Any Old Port! ** (1932, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Walter Long, Jacqueline Wells) – Classic Movie Review 7548

‘In port – Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy were just home from a whaling voyage – Mr Hardy shipped as head harpooner; Mr Laurel went along as bait.’

Director James W Horne’s mild 1932 two-reeler short film Any Old Port! finds Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy at slightly below finest level, playing whaling sailors arrived ashore, where they check into a seedy hotel called Ye Mariner’s Rest and help a pretty chambermaid (Jacqueline Wells [aka Julie Bishop]) escape from her future groom, fearsome Mugsie Long (Walter Long), the proprietor of Ye Mariner’s Rest.

Stan and Olllie flee the hotel with no money and need funds. Ollie meets a boxing promoter and volunteers Battling Laurel as their prizefighter. Unfortunately, Stan’s opponent turns out to be Musgy, so Stan finds himself boxing him at a local boxing hall for $50. Musgy uses a metal-loaded glove for the fight, but Stan ends up with it and wins. However, victory turns into failure, as usual, because Ollie has bet the $50 that he’ll lose (‘I bet on you to lose and you double-crossed me!’, says Ollie, enraging Stan).

This part-parody of D W Griffiths’s silent classic Broken Blossoms (1919) has amusing performances and some funny lines, but it is a little bit of a disappointment, particularly at the slow start and the surprisingly feeble fight finish.

Also in the cast are Harry Bernard, Charlie Hall, Bobby Burns, Sam Lufkin, Dick Gilbert, Eddie Baker, Will Stanton and Jack Hill.

Any Old Port! is directed by James W Horne, runs 20 minutes, is made by Hal Roach Studios, is released by MGM, is written by H M Walker, is shot i black and white by Art Lloyd, is produced by Hal Roach, and is scored by Leroy Shield and Marvin Hatley.

It was filmed as three reels, but the first reel, set aboard ship and featuring James Finlayson and Tiny Sandford, is lost and exists only in stills.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7548

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