County Hospital *** (1932, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Billy Gilbert, May Wallace, William Austin) – Classic Movie Review 8571

‘Mr Hardy fell on his leg and was laid up for two months. Mr Laurel fell on his head and hadn’t felt better in years.’

Director James Parrott’s 1932 Hal Roach Studios black and white short film County Hospital is a pretty funny Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy two-reeler, which finds Ollie recuperating in hospital from an accident with a broken leg and Stan an accident waiting to happen to Ollie when he visits him, bringing him hard-boiled eggs and nuts instead of a box of candy, which costs too much.

There is a lot of good, funny sadistic slapstick in the first reel but, once Stan and Ollie are evicted from the hospital, things take a slight dive as Stan tries to drive Ollie home, nearly asleep at the wheel thanks to accidentally sitting on a hypodermic needle loaded with sedative, causing hilarious traffic chaos and crashing the car. Billy Gilbert shines as the doctor and so does May Wallace as the head nurse Miss Wallace, plus William A Austin as Ollie’s Hospital Roommate.

Also in the cast are Baldwin Cooke as an Orderly, Estelle Etterre [Belle Hare] as Nurse Smith, Frank Holliday as a Visitor, Lilyan Irene as a Nurse, Ham Kinsey as an Orderly, Dorothy Layton as a Nurse and Sam Lufkin as a Police Officer.

The dialogue is by H M Walker.

County Hospital is directed by James Parrott, runs 20 minutes, is made by Hal Roach Studios, is released by MGM, is written by H M Walker (dialogue), is shot in black and white by Art Lloyd, is produced by Hal Roach and is scored by Marvin Hatley and Le Roy Shield.

County Hospital is on the digitally remastered Laurel & Hardy DVD box set with Sons of the Desert, The Music Box, Another Fine Mess and Busy Bodies.

County Hospital is also on the 18 DVD Box Set Laurel and Hardy – Complete Collection : Silents / Talkies / Features / +Bonus disc.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8571

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