For Free

To me, this movie is perfection.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The first must-see film of the year.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Copyright 20 April 1945 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Rialto: 11 May 1945. U.S. release: 18 May 1945. U.K. release: November 1945. Australian release: 30 August 1945. 5,613 feet. 62 minutes. NOTES: Laurel & Hardy's final American film. It may not be one of their best, but at least it fades out on the right note with Ollie exclaiming as their skeletone bodies walk towards the camera, "Well, here's another nice mess you've got me into!" COMMENT: The trouble with The Bullfighters is the story situation itself. No longer are Laurel Hardy just the amiable knuckleheads of yore, injuring no-one but themselves (and those who deserved it-the pompous, the self-opinionated, the greedy) but here they are a positive menace to society at large, directly involved in the more than slightly unpleasant situation of sending an innocent man to prison for five years. Laurel protested bitterly against this utter negation of the familiar Laurel and Hardy characterizations, and you can positively sense his disillusionment at trying to buck the system in what was to be their last American film. Stan has a dual role and Oliver has amassed a delightful rotundity of girth, but one often has the feeling that the boys are just going through the motions. Nor does the support cast come up to the standard of their other Fox features. The girls are most certainly attractive, but they have a relatively minor role, the proceedings being dominated by Ralph Sanford and Richard Lane, capable enough actors within the limits of their usual type-casting, but not the sort of personalities we are likely to enjoy throughout an entire film. Production values also rate somewhat less than in the other Fox pictures. Norbert Brodine's photography is flat and the climactic bull-fight has been stitched together with generous clips from Blood and Sand. Still, for all the film's shortcomings, Laurel and Hardy are still a delight and their routines are fairly amusing.

Way back in the day before Laurel teamed with Hardy, Stanley was quite the comic silent screen star and many of his short subjects were satires of current big screen productions. One of the best of them was Mud And Sand where Stan Laurel did a spoof of Rudolph Valentino and his role in Blood And Sand. 20th Century Fox also now owned the rights to Blood And Sand because of the great Tyrone Power sound version that had come out a few years earlier.So in their farewell film before the disastrous comeback with Utopia, Stan and Ollie did The Bullfighters where Laurel got to be a bullfighter again. And he plays a dual role the great Don Sebastian of Spain and just plain Mr. Laurel who with Mr. Hardy are a pair of private eyes from Peoria.Now if you can wrap your minds around the concept of ANYBODY hiring these two as detectives, The Bullfighters is an amusing enough film though not up to the standards of their Hal Roach work. They're in Mexico on an extradition job to bring back Carol Andrews and of course in their usual fashion make a holy hash of that.But promoter Richard Lane notices Stan's resemblance to Don Sebastian and since this guy whom he has brought over and promoted is being held up at the border. They've got a problem however in Ralph Sanford who got sent up the river on the mistaken testimony of these two lugnuts and threatens to skin them alive.The Bullfighters is amusing, especially in that last sequence when both of Laurels personas show up in the bullring with the PI from Peoria getting well fortified for the occasion. I can't blame Stan it's the only way I would go in a bull ring.You'll have to see The Bullfighters to see if Sanford makes good on his threat.

Going "Down Mexico Way" as private investigators, the boys once again are part of a case of mistaken identity with Laurel believed to be a famous (!) Spanish bullfighter. They discover that one of their old cases has come back to haunt them, a man they sent to jail for a crime he did not commit. In trying to hide from them, they decide to utilize the fake bullfighter persona, but as predicted, the real bullfighter arrives. This creates an hour of farce, some funny, but most tired. I still couldn't help but laugh at a repeat of the egg sequence from 1934's "Hollywood Party" in which a bowl of eggs is conveniently set down on a bar where it is used as a weapon between the boys and their foil (in this case the blonde Carol Andrews). There's also a similar bit with water used instead of eggs in the hotel lobby. Their antics here seem a bit tired, although there is a clever usage of special effects for the final gag that will literally leave you "rattling" with laughter.

It's no big surprise to say that Laurel's & Hardy's movies for the Twentieth Century-Fox aren't their best. This movie only confirms that. "The Bullfighters" is a decent entertaining movie but it's lacking in anything refreshing or magical, like in all of the other earlier movies always was the case.It's probably true that Laurel & Hardy should had stopped before the '40's. After that their humor became outdated, less original and it didn't come across as natural but seemed forced instead. It was like Laurel & Hardy were playing a parody of their old selves in that time period. It sounds perhaps a bit too harsh, also considering that their movie from that period were all still pretty entertaining to watch.As a standalone movie, "The Bullfighters" is a pretty decent movie to watch but as a Laurel & Hardy movie, it's a pretty bad one by their standards. The case of mistaken identity in this movie has been handled far better in the past and it doesn't work out halve as hilarious as it could have. The movie is lacking in some good original and refreshing humor and hardly features any slapstick, just some good old tit for tat routines but that really is about all. The movie offers plenty of entertainment but it doesn't all come over as terribly clever or new.The movie its very simple story also doesn't help. The movie also features many characters that hardly serve any purpose in the movie at all and only make the movie unnecessary confusing. The same goes for some needless plot lines, like the boys being two private detectives.The movie does have its good moments and its amusing ending also makes up a lot, although it comes a bit too late to completely make- or save the movie entirely.Too simple and not refreshing enough to really leave a lasting impression but entertaining enough to watch, nevertheless.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/