Main Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Patricia Ellis, Billy Gilbert
Release Year: 1938
Country: US
Run Time: 75 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Twenty years after the Armistice, doughboy Stan Laurel continues guarding a trench in France--simply because no one told him the war was over. His rescue coincides with the first wedding anniversary of his old pal Oliver Hardy. Heading to town to pick up a gift for his wife (Minna Gombell), Ollie discovers that Stan has been located and is now residing at the Veteran's Home. The two buddies share a warm reunion, whereupon Ollie invites Stan home to enjoy a "big thick juicy steak" prepared by Mrs. Hardy. As a result of Ollie's hospitality, Stan inadvertently wrecks Ollie's brand new car; the boys spend half the afternoon trudging up and down 13 flights of stairs; Ollie gets into a fight with belligerent Jimmy Finlayson; Mrs. Hardy angrily walks out on her husband; the boys manage to blow up the kitchen while preparing their own meal; and Hardy's beautiful next-door neighbor (Patricia Ellis) ends up minus her dress in Ollie's steamer trunk, with both Mrs. Hardy and the neighbor's husband, big-game hunter Billy Gilbert, converging upon our bethumped heroes. Essentially a remake of the 1929 Laurel and Hardy two-reeler Unnaccustomed as We Are, Block-Heads is a brilliant parade of virtuoso comedy turns. The best bits of business include the mountain of bean cans representing Stan's two decades in the trenches; the "white magic" gags involving Stan's pulling down the shadow of a window shade, producing a glass of water from his pocket and smoking his thumb like a pipe; and an uproarious "black" joke involving Ollie's mistaken belief than Stan has lost a leg in the war. The film sustains its high level of humor for 56 of its 57 minutes, faltering only in its disappointing closing gag (borrowed from the 1928 short We Faw Down). Among the writers of this chucklefest was former silent comedian Harry Langdon. Erroneously announced in 1938 as Laurel and Hardy's final feature, Block-Heads was indeed the last of the team's genuine classics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Block-Heads is a delightful Laurel & Hardy excursion, an expansion of their earlier short Unaccustomed As We Are that suffers nothing in being lengthened. As with most Laurel & Hardy outings, Block-Heads is essentially a string of gags assembled in some sort of a framework. In the case of Block-Heads, this is a very simple but sturdy framework, and that adds to the strength of the film; everything fits together, but the structure still allows the boys to wander a little outside the plot boundaries for a good gag. And there are plenty of good gags here, from the mountain of empty bean cans that mark the passage of time for Laurel to the surrealistically funny "shadow shade" pulling. The attempt to climb 13 flights of stairs, which could become monotonous in other hands, is a delight here, as is Laurel's handmade (literally) pipe. Perhaps the most surprising sequence comes early on, when the duo meet after a 20 year absence and Hardy mistakenly believes his pal has lost his leg due to the war. It's hysterically funny, yet the "darkness" of the situation makes it also a bit shocking -- and all the more memorable therefore. (The original ending of the film -- in which we see big game hunter Billy Gilbert, mad at the pair because he thinks they have been behaving improperly with his wife, at home with their heads mounted on his wall, prompting Hardy to give out with his traditional "another fine mess" line -- was apparently considered a little TOO dark and was cut before the film was released.) Block-Heads is a sheer delight, and an excellent introductory film for those who haven't been exposed to the hi-jinks of the legendary comedy duo. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
The film opens in the trenches of World War I where Ollie, Stan and the rest of their army company are ready to go 'over the top', but Stan is ordered to stay behind to guard the trench. Stock scenes of fighting are then seen followed by the caption 'Armistice'. Twenty years pass, and Stan is still guarding the post, as shown by the huge pile of bean cans he has accumulated, and the path he has worn pacing back and forth on guard. He is found by accident (after firing on a plane he sees approaching) and is brought home, feted as a hero. Ollie who has been married for a year to the formidable Mrs Hardy (Minna Gombell) sees him in a newspaper and visits him in the veterans home. He finds Stan in a wheelchair, having apparently lost a leg and invites him home. However Stan is in fact just resting in another veterans wheelchair and Ollie only finds out he still has both legs after pushing him around in the chair and then carrying him. Ollie, angrily: "Why didn't you tell me you had two legs?" Stan: "Well, you never asked me." They reach Ollie's automobile which he says belongs to his wife and is 'practically new' but it is boxed in by a dump truck. Stan climbs into the cab to move it and inadvertently operates the dump mechanism, burying the car in sand and leaving only Ollie's head exposed. It is then completely wrecked when Ollie demonstrates the automatic garage door at his home and allows Stan to drive the car in to test it.
There is then a lengthy scene of the pair attempting to climb 13 flights of stairs to Ollie's apartment because they think the elevator is out of order. They are resting near the top when a top hat wearing man with a cane (James Finlayson) insults Ollie leading him to challenge him to a fight outside and they return down the stairs picking up spectators along the way. After settling the disagreement the pair finally reach the top of the stairs where they run into a brattish kid with a football. Ollie throws his ball down the stairwell where it hits the face of a man speaking on a telephone at reception. The kids burly father emerges and orders Ollie back down the stairs to fetch it. After a 'tit-for-tat' fight with the father the ball is thrown down the stairwell again and hits the man in the face a second time. When they finally reach the apartment Ollie's wife wants Stan to leave immediately as she is disgusted with the bums he brings home. When food is demanded she walks out leaving Ollie to prepare a meal for Stan but the pair only succeed in blowing up the kitchen.
Across the hall Ollie's attractive neighbour Mrs Gilbert (Patricia Ellis) offers to help clear up the mess. She is then soaked by a bowl of punch and the only dry clothing Ollie can find is a pair of his enormous pajamas. Mrs Hardy then returns because her car is wrecked and Ollie tries to conceal Mrs Gilbert by covering her with a cloth to make her resemble a chair which Stan unwittingly sits on, he then hides her inside a trunk. Big game hunter Mr Gilbert (Billy Gilbert) then arrives and the wife reveals herself after he boasts about other women and he chases Stan and Ollie back down the stairs blasting at them with a shotgun.
