Block-Heads (1938) starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Billy Gilbert
Block-Heads is one of Laurel and Hardy‘s best films, a very rapid series of funny skits, strung together with a simple story. Set in 1938, decades after the end of World War I, Stan Laurel is still in the trenches, fighting the war! He is brought home to America and given a place to stay in a soldier’s home. And his old Army buddy, Oliver Hardy, decides to pick him up and bring him to Ollie’s house for a home-cooked meal. And so, the carnage begins …
Some of their best slapstick ensues, with:
- Stan Laurel (accidentally) running over Oliver Hardy with Oliver’s car (and destroying his garage in the process).
- That causes Oliver Hardy’s wife to get angry and storm off (on their one year anniversary, no less).
- Get Oliver Hardy in a fight with perennial foil Jimmy Finlayson.
- Blow up Oliver’s kitchen (with the hilarious visual of the punch bowl being the only item to survive, balanced on one of the upturned table’s legs) which is then accidentally spilled on Mrs. Gilbert (Patricia Ellis).
- She is locked out of her apartment and puts on Oliver’s pajamas while her husband, the gun-toting (and hilarious) Billy Gilbert came home and gave the boys advice on how to cheat on their wives while his wife is hidden in a box and …
Well, you get the idea!
It’s a frenetic, fast-paced, hilarious farce. I have rarely laughed so hard as when I first saw Block-Heads, and I hope you enjoy it as much.
Funny movie quotes from Block-Heads starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
Mrs. Hardy: [adorably] And make that hour short.
James, porter: [Responding after Hardy asks if there’s anything in the newspaper] Here’s a story about a fella who spent twenty years in the trenches and didn’t know the war was over.
Oliver Hardy: [Laughing] Really?
James, porter: Yeah; here’s his picture
[shows Hardy the paper]
Oliver Hardy: [Looking at a photo of the grinning soldier] I can’t imagine anybody being that dumb.
Oliver Hardy: [Realizes the grinning soldier is Stan; does a massive take and grabs the paper back from Morton; looks directly into the camera] Oh, yes I can.
Stan Laurel: You remember how dumb I used to be?
Oliver Hardy: Yeah?
Stan Laurel: Well, I’m better now.
Stan Laurel: If you want me to go, I’ll stay as long as you like.
Oliver Hardy: But, Dear, I haven’t seen Stan in 20 years.
Mrs. Hardy: I couldn’t see him in a hundred years.
Stan Laurel: How long did you say it would take us to get up there?
Oliver Hardy: Oh, just a jiffy.
Stan Laurel: How far is a jiffy?
Oliver Hardy: About three shakes of a dead lamb’s tail.
Stan Laurel: I didn’t think it was so far.
Oliver Hardy: [Ollie’s house key, attached to his pants, is stuck in the lock, so to free Ollie, he had to remove his pants; Stan easily removes the key from the lock] Why didn’t you tell me you had the key out of the lock?
Stan Laurel: Well, you didn’t ask me.
Oliver Hardy: “You didn’t ask me”.
Stan Laurel: Gee, that’s pretty underwear.
Oliver Hardy: Don’t get personal.
Stan Laurel: Do you think your wife would mind if I smoked my pipe?
Oliver Hardy: Of course not. What’s all right with me is okay with her.
Stan Laurel: I know, but a lot of dames are particular.
Oliver Hardy: Well yes, but … What do you mean calling my wife a dame?
Stan Laurel: What’s a knick-knack?
Oliver Hardy: Oh a knick-knack is a thing that sits on top of a whatnot.
Mrs. Hardy: [coming back from the store] So you were only going to be gone an hour!
Stan Laurel: [to 901 guy] There’s going to be a fight. [To bypassers] There’s going to be a fight. [To guy going into apartment] Hey, there’s going to be a fight. [To desk guy] You better call an ambulance. It’s going to be terrible. There’s going to be a fight.
Oliver Hardy: Ha ha ha! Come see my grandfather. My grandfather left. He said, “Hello, sugar!”