Scram! *** (1932, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Richard Cramer, Vivien Oakland) – Classic Movie Review 7818

Director Raymond McCarey’s 1932 Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy two-reel comedy short film Scram! is cleverly written and carefully constructed, and of course expertly played, though overall it is maybe only mildly funny. However, it is lit up with two excellent scenes that are quite hilarious: Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy’s meeting with the drunk and the climax where they and the judge’s wife Mrs Beaumont (Vivien Oakland) collapse with tipsy laughter on the bed.

It starts when Mr Beaumont the judge (Richard Cramer) orders Stan and Ollie out of town as vagrants, but then they meet a sympathetic, congenial drunk (Arthur Housman) who invites them into his mansion to shelter from the rain. Unfortunately, in an alcoholic haze mix-up, the drunk then takes them home to the judge’s house by mistake.

When the drunk cannot find his key, Stan and Ollie find a way in, terrifying the occupying Mrs Beaumont into a faint, then reviving her with what turns out to be gin, and all end up tipsy. The drunk scarpers and the real homeowner arrives!

Also in the cast are Wilson Benge, Baldwin Cooke, Charles Dorety, Sam Lufkin and Charles McMurphy.

Scram! is directed by Raymond McCarey, 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 Leroy Shield.

On release in 1932, the film was supposedly banned in The Netherlands, where moral crusaders alleged that the scene when Laurel and Hardy lie on the bed with Mrs Beaumont was indecent.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7818

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