Them Thar Hills (1934)

Please don't spend money on this.

Let's be realistic.

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Needing a country vacation to recover from a case of the gout, Oliver convinces Stanley to take him to the mountains where they end up with moonshine instead of water and get an innocent passersby (Mae Busch) drunk, infuriating her husband and resulting in a funny sequence of gags where his attempts of revenge turn on him. But of course, this has to take a turn to give a final shot of either one of the two in an awkward situation, only moderately funny and not the gasping laugh I hoped for. Busch is cast against type here, for once not a predatory female. There's enough slapstick to keep this flowing, but I found it only mildly memorable.

One of the better Laurel and Hardy short. Hardy, with gout, is advised to take a vacation in the mountains. He and Laurel rent a small trailer and park next to a well in which some moonshiners have just dumped a lot of booze. They unwittingly get drunk and begin singing.There is a misunderstanding with a passing couple -- Bush and Hall -- and insults and injuries are traded back and forth in the usual fashion. One person stands there stoically while another slowly and deliberately dumps a can of molasses over his head. That sort of thing.In the end, Hall sets Hardy's pants on fire, Hardy jumps into the well to extinguish it, but, the well being full of booze, explodes and shoots Hardy out like a cannonball.The gags don't come lightning fast but they build on one another a bit. Amusing and undemanding sketch.

This short is particularly close to my heart as it revolves around trailer camping in the woods and mountains. Ollie is suffering from gout and the doctor recommends rest and relaxation in the mountains and plenty of fresh, clean water. Stan knows where they can rent a trailer, so they hitch up the Model T and off they go. Unknown to them, some moonshiners have been battling government men in the hills and dumped some of their illegal liquor stash in the well behind their shack. Our boys arrive on the scene after the fact and finding the place deserted, decide to set up camp and draw some water from the well. A married couple later arrives, gas can in hand, and try to buy some gas from the boys. The man goes off to retrieve the car and leaves his wife behind and hilarity ensues with her and the boys drinking the moonshine-water. The husband isn't too happy when he gets back and starts an altercation with Stan and Ollie that is simply a riot. The high point, though, is the cooking scene when Ollie starts singing and Stan tries to join in and gets clobbered with a frying pan.This one is a must have for any true L&H fan.

Stan and Ollie hire a trailer and go for a camping trip to the remote countryside , get accidentally drunk ( It can happen you know ) and that`s basically it as far as the threadbare plot goes . However the film feels more cohesive than some of the other L & H shorts which are sometimes a series of set piece prat falls with little regard to the over all plot . There`s also a very memorable ditty that goes La la la lala lala la la la Pom Pom Which will disappear into your head and then reappear in your memory sometime in the future and will have you scratching your head asking " Where does that song come from ? " Just like everyone else on this page I liked THEM THAR HILLS but wouldn`t say it`s the greatest ever L & H short . In fact I wouldn`t even say it`s the greatest short featuring Mr and Mrs Hall because the sequel TIT FOR TAT released the following year is even better