The Hoose-Gow (1929) watch online HD

An early Laurel & Hardy talkie, `The Hoose-Gow' is strongest in its first half…the pathetic attempts at escape, the sheer terror on Stan's face as he tries to dislodge the apple from his mouth, the absolute fear and despondency of two child-souls set down amongst a hardened prison population. Also priceless: Ollie's guileless explanation to guard Tiny Sanford: "Honest, officer, we were only watching the raid." Somehow, coming from Stan and Ollie, the statement rings of truth. In the work camp, things settle into the traditional Stan and Ollie mealtime gags. When they chop down the lookout's post it's another of those gags of anticipation which was such an integral part of their humor. And it's to their credit that most of the film is shot on location, something uncommonly problematic for the early sound technology of the late 20s. There is also something wistfully nostalgic about those Arcadian, windswept eucalyptus-lined locations of southern California, so unpopulated in 1929. Once they get involved in the creamed rice fight at the end, it descends into rather standard fare.

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short. Stan & Ollie have finally gotten themselves thrown into THE HOOSE-GOW. Having failed miserably in an escape attempt, they find themselves assigned to a road gang - digging ditches. Creating havoc all around them, the Boys even manage to assault the visiting State Governor, eventually involving prisoners, guards & VIP's in a frantic free-for-all with handfuls of boiled rice.

This early talkie is rather unpolished in construction, but Stan & Ollie are always fun to watch. Slapstick humor abounds, especially in the finale. James Finlayson plays the Governor.

Laurel And Hardy

Infamous for their witty sense of humor that whips you around for both, their verbal sparrings and physical sequences, this comedy duo has managed to entertain and inspire millions of viewers and comedians for their own personality and nothing else. The type of characters that they have shined their lights on, may not resonate on terms of their characteristics with you, but can easily be communicated by their deeds. And performing such simplistic persona, Laurel and Hardy has spoken a lot of the society that they resided at that era and the betterment that they seek at the end of it. Laurel using his body language often has the torch in his hand, he is a type-of-bully natured towards Hardy but in a brotherly way, he also plays the smarter cookie between them, the one who is more is touch with practicality. Hardy, on the other hand, has its own rhythm to beat, he lives on his own imagination, he is more emotionally fueled and often the butt of the joke. Teaming up for ensuing chaos for themselves, the writing has always explored the nature of a being, to its best and is its primary armor to draw in the dramatic impact on their audience. Their knack of animating themselves on the gags; something that comes up when they are deep into it and have been exaggerating for a while, doesn't come off as they anticipate every time.

The Hoose-Gow

It not only has an intriguing idea behind all the chaos, but the chaos itself is smartly caught fire in this forest of Laurel and Hardy. Yes, it's final act is disappointing and it doesn't have any gist or whatsoever definite point to end on. But the otherwise effect is spectacular from to the point antics to no more relying upon the explanation, this is fast paced and lofty screenplay performed brilliantly by themselves.

This is a very funny 1929 L&H comedy short. I watched the colorized version at YouTube. .......The boys begin by being transported to a prison(hoose-gow), along with a bunch of other men who were all arrested together for some illegal activity, in a police raid. The boys protested they were but innocent bystanders, but the judge ruled otherwise........Ollie managed to sneak in 2 green apples they are supposed to throw over the wall as a signal for some friends to throw a rope ladder over the wall(How are they supposed to know in what section of the wall this will take place?) But, a guard sees them talking about the apples, and demands they give them to him. He throws one over the wall(why?), and a rope ladder soon appears. The guard climbs it, and chases the men away. But, somehow, the boys end up outside the prison wall, anyway. They run, but a guard sees them and shoots them both in the rear with a shotgun. They return........They join a work gang, digging ditches. For some reason, the 2 work too close together, allowing interference. You can imagine what mischief they get into with their pickax and shovel. Ollie received a real wound in the rear from Stan's pickax........Come lunch time, the boys are very slow to get to the mess area. Hence, there is no more room on the benches. One inmate tells them that's their table over there. The sit at the small table, set for 2 people(but there is only one overseer). Stan opens the pepper shaker and sprinkles a little pepper in his soup. But, he doesn't screw the cap back on. Ollie holds it over his soup, and all the contents spills into his soup.(They had done this gag previously, in the silent short "You're Darn Tooting")........After the overseer scolds him, they ask the cook how they can get some food? He tells them to gather some firewood: the more they gather, the more food they will get. So, Ollie suggests they chop down the tree next to the cooking tent(Green timber for a cooking fire?). This tree happens to contain a lookout station in the top, which they don't see. Also, why don't the cook and other inmate see or hear the chopping? Of course, it falls in the middle of the cook tent........ In the next frame, they're back digging ditches, and again get into trouble because they are too close to each other. Stan again puts a big rip in Ollie's jacket(They are wearing their usual street clothes!). Angry Ollie throws Stan's pickax far away. Unfortunately, it lands in the radiator of the car that brought the governor(James Finlayson) and entourage for a visit. A leak sprouts, so what are the boys to do? One inmate recommends they pour some rice in the radiator to stop the leak. Somehow, they obtain a partial bag of rice from the destroyed cooking tent, and pour a bunch in. Soon the leak stops. The governor and entourage are ready to leave. When they warm up the car, a thick slurry of rice and radiator fluid emerges from the top, which the boys had neglected to screw on. A guard starts a rice brawl by pushing Stan into a bunch that had fallen on the ground. Stan retaliates, but hits the wrong person in the face. Soon, the others, including the ladies, are embroiled in a brawl. Very funny! I'll leave the remainder of the finale for you to see.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. Didn't find 'The Hoose-Gow' as one of their best and a bit disappointing compared to their late 1928 and previous 1929 efforts, which were among their best and funniest early work. It is still good with a lot of great merits.

It may not be "new" material as such, some rather familiar material here and the first part takes a little bit too time to get going.

Compared to the late 1928 and previous 1929 output, it is a little on the subdued and bland side, contrary to the insane craziness and wacky slapstick that was properly starting to emerge.

When 'The Hoose-Gow' does get going, which it does do very quickly, it is good enough fun, not really hilarious but never less than amusing. It is never too silly, the energy is there and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be new but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive.

Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'The Hoose-Gow' we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'The Hoose-Gow' looks mostly good visually (even if the polish is not always there), has energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. The supporting players are solid.

Overall, very good. Not essential or classic Laurel and Hardy but hardly disgraces them either. 7/10 Bethany Cox

"The Hoose-Gow" is an American 19-minute live action short film from 1929, so this one will have its 90th anniversary next year. It is one of the earlier sound films starring Laurel and Hardy and it is a black-and-white film of course too. Don't be fooled by versions out there that include color, which was added later on, but to me did not have a positive impact on the film. Like several other Stan and Ollie works, this one here was made by the unluckily short-lived Parrott and Walker and our duo of "heroes" here ends up arrested and at jail. But they are not really behind bars here, but basically doing prison labor on the outside where they are causing more harm to each other and t o the guards of course than really to any of the other inmates. I have seen quite a few Stan and Ollie shorts and this one simply wasn't funny enough for me to say it is among the better ones. The element of effortlessness, which is so strong in many of their works, feels missing almost entirely here, it all seems so forced, almost try-hard. At times, this one reminded me a bit of a Three Stooges short film in terms of the plot and general approach and as I am not the biggest fan of the trio by any means, this should not be seen as a compliment. So yeah, I wanted this one to be better. It's not even among the better works from Laurel and Hardy's sound film period. Do not watch.

Laurel and Hardy are already in enough trouble, having been falsely arrested and sent to prison where they should be released just so they don't accidentally burn the prison down. They end up on a chain gang, try to chop a tree down that has a prison guard attached to it, and overfilling the governor's car up with gasoline with amusing results. This was two years before they starred in their first feature, "Pardon Us", a more detailed prison comedy. While photographed by George Stevens, this has some creaky moments of little sound, but that wet goo fight at the end is straight out of the keystone cops. A disturbing visual has Laurel's mouth stuffed with a whole apple which he can't get out and had me cringing.

James Parrot's short film The Hoose-Gow opens with Laurel and Hardy being trafficked to prison after being mistaken for involvement in a hold-up. The two spend their days digging ditches, cutting down trees, and doing the hard manual labor in prison with the comedic longevity expected from two of the greatest masterminds in silent/talkie comedy. The two manage to get themselves into enough physical pain and trouble that makes up for their false prison sentence, but the two push on and try to pay their dues, even if it results in grave injury.

This is one of the first times I've seen where slapstick really works for Laurel and Hardy. The Hoose-Gow doesn't make much of an effort to incorporate a lot of verbal wit, and instead, emphasizes the physical elements. For some reason, perhaps the result of a mood-change or an unconscious desire, I was pleased by the slapstick here, especially during the scenes when Hardy is attempting to cut down a tree and Laurel keeps getting in the way, nearly missing the sharp blade of the pickaxe. Scenes like that provide for slapstick that almost seems improvisational rather than a copout for screen writing.

One can tell, however, this is an early sound-short because of the lack of formal dialog. The Hoose-Gow could've really been a silent short and simply had the timely luxury of being able to be produced with sound. My only assumption to the lack of real conversation was writers at the time, in this case, H.M. Walker, who wrote most of Laurel and Hardy's short films, was just getting used to screen writing with audible dialog, making the early sound-shorts lack the kind of leisurely- paced dialog that would be present in Laurel and Hardy's later shorts. It's not a particular flaw, just a difficultly in adapting on part of the short's crew, but it would've made for a more witty short.

Yet The Hoose-Gow accomplishes a feat I never really thought possible with Laurel and Hardy shorts, which is make them more slapstick driven than dialog driven and have them turn out successful. For that, the film deserves a huge plus, and the fact that this is the most active I've seen both men in any project only adheres to their credibility has fantastic physical performers.

Starring: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Directed by: James Parrot.

Despite their protestations of innocence, Laurel and Hardy find themselves on a prison working on a prison road crew where they make a shambles of an inspection visit by the governor.

"The Hoose-gow" was Laurel & Hardy's sixth talkie short and a step in the right direction in recovering the energy and verve of their best silent shorts. Shot almost entirely outdoors, this film doesn't have the claustrophobic, studio-bound feel that hindered some of their earlier talkies. The sound mix must have had some level of sophistication. Look at some of the road crew scenes. The wind is whipping up the branches on some of bushes right behind them. With the microphones of the time, that dialogue must've been unusable. The dubbing was fine.

The plot of the film is simple but serviceable. Nothing new, but nice. It works its way to a nice, rice throwing battle, which, if not on the level of "Two Tars" or "Big Business," is certainly adequate. The supporting cast is good, featuring the always reliable Tiny Sanford and James Finlayson.

Not a classic, but worth watching. Up to this point, their best talkie with the possible exception of "Men O'War."

This is an okay Laurel and Hardy film--about average overall. While the plot is a bit different than most of their films, the team did do several films where they were convicts (such as LIBERTY and PARDON US). And, of these films, this is perhaps my least favorite. It isn't because the film is really bad, but a lot of the humor isn't all that memorable and the rice throwing at the end seems very derivative--throwing pies, etc. is almost a cliché since it's been seen a lot already in older comedies. I just don't see why throwing food is funny--it just seems like a cheap laugh. If you are a die-hard fan, then this IS a film for you. For others who are not familiar with the duo, find another film first--this film isn't magical or a must-see film.

As some people have already pointed out on this page THE HOOSE GOW isn`t by any means the best of the L&H shorts , and when I saw it last week BBC 2 made the error of showing it after THE LAUREL AND HARDY MURDER CASE which is my all time Stan and Ollie short

Not to be too negative the action starts with a van arriving at a prison and thus we arrive at the start of the story . This is a better opening than a few other of these shorts where Stan and Ollie bumble around for a few minutes in a scene that has nothing to do with the rest of the story . I could be cruel and point out the character interaction is somewhat confusing since a fellow prisoner tries to get Stan and Ollie out of the clink then plays a practical joke on them with the warders table , but like I said that would be cruel and when you stop to think about it maybe the worst thing that could happen to someone in the American penal system in the 1920s is having Stan and Ollie as cellmates . Imagine Chris Keller and Vern Shillinger from OZ walked into this Laurel and Hardy story !

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history, and deservedly so, so I am happy to see any of their films. A police patrol car pulls into a prison, and all new inmates get out, with Stan and Ollie in amongst them fidgeting over each other. Getting out, they explain that they were only watching the raid that got them in this situation, and a little kick fight (started by Ollie trying to shut Stan up) gets the Warden (Tiny Sandford) a kick too. Then Ollie explains a secret plan he has made with another prisoner, involving oranges thrown over the wall to get a rope ladder. The Warden spots these oranges, gets the boys to get rid of them, and the last in Stan's mouth is swallowed with a hard pat on the back. An orange is thrown over the wall, and the rope ladder is dangled, and the Warden chases the danglers outside the door away, and with the door open the boys run to escape, only to return with powder burns on their backsides from a gun shot. Next we see the boys on the side of the road with pickaxes, with Stan continually sticking his in Ollie's coat, and still he gets hit when he gives Stan a spade. The bell rings for a food break for all prisoners, and when the boys have nowhere to sit, they mistakingly get the Warden's table, have some pepper trouble, and are shouted away. The only way to get their food is to get loads of wood for the chef, and they find a tree to cut down, which they don't realise has a Treetop Lookout post and guard (Charlie Hall) at the top, so both fall into the below gazebo. Then everyone gets back to work with the Governor (James Finlayson) coming to inspect, and when Ollie gets his coat ripped again, he manages to throw Stan's pick-axe into the Govenor's car radiator. To stop the leak of gas a prisoner suggests filling it with rice, and this seems to work until the car starts to drive and the radiator erupts with this gas/rice mixture. The Warden pushes Stan in the mound of mixture as lesson, and Stan throws some in his face, and throwing back the Warden manages to hit the Governor. So the Governor accidentally hits Ollie, and soon enough everyone including the two women in the car, other prison staff and all the inmates are throwing this mixture at each other. With this chaos going on, the boys run away, and the Warden and Governor decide to get the Manager to stop the whole thing, and they reverse a car into a cart carrying barrels of white paint, which spills on the boys hiding in the back of the car. Filled with wonderful slapstick and all classic comedy you could want from a black and white film, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Good!

Despite claiming to be innocent bystanders when a raid occurs, Laurel and Hardy are sentenced to jail time along with the criminals themselves. Despite trying to reason with a guard they find themselves working a gang digging ditches all day every day.

Any short film that needs a great deal of set up before it actually starts going anywhere, is asking for trouble. On the surface that may not totally be the case here but I suspect it is one of it's weaknesses. The plot here sounds good but it has a few little unnecessary things that are needed to get it to it's original idea (I assume) which is the prison gang.

Once it reaches this stage it is funny but never feels like it reaches a peak. Individual moments are good but it doesn't have any really good sequences – I found the rice fight to be so-so rather than hilarious I'm afraid.

Laurel and Hardy are good of course but they seem to be hampered by a film that requires them to do things that aren't funny just to set up a joke that is funny. This split of time is almost 50/50 so the result is that the film doesn't seem to be as full and lively as their shorts are normally. Finlayson is usually my favourite support actor in the Laurel and Hardy shorts but here he doesn't get to do his trademark moves and is more of a straight man than a part of the comedy.

Overall this is still worth watching but I thought it was one of those rare occasions where the duo simply couldn't stretch the central idea to cover the whole short.