Main Cast: Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, James Finlayson, Ben Turpin
Release Year: 1940
Country: US
Run Time: 57 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Plot
In their last film for Hal Roach, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play employees at the Sharp and Pierce Horn Factory, where the workers tend to go beserk at a rate of one per hour. Driven crazy by the cacophonous G-minor horn, poor Ollie begins to tear the factory apart, screaming "Horns to the left of me! Horns to the right of me! Horns, horns, HORNS!" Sent home to recuperate from his nervous breakdown, Ollie is told by his doctor (James Finlayson) that he is suffering from Hornophobia: "In fact, you're on the verge of Hornomania." Advised to take a restful ocean voyage, Ollie nixes the idea, noting that he hates the high sea. Stan suggests that the two of them rent a small boat and keep it tied up on the dock, so that Ollie can get all the fresh sea air he wants without ever leaving port. Alas, the boys' tiny boat is accidentally set adrift, with Stan, Ollie and escaped killer Nick Grainger (Rychard Cramer) on board. Ordered to prepare breakfast for the ill-tempered Nick, the boys hope to subdue their captor by making him a "synthetic meal": String for spaghetti, soap for cheese, sponge for meatball, lampwick for bacon, and so on. Unfortunately, Nick catches on to their scheme and forces Stan and Ollie to eat the ersatz meal themselves. The boys are finally saved from Nick's wrath when Stan remembers that the sound of trombone will transform Ollie into a fighting demon, but don't count on a completely happy ending when Laurel & Hardy are involved. Cowritten by former comedy great Harry Langdon, Saps at Sea looks more like two or three 2-reelers strung together than a coherent feature film; still, it contains some great gags, most of them taking place in Ollie's apartment, where the plumbing and electrical appliances have been bollixed up by cross-eyed janitor Ben Turpin. Though hardly a classic, Saps at Sea earned Laurel & Hardy some of their best-ever reviews, and would turn out to be their last totally worthwhile feature film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Ernie Alexander - Newsboy; Charles A. Bachman; Harry Bernard - Harbor Patrol captain; Eddie Borden - Berserk employee; Eddie Conrad - Professor O'Brien; Rychard Cramer - Nick Grainger; Carl Faulkner - Harbor Police Officer; Bud Geary; Mary Gordon - Mrs. O'Riley; Harry Hayden - Mr. Sharp; Cornelius Keefe; Sam Lufkin; Bob McKenzie - Capt. McKenzie; Patsy Moran - Switchboard operator; Gene Morgan; Patsy O'Byrne - Mother; Constantine Romanoff; Ed Brady - Extra; Harry Evans; Jack Greene - Officer; Walter Lawrence - Pedestrian; Charlie Hall - Desk clerk
Credit
Charles Hall - Art Director, Gordon M. Douglas - Director, William H. Ziegler - Editor, Marvin Hatley - Composer (Music Score), Art Lloyd - Cinematographer, Hal Roach - Producer, Walace L. Stevens - Set Designer, Roy Seawright - Special Effects, Felix Adler - Screenwriter, Harry Langdon - Screenwriter, Gilbert Pratt - Screenwriter, Charles Rogers - Screenwriter
Stan and Ollie work in a horn factory. Ollie develops 'hornophobia' and starts going crazy each time he hears horns or horn-based musical instruments. Stan and Ollie are sent home so that Ollie can recuperate. A doctor played by James Finlayson in his last Laurel and Hardy film is called to treat Ollie and, warning Ollie that he could develop a more serious condition, "hornomania," he prescribes a relaxing boattrip and goat's milk. Ollie dismisses the idea but Stan prescribes an alternative: they'll simply rent a boat and keep it attached to the dock, getting all the sea air they can while never actually going out to sea. Ollie thinks this might be a good idea, Then when Stan's trombone teacher arrives and he hears the music and throws the teacher out, he knows he should take that advice. Stan and Ollie rent an unseaworthy boat called 'Prickly Heat' that is supposed to stay moored to the dock. An escaped murderer named Nick Grainger stows away on the boat to avoid being caught by the police. The goat which they have brought to provide milk chews away at the docking line and overnight the boat drifts out to sea. Nick confronts Stan and Ollie with a gun (which he affectionately names "Nick Jr") and tells them to make him breakfast. They have no food on board so decide to make him a synthetic breakfast made up of string, soap and whatever else they can find. Nick spies on them and realizes what they are up to. He then makes them eat the fake food. Stan becomes inspired and starts to play his trombone. Ollie starts to go crazy and overcomes the criminal. The Coast Guard arrives. Stan and Ollie are in line for a reward for capturing Nick. Stan shows the coastguard captain what happened by playing the trombone again and Ollie goes crazy attacking the coastguard captain. They are arrested and put in a cell with Nick.
Trivia
This was Laurel and Hardy's last film with Charlie Hall.
This film marked the last on-screen appearance of Ben Turpin.
