Steve Pulaski Hog Wild concerns Hardy, who wants nothing more than to go out on the town with Laurel until his wife insists that he install a radio antenna atop their roof. Hardy still winds up inviting Laurel over to help him with such a project, which will of course go awry in a multitude of different ways. For starters, the roof begins to fall apart due to the carelessness of the men, and eventually results in an epic (for the time), collision, sending the boys into a complete tailspin of idiocy.Hog Wild is standard slapstick Laurel and Hardy fare, but it provides for a certain kind of "one thing leads to another" setup that keeps it going longer than if it was just an assortment of gags (which it still is at times). The verbal banter between the two men is downplayed, and the only real kind of situational gag imposed is at the very beginning of the film, where Hardy is searching for his hat that he is scolding his wife (Fay Holderness) for misplacing when it is already on his head. Certain gags like this feel like cop-outs and deliberate distractions from the fact that the film has nothing going on under its head (sort of like Laurel and Hardy themselves).The short turns a bit more captivating towards the end, when all hell really starts breaking loose. Laurel and Hardy shorts have a traditional potboiler effect to their drama, where events escalate faster than the audience can keep up in the best way possible. Hog Wild has that effect in a low-key sense, making it at least marginally interesting even if the action and the wit isn't as substantial as it could be. This is a fine, effective short all around, despite lacking in the area that Laurel and Hardy are best in, which is verbal banter and quirky exchanges.Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and Fay Holderness.

Jackson Booth-Millard Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history, and deservedly so, so I am happy to see any of their films. Ollie is having a little amnesia thinking he's lost his hat, and demanding his wife (Fay Holderness) and giggly Tillie, Maid (Dorothy Granger) to know where it is, and when he does realise he hides it. Ollie says he has an appointment with Stan, but Mrs. Hardy is demanding he put up the aerial to get the radio work (which it hasn't for three months), and when Stan comes along he offers to help. After soaking Ollie putting out a car exhaust burn on his backside, Stan moves his car and they get a board to heighten the ladder to the roof. They get on the roof, and almost fall off, but Stan balancing the aerial pole like a trapeze artist, but he knocks Ollie over with the other end of the pole into the pond below. When he gets back up, Ollie nails in the first pole and trips on the aerial cable going in the pond again. On the roof again Ollie ties a rope to the chimney to stay on, and Stan gets on his back to plug in the cable on the wire, and even after doing it they both slip down into the pond, with the chimney collapsing and bricks going all over them. Stan goes into the house to connect the other end of the aerial cable, while Ollie gets on the roof, and he gets electrocuted when Stan plugs it in, making him fall down the chimney hole into the fireplace. Seeing all the trouble they are having the wife says to leave it, but Ollie is insisting they will finish. After Ollie threatens Stan, he climbs back up the ladder, and Stan accidentally starts the car. They go speeding down the road, Stan stuck in the middle of the car and Ollie up the ladder. After leaning on a passing bus, Ollie eventually falls of the ladder, and Mrs. Hardy comes along crying about losing the radio. They all get in the car, but Stan can't get it started as they are in the middle of the tram track, and they get crushed in between two trams, but they drive away in the crushed car. Filled with good slapstick and all classic comedy you want from a black and white film, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Worth watching!

Neil Doyle After a painfully dull opening joke about a misplaced hat, HOG WILD turns out to be one of the best Laurel and Hardy shorts, in a brief amount of time able to spotlight all of the silly ingredients that made them so popular in the '30s.Stan comes upon Oliver climbing a ladder to install a radio aerial at the request of his wife who wants to hear Japan.Stan asks if he can help and from then on the film is one slapstick situation after another, with Oliver getting the worst of the deal and giving the camera his special glance of despair.The rooftop happenings are funny enough but the finale with Oliver inadvertently being carried away by Stan's car while he's atop a ladder gives the ending a funny twist and some unexpected situations.Summing up: Easily qualifies as one of their best shorts.

twi-zon A lot of people consider "Way Out West" or "Sons of the Desert" or even "Flying Deuces" to be Laurel and Hardy's funniest film, but I consider this short to be the most amusing thing they ever did. From the simplest plot--Ollie and Stan try to hang a radio antenna--comes some of the funniest situations imaginable. Everything that could go wrong does, usually with Ollie blaming Stan, Stan getting emotional, and havoc ensuing. L&H had to turn out several shorts every year, so some are funny and others are indifferent at best. This time, all the elements came together wonderfully. Hopefully "Hog Wild" will wind up on DVD before they disappear. Someway, somehow, find this and watch it.