''The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case'' is a

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

released in 1930. It is one of a handful of three-reel comedies they made, running 28 minutes. It was directed by

James Parrott James Parrott (August 2, 1897 – May 10, 1939) was an American actor and film director; and the younger brother of film comedian Charley Chase. Biography Early years James Gibbons Parrott was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Charles and Blanch ...

, produced by

Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...

and distributed by

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

Plot

Laurel and Hardy are seated at a dockside where Stan is fishing. Ollie sees a notice in a

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

which says one Ebeneezer Laurel has died and left a large estate. Parties interested in the estate should go to the Laurel mansion for the reading of the

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

. Stan can't remember if Ebeneezer is a relative or not but they decide to go to the mansion anyway. They arrive during a

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

and discover that Ebeneezer had been

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

and that the police had placed the notice in the newspaper to draw all of the relatives together to find out who committed the crime. Stan and Ollie are shown to a bedroom to sleep overnight, which is the room in which Ebeneezer was murdered. They hear a strange noise and in the darkness see a pair of eyes which turns out to be a cat. They then hear a scream and decide to investigate. Meanwhile, the butler is calling all of the relatives to a

study Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Observational study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study (art), a drawing or series of drawi ...

telling them they have a telephone call. After sitting in a chair and lifting the receiver, the lights go out, there is a scream and a sound like a door slamming; and the relative is never seen again. Stan and Ollie return to their bedroom and get into the bed but a bat has flown into their room and is under their covers, which causes them to panic and run downstairs. All of the other relatives have now disappeared and the butler calls Stan and Ollie to take a telephone call in the study. Ollie sits in the chair to take the call; this time, however, the lights stay on and it is revealed that the chair is affixed to a

trapdoor A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door in a floor or ceiling. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time. The trapdoor has played a pivot ...

into which each of the other relatives vanished. Ollie falls through the trapdoor, but is saved due to his having become wedged in the chair. The murderer (a man dressed in drag) appears through a

secret door Michael "Mike" Morhaime (born November 3, 1967) is an American video game developer and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dreamhaven, located in Irvine, California. Morhaime is best known as the co-founder and th ...

with a knife. A fight ensues, but then Stan and Ollie both wake up from a

dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

, fighting over Stan's fishing line at the dockside and then falling into the water.

Cast

Cultural significance

This is the first film where Oliver says "Here's another ''nice'' mess you've gotten me into". The phrase is commonly misquoted as "Here's another ''fine'' mess you've gotten me into" and has passed into everyday usage. This first episode for the 1930–31 season had orchestral music scoring in places and no background music in others.

Leroy Shield Leroy Bernard Shield (October 2, 1893 – January 9, 1962) was an American film score and radio composer. He is best known for the themes and incidental music he wrote for the classic Hal Roach comedy short films of the 1930s, including the ''Our ...

tunes by now were featured in Hal Roach's

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the ...

, and were tried in a few previous Laurel and Hardy films. These tunes would be featured from this time on, beginning with their next episode

Another Fine Mess ''Another Fine Mess'' is a 1930 short comedy film directed by James Parrott and starring Laurel and Hardy. It is based on the 1908 play ''Home from the Honeymoon'' by Arthur J. Jefferson, Stan Laurel's father, and is a remake of their earl ...

Influences and title

* The film is a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

of the silent

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

'' The Cat and the Canary'' (1927). * The film is also a parody of a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

called '' The Bat'' (1926). * The film name may be a play on words from the film ''

The Canary Murder Case ''For the film adaptation see The Canary Murder Case (film)'' ''The Canary Murder Case'' (1927) is a murder mystery novel which deals with the murders of a sexy nightclub singer known as "the Canary," and, eventually, her boyfriend, solved by Ph ...

'' (1929), and other titles based on

Philo Vance Philo Vance is a fictional amateur detective originally featured in 12 crime novels by S. S. Van Dine in the 1920s and 1930s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, films, and radio. He was portrayed as a stylish—even foppish— ...

mystery novels, although the films' plots are totally different. The dash in place of an ampersand may also indicate that the title derives from the Hall-Mills murder case, a high-profile New Jersey murder trial that dominated newspaper front pages throughout much of 1926. * The 1943

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

animated short Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

directed by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American a ...

, ''

Who Killed Who? ''Who Killed Who?'' is a 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film noir animated short directed by Tex Avery. The cartoon is a parody of whodunit stories and employs many clichés of the genre for humor; for example, the score is performed not by the MGM o ...

'', borrowed imagery, characters and situations from the film. * ''

If a Body Meets a Body ''If a Body Meets a Body'' is a 1945 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 86th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starri ...

'' (1945) with

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

has a similar plot, and also features actor

Fred Kelsey Frederick Alvin Kelsey (August 20, 1884 – September 2, 1961) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. Kelsey directed one- and two-reel films for Universal Film Manufacturing Company. He appeared in more than 400 films be ...

. * The opening title says that "Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy had been looking for work since 1921" which was the date their first short film was made.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laurel Hardy Murder Case, The 1930 films 1930 comedy films 1930s American films 1930s comedy horror films 1930s English-language films American black-and-white films American comedy horror films Comedy mystery films Films directed by James Parrott Films scored by Nathaniel Shilkret Films set in country houses Films set in the United States Films with screenplays by H. M. Walker Laurel and Hardy (film series) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films Parodies of horror