Neil Doyle If you can sit through THE BOHEMIAN GIRL without squirming, you're either better than I am at suffering the indignities of awful singing scenes or else you're a die-hard LAUREL AND HARDY fan and don't care whether the plot is insufferable or not.The gypsies here are the stereotyped kind that Hollywood and the theater invented, but this time their singing material is so bad you'll wish you could "fast forward" all the musical moments. And frankly, there are too many of them throughout the story.Rather than recount the plot, described in detail by others here, I'll just say that this is definitely not my favorite Laurel & Hardy film. In fact, I couldn't wait until the final vaguely amusing scene that takes place after the duo has been tortured. It provided the only real laugh in the whole story.Summing up: An awful mess of a film, barely watchable.

bob the moo Laurel and Hardy are gypsy's who are illegally camped on the land of Count Arnheim. Hardy's wife has both him and Laurel under the cosh and openly flirts with other men in front of him. While Laurel and Hardy are in town pick pocketing from rich men, Mrs Hardy plans to run off with her lover. When they are forced to leave the town, the caravan manages to pick up the daughter of the Count and Mrs Hardy convinces Hardy that she is his (despite being 6 years old). When Mrs Hardy does run off she leaves Laurel and Hardy to look after the girl.Having just seen `Swiss Miss' and being very disappointed, I was worried that this feature would misuse the duo as well and fill the running time with stuff that is of no value in terms of comedy. To a certain degree my fears were realised when the first 10 failed to show either Laurel or Hardy onscreen. Further to this there were rather too many songs in the film, but on the other hand Laurel and Hardy were the focus and did have plenty to do in an amusing (if unremarkable) film.The plot is pretty dumb – for the first half it appears to have nowhere to go, then it drops in a little girl which immediately tells you how the film will end – even before the `twelve years later' title comes onto the screen. However this is only mildly annoying as it only got to me in the final 15 minutes where the ending was obvious and it felt that the film just wanted to have a `plot' to justify the longer running time, and this was the best it could do (due, I suspect, to the death of Todd). But anyway, enough negativity. The actual comedy is pretty good, the routines are good and the banter between the two is quite good – a scene where Hardy's `victim' is mistaken for a man robbing Hardy is very funny!Despite being cursed with daft hair styles, Hardy and Laurel are on good form. Hardy shines especially with his to-camera looks and holds his usual character – albeit Mrs Hardy is a lot harder on him here than in the shorts! Busch was a good Mrs Hardy simply because she was funny as well as sharp. Usually the role is usually just an ogre – here it's a funny ogre. Laurel, on the other hand, has a much more outward character than usual and is more willing to stand up to Hardy – at some points didn't like this that much as it changed the dynamic between the two. Of the rest of the support cast there are mainly `straight' roles that drive the story, but the ever reliable James Finlayson is on hand with the good old `d'oh' and double take.Overall this feature still feels a little padded (so does Laurel if you look at him actually!) with songs, and the plot just sort of `happens' in the final quarter, and doesn't really work that well. However Laurel and Hardy are given the lion's share of the material and they are funny despite the lack of one or two really strong standout scenes. Not as good as their shorts or their better features but still worth a watch.

Ron Oliver Two gentle eccentrics raise THE BOHEMIAN GIRL kidnapped by gypsies, unaware of her noble birth.In evaluating this film it is important to understand that it is very different from the result first planned by Hal Roach. The mysterious and scandalous death (murder? suicide? accident?) of the leading lady late in 1935 caused extensive reshooting & reediting by the nervous Studio. Although Thelma Todd is still given third place billing, her participation has been slashed down to virtual insignificance. What a waste. This was the lovely & talented Miss Todd's final film, she was a credit to herprofession and she deserved better treatment. This probably also accounts for the abrupt cuts & scene transitions which plague the production.As a result, Felix Knight's obvious role as romantic lead was also truncated and he is left with but one short appearance, singing a melodic ballad. This is also a shame, as he was a fine young actor and he never received another good chance to become a successful movie star.The main attractions, Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy, never falter. They are hilarious even when sitting and doing nothing. Playing puckish pickpockets, they get to involve themselves in a fair amount of physical activity, which gives the viewer another opportunity to marvel at Stan's inventiveness and Ollie's remarkable grace & dexterity. Stan's latest finger trick and his attempt to siphon a barrel of wine into bottles, along with Ollie divesting a foppish nobleman of every last valuable accouterment, stand out, but only as gems among treasures.Two of the great character actors from the Boys' films of the past appear with them again. Formidable Mae Busch, making her final appearance with Stan & Ollie, plays Hardy's spectacularly unfaithful wife and suspicious little James Finalyson comes in at the end as an officious captain of the guard.OUR GANG cutie Darla Hood is darling indeed as the purloined infant. She grows up to become pretty Jacqueline Wells (an obvious replacement for Miss Todd). Former matinée idol Antonio Moreno plays Miss Busch's paramour, while elderly English actress Zeffie Tilbury brings life to the small part of the Gypsy Queen.Irish prodigy Michael William Balfe (1808-1870) composed the 1843 operetta upon which the film is based. Many of the words of the songs, especially when performed by the Gypsy Chorus, are unintelligible. However, it is good to hear the wonderful old solo ballads "When Other Lips" & "I Dreamt That I Dwelt In Marble Halls" beautifully sung.

The Mikado I have never understood the lambasting `Bohemian Girl' has received. It is not the best L&H (I leave that for others to debate, but the lean is towards `Way Out West' or `Sons of the Desert'), but it is far, far from their worst.The operetta background seemed to work as well for Stan and Ollie as the opera did for the Marxes (`A Night at the Opera'), Mae West (`Goin' to Town'), and the Stooges (`Microphonies'), giving them something different and deliberately starchy to play against.It is a shame that Thelma Todd died just about the time BG was released. Stan was said to have felt it inappropriate to show her in such a big part with her lurid death – which many claim was a mob-related murder – still heading the headlines. The Hollywood hush-hush surrounding it may have also contributed to its excising…and the sadness was only worsened by its occurrence during the Christmas season and the arrival by mail of presents to various friends (including Stan) after her body had been found. Roach himself (with the bigwigs in his corner) was said to have helped head off the DA's second inquest after Thelma's attorney had protested the suicide verdict…another reason, perhaps, behind her severely edited and retooled role. Who begs for a dark cloud?But how WELCOME to see Mae Busch back! She always worked especially well with the team and gives that extra boost to Ollie in particular that one always got from a Maggie Dumont, Jan Duggan, or Symona Boniface. Mae could play an absolute bitch, and you still loved her. The added reunion with Jimmy Finlayson was great (`Oh, my GOOD eye!' – an insider's joke that kills me every time), and we have the bonus of Our Gang's Darla as the adopted Arline. Sweet, without being cloying.One might decry songs such as `The Heart Bow'd Down by Weight of Woe,' but it's an operetta, folks. There's going to be singing.And with routines like `the eyes are the windows to your soul'; the fingers bit in the bar; the odd wrap-up gag; the wine bottling; Stan's bass/soprano switch; his search for Ollie's money; Darla's bedtime prayer; the butter churn…even something as simple as Ollie claiming to be leaving for a zither lesson and then miming it with his fingers (whereupon Stan suddenly gets it – `Oh!')…it's all great! What more could one want? They couldn't re-film `Sons of the Desert' every year! Give this baby a chance!None of the latter day Fox-MGM movies can touch it; not even the best of `Jitterbugs.' `The Flying Deuces,' unfortunately so long in public domain that it appears one is watching it through a pillowcase, is pretty good, but this one seems warmer and cinematically superior. I prefer BG to some of its contemporaries, too. I mean, take `Bonnie Scotland,' with several good scenes sandwiched between the lachrymose bits with the whiney lead. Then look at the highly Roach-edited `Swiss Miss,' which butchers a L&H song and makes us sit through Della Lind and Walter Woolf King (who is decent here, but a far cry from the love-to-hate-him Lasparri (sic))…give me a dubbed Thelma and a nice helping of Mae any day.Why complain and deride it? It's a pleasant evening, with lots of merriment. And it's Stan and Ollie in their prime, even if not in the best of their films. We should be so lucky as to have another BG filming in Hollywood today. Go jump on `The Big Noise' or `Air Raid Wardens,' if you just want to gripe.But if you want some fun, pop BG into your VCR and prepare to laugh.