Way Out West ***** (1937, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Sharon Lynn) – Classic Movie Review 433

Directed by James Horne, Laurel and Hardy’s 1937 peerless spoof Western is a blissful 65 minutes of vintage comedy cinema.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy get to sing their hit song On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine as they go West to hand over the deed to a valuable gold mine to Mary Roberts (Rosina Lawrence), the daughter of their deceased prospecting partner Sly. But the duo are waylaid by crooked saloon owner Mickey Finn (James Finlayson), her evil guardian, who is determined to have the gold mine for himself and his saloon singer wife Lola Marcel (Sharon Lynn[e]). Stan and Ollie have never seen Mary, so Lola pretends to be her and they give her the deed.

Lola: ‘Tell me about my dear, dear daddy. Is it true that he’s dead?’ Stan: ‘Well we hope he is. We buried him.’

When they meet the real Mary Roberts, Stan and Ollie have no deed to give her but they plan to get it back. Stan tells Ollie: ‘We’ll get that deed back or I’ll eat your hat!’

Stan and Ollie take a break along the way West to perform On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine in the most charming, amusing relaxed style in the saloon. Bliss! On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine was released as a single and was a chart hit in the UK towards the end of 1975. The movie sequence where they sing it played as a video clip on TV’s Top of the Pops! When at the end of the song Laurel’s voice switches to a deep bass and then a high falsetto, it’s dubbed by co-stars Chill Wills and Rosina Lawrence.

This Western spoof stakes its claim to being Laurel and Hardy’s funniest feature film, as recognised with its dubious honour of bring the first Laurel and Hardy film to be computer colourised in the 1980s. It sees them at their very best, with its happy spirit, an endless chain of funny gags, its fast pace and the delightful musical interludes. And, above all, Stan and Ollie are on their top form.

Written by Jack Jevne, Charles Rogers, James Parrott and Felix Adler, produced by Laurel and Hal Roach, it was released to mega business by MGM studios. It’s their only film that reads ‘A Stan Laurel Production’.

Other songs: Will You Be My Lovey-Dovey?, At the Ball That’s All, I Want to Be in Dixie and Bohemian Girl.

Spoofing Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night, Laurel rather worryingly flags down a coach by baring his leg.

Homer Simpson’s famous ‘Doh’ came about because Dan Castellaneta knew that James Finlayson said that in his movies, and he says that here when he accidentally fires his rifle in bed.

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© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 433

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