MovieChat Forums > Sons of the Desert (1933) Discussion > Just a couple of my favourite scenes

Just a couple of my favourite scenes

posted 18 years ago by stephen_falken
22 replies | jump to latest

Easily one of the best Laurel & Hardy films - I won't name what I think is the best since I love them all way too much.

But in this film there are so many places where I laugh so much it hurts even though I must have seen it 50+ times!

To name but two:

When Stan and Ollie are explaining how they managed to get home before the rescue ship - Ollie looks to Stan for him to confirm he's telling the truth:

Stan's wife: Stanly - is Oliver telling us the truth?
Ollie: Go ahead and tell her Stan (Motions taking a puff on a cigarette, then nods to blackmail him)

Stan's wife: IS HE???
Stan: ..... NO! (Sobbing) We never went to Honolulu at all - we went to the convention!

Another part that cracks me up is at the end with Ollie and his wife.

(After just being found out by the wives and Ollie is left alone with his there is that uncomfortable silence as she stares at Ollie)

Ollie: How about you and me take a trip to the mountains?
(She gasps then marches over to the kitchen cupboards pulling out every single piece of crockery she can find)
Ollie: You're not moving out tonight are ya, sugar?
(CRASH!!!)

Priceless!

Come on! Who else has a few favourites like this?

[–] heybhc 18 years ago

I think SONS OF THE DESERT is L&H's best feature; it combines so many elements from their great shorts and doesn't resort to adapting operettas, with the usually tired songs and extraneous love subplots. My favorite line is from the previously mentioned scene where the wives are quizzing the boys, and Stan says (in support of Ollie's story) "That's our story and we're stuck with it!"
My second favorite I guess is MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS, an operetta, but one I saw as a very small child, so it's imprinted on me. Barnaby is played by the great Henry Kleinbach, later Henry Brandon, who was so memorable as Chief Scar in the Ford/Wayne classic THE SEARCHERS, another of my favorites.

[–] emmas_place2003 18 years ago

I only saw this film for the first time yesterday and it made me laugh out loud.

I thought the funniest bit was when they had "come back from Honolulu" and were singing Honolulu baby outside Ollie's house. When they realised there was no-one in, they shuffled sideways to Stan's house and just started singing all over again!

And also when Ollie pretended he was getting a doctor out to him and Stan had got a vet instead.

An absolute classic!

[–] misspaddylee 17 years ago

I love Mae Busch's rant: "You and the rest of the sons of...oh, the sons of the desert!"

"It's as red as The Daily Worker and just as sore."

[–] MissMcCrocodile 17 years ago

Every time I see wax fruit I think of Stan and laugh out loud. EVERY TIME. I mean it.

[–] calvindyson 17 years ago

Ollie: "Now why did you hire a vetinarian?"
Stan: "Well I didn't think his religion would make any difference"

The whole thing where Ollie's pretending to be sick and they all keep falling in the tube of hot water has me in stiches everytime! The bit where Stan is trying to dry off the back of Mae's dress and Ollie tries slapping his hand away but instead slaps his wifes backside. Then she immediatly stops crying and slaps Ollie! Can't get better than that for me!

Say Goodnight to the folks Gracie!

[–] cinefool 16 years ago

misspaddylee,

That particular line always gets an extra laugh from folks I watch this film with, for obvious reasons. So does Charlie Chase's infamous "organ pumper" line!

But my very favorite moment is early in the film, when L&H arrive late for the SotD meeting, disrupting the proceedings, struggling to get through the rows of chairs, and finding seats, culminating when Stan scoots his chair over to Ollie's, crushing his fingers between the armrests!

[–] fonte-2 16 years ago

For me, easily the funniest scene (and that's a tough one since there are so many!) was the one that involves the huge bucket of boiling hot water that Ollie starts out soaking his feet in to convince his wife that he's sick. I'm in tears from that point on as Ollie ends up with his big butt sitting on Laurel's head in the bucket.

[–] aprilt89 16 years ago

One hilarious thing that Stanley kept saying was "Exhausted Ruler" instead of "Exalted Ruler" Hahaha!

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] JMPomfret 15 years ago

To best illustrate who wears the pants in the Laurel home:
1. Stan explains to Ollie why he should make his own decision and says, "If my ball-and-chain ever..." Then he glimpses his wife behind him, glaring. "...Oh hi, honey..." After the classic Laurel it-takes-a-second-to-register, he jumps up and says in his best Stan voice, "Well, I've got to go" and tries to avoid Betty's reach on the way out.
2. When they come home from "Honolulu" they are locked out of Ollie's apartment. Stan's suggestion is "Maybe they're at Betty's house." Not "my house" or even "our house".

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] stephen_falken 14 years ago

gorzecho my friend...

That was a sterling account of some of the best scenes in the movie!

I started this thread over FOUR YEARS AGO and haven't seen a great deal of replies, but it just goes to show that there are still many fans of L&H.

I'm from the UK, and went to visit the music box steps last year in Los Angeles - it was one of the most defining moments of my life!

Best Regards!

"Get busy livin' or Get busy dyin' - That's gad'damn right!"

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] snsurone 14 years ago

Very accurate, gorz, except that Ollie doesn't run after Stan.
He just beans Stan with the saucepan, and then the end credits appear.

[–] deeveed 14 years ago

And you know there was a great hit in the pix...."Honolulu Baby"...by T marvin Hatley.

"Honolulu Baby where'd you get those eyes
and the dark complexion that I idolise
Honolulu Baby where'd you get that style
and those pretty red lips
and that sunny smile

That was Ollie on uke outside the apt!.....hey they don't make pictures like this nowadays!

[–] Grendel1950 14 years ago

If you read the entire list of scenes on this post, you realize how tailored they are to the Stan and Ollie characters. No one else could get so many laughs out of the gags and dialog celebrated here. Could anyone other than Stan make "Exhausted Ruler" comic, or get a laugh like Ollie just by looking into the camera as his explanation to his wife gets him deeper and deeper in trouble? Stan knew the Stan and Ollie characters better than anyone, and knew what fit their personalities. I'll bet he threw out hundreds of gags and lines over the years that weren't "Stan and Ollie".

[–] afsnowbird 13 years ago

My favorite scene is the newsreel: Stan and Oliver marching in a parade in Chicago on the screen bigger than life when they were supposed to be in Honolulu.

[–] Grendel1950 13 years ago

Of all the classic Oliver Hardy camera stares, the one at the end as Stan is spilling the peas (in a pod-uh)is the best.

[–] AlanSwann 13 years ago

Stan sings......Honolulu baby won't you close those eyes

[–] jtyroler 12 years ago

It's not the funniest, but the movie audience's heads moving in unison during the auto race is great. Also, when Charley Chase offers L&H a cigarette, Ollie takes the case and the frog or whatever jumps out of the cigarette case. Then Stan opens it, almost totally ignores the frog, then freaks out at what is possibly his reflection in the cigarette case - that one is hilarious.

[–] jac91604 12 years ago

There are so many funny scenes. I love when they're in the attic.

Also the "you're going to the mountains" with Mae Busch.

[–] cjchamp2001 9 years ago

"Well if she didnt go to the mountains, Mohammed would have to come here". Lol