Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
This is a Laurel & Hardy short film that runs for slightly under 20 minutes as most of their works, is in black-and-white, but has sound. These two were the big exception as they managed a successful transition from silent film stars to still being stars in the sound era. The director here is Lloyd French, who worked with Stan and Ollie on several occasions and was one of the most prolific filmmakers of his time. What is especially impressive is that he only made films for roughly 15 years and yet has a body of work that includes over 100 credits. Anyway, his work "Busy Bodies" is not too funny or memorable I must say. Laurel and Hardy work at a sawmill and you probably already can imagines how much chaos they cause their. They go against themselves, against other people in this film and most of all against the inanimate objects in the sawmill. Lots of mayhem ensues. Maybe too much for 20 minutes actually. The two were in their early 40s when they made this one. Probably not among their finest works, but there is one truly hilarious moment, namely when a supporting character tells Stan that he likes his kind face and Hardy's face expression is simply priceless after that. Not enough though for 20 minutes. Not recommended.
Michael_Elliott
Busy Bodies (1933) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Classic Laurel and Hardy film has the boys working at a sawmill and you can just imagine everything that goes wrong. This is probably one of the most busy L&H films out there because there isn't a frame in the film where they aren't trying to get a laugh and for the most part they get all of them. There's a wonderful sequence where Hardy gets a brush glued to his face and Laurel, trying the best he can, goes to get it off but just creates more problems. The physical nature of the gag with Hardy getting his hands stuck in the window is also very well done. There are countless gags running throughout the 19-minutes including the classic scene where the boys get their car cut in half. All of this is surrounding by another gag featuring a co-worker who keeps getting in their way. I really appreciate how hard this film works in making the viewer laugh and it gets even more kudos for actually making the majority of the jokes work.
cfeather
This gem is pure Laurel and Hardy, no plot, just the boys having fun in a lumberyard.They use the props available to their absolute best advantage. There is very little dialogue, and it's unnecessary, as they show their tremendous ability to get laughs from the simplest situations and without engaging in vulgar comments today's "comedians" depend upon to get a laugh.This is a timeless classic. I would rank it as their best, with the possible exception of Tit for Tat, Brats and Towed in a Hole.It's unfortunate that DVDs of this classic are not readily available in the U.S. at this time.
gazzo-2
I liked the finale where Ollie goes thru those pipes and gets stuck in the wall. Good stuff! They don't really do as much w/ the premise as you would think--monkey w/ the stuck window frame here, get the car sawed in half there, get into a scrape w/ a mean co-worker, break things, etc. You know the general mayhem but not much beyond that.What works of course is their chemistry, timing, unique mannerisms, etc the whole nine yards. You don't get better than L and H when it comes to that.And like another person said, the look at the 1930's era sawmill set-up...WOW now wonder OSHA and the like came into being later on. Dangerous machinery and then some! ***1/2 outta ****
AD
