Sons of the Desert (1933) starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charlie Chase, Mae Busch
I can honestly say that Sons of the Desert is one of my favorite Laurel and Hardy films. It begins with the boys, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, attending a serious meeting of their club, the Sons of the Desert, who are giving a solemn pledge that they will attend the upcoming convention in Chicago. Stanley is hesitant, but browbeaten by Ollie and the others into promising; he hesitated because he didn’t know if his wife would let him go.
On the ride home, the bombastic Ollie declares that he’s the king of his castle, and he doesn’t ask his wife, he tells her! Until, of course, they’re home, and Oliver’s wife (Mae Busch) tells him in no uncertain terms that they’re going on the trip to the mountains that they’d been planning. It’s a very funny scene, as Olive s quickly deflated by his wife. He’s the brunt of the physical humor as she throws virtually everything breakable at him.
Not about to let that get in the way, Oliver concocts a scheme where he pretends to have a nervous breakdown and has Stanley bring a “doctor” to diagnose him and prescribe a trip to Honolulu. Stan brings a veterinarian, and the entire scene is a classic of slapstick, with Ollie’s pan of hot water for his feet turning into a wonderful comedy prop. Despite everything, Oliver manages to bamboozle his wife into sending himself and Stan to “Honolulu” – which is the excuse that they need to attend the Chicago convention.
At the convention
At the convention, Stan and Laurel have a good time, running into the stereotypical obnoxious conventioneer, played with gusto by Charley Chase, who after playing a few pranks on Stand and Ollie, calls his sister, who lives in the same city as the boys, and has Ollie talk to her – only to realize that he’s talking to his wife! That makes his wife suspicious, but her suspicions are forgotten when she hears the news that the boat that the boys are supposed to be returning on has been lost in a typhoon.
Stan and Ollie and blissfully ignorant of this. They return home with pineapples and leis, not realizing where their wives are …. Until they see a newspaper talking about the disaster at sea – and hear their wives returning. Desperate, they dash into the attic to hide. Meanwhile the wives try to support each other in their time of trouble … Not knowing if their husbands are alive or dead. The girls decide to go out to the movies to get their minds off the situation. And the boys decide to make themselves as comfortable as possible in the attic since they’ll be stuck there overnight.
The newsreel reveals …
While at the movies, however, they see a newsreel (a precursor to the evening television news) where they show footage from the convention in Chicago, starring … Laurel and Hardy! The girls quickly realize that they’ve been lied to, and that the boys are alive. And they begin to make plans for the boys’ “safe” arrival.
The boys, meantime, are trying to make themselves comfortable in the attic, unaware that the jig is up. And they’re planning to make their “surprise” appearance in the morning. They might have gotten away with it, too, except that it begins to rain strongly, and a lightning strike hits the house and follows a line to Ollie, who jumps out of bed in surprise, with the noise making the wives think that there are burglars in the attack. They investigate, with Stan’s wife in the lead, bringing her trusty rifle. Stan and Ollie exit to the roof. There, Ollie tries to talk Stan into going to a hotel for the night.
Stan, however, intends to go to his own bed and simply confess everything to his wife. Ollie blackmails him with the threat of telling Stan’s wife that he … smoked a cigarette! Stan quickly gives in, and they shimmy down the drainpipe, with Ollie landing (in a very funny moment) in the rain barrel, only to be seen by a police officer, who despite Oliver’s attempts at not telling anything soon takes them to their apartment, where their wives are waiting.
Waiting wives
the photographs on the wall behind him start shaking, as we hear Oliver’s wife throwing everything breakable in the apartment at Oliver, as Stan silently reacts to the noise. He goes next door to check on Oliver, sitting in what’s left of his living room, amidst a pile of broken crockery and flaunts his reward – only to be hit by a pot thrown by the jealous Ollie.
Conclusion
Sons of the Desert is one of the best of the Laurel and Hardy films, with countless favorite laugh-out-loud moments, and I recommend it very highly. I rate it (a rare) 5 clowns out of 5.
Be sure to check out the funny movie quotes from Sons of the Desert
Trivia for Sons of the Desert starring Laurel and Hardy
- The role of Stan Laurel’s wife was originally slated for Patsy Kelly. But Hal Roach had loaned her to MGM for Going Hollywood (1933), which was running over schedule. Dorothy Christy joined the cast as Stan’s wife four days into filming.
- Lillian DeBorba was drafted into filling a seat in the theater sequence. She was on the lot with her little daughter Dorothy DeBorba who was “Echo” in the Our Gang comedies.
- The “Sons of the Desert” theme song is a pastiche of several popular tunes, including “Give My Regards to Broadway.”
- The movie’s line “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into” was voted as the #60 movie quote by the American Film Institute.
- Three decades after the movie’s release, its motif inspired the creation of an “international Laurel and Hardy appreciation society”. Named after the movie and created by Stan Laurel and his biographer John McCabe.
Cast of characters
- Stan Laurel … Stan Laurel
- Oliver Hardy … Oliver Hardy
- Charley Chase (Those Love Pangs) … Charley
- Mae Busch (Going Bye Bye!) … Mrs. Lottie Hardy
- Dorothy Christy … Mrs. Betty Laurel
- Lucien Littlefield (Dirty Work) … Dr. Horace Meddick