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.
A vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's output ranged from above average to very good, only consider '45 Minutes from Hollywood' of their previous efforts a misfire. 'The Live Ghost' is not one of their best or one of my favourites, but it is close and is still lots of haunting fun. Their filmography was variable before 'Two Tars', from then on the overall quality was better and more consistent.
Didn't find the ending that much of a surprise, anybody who is familiar with their "another fine mess" endings will sort of know what to expect.
'The Live Ghost' is otherwise non-stop funniness from start to finish, with another one of the better first halves for any Laurel and Hardy effort from personal opinion. There is insane craziness that doesn't get too silly, a wackiness that rarely loses its energy and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be massively innovative but how it's executed actually feels fresh and it doesn't get repetitive. Love the reactions to the "ghost", hilarious indeed. On top of the comic touches, there is some genuine spookiness and suspense as well.
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 from that point and in 'The Live Ghost' we are far from robbed of that.
'The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case' looks good visually, nicely shot with some appropriately creepy touches, 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, especially Walter Long who is quite frightening here.
Concluding, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox
A vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's output ranged from above average to very good, only consider '45 Minutes from Hollywood' of their previous efforts a misfire. 'The Live Ghost' is not one of their best or one of my favourites, but it is close and is still lots of haunting fun. Their filmography was variable before 'Two Tars', from then on the overall quality was better and more consistent.
Didn't find the ending that much of a surprise, anybody who is familiar with their "another fine mess" endings will sort of know what to expect.
'The Live Ghost' is otherwise non-stop funniness from start to finish, with another one of the better first halves for any Laurel and Hardy effort from personal opinion. There is insane craziness that doesn't get too silly, a wackiness that rarely loses its energy and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be massively innovative but how it's executed actually feels fresh and it doesn't get repetitive. Love the reactions to the "ghost", hilarious indeed. On top of the comic touches, there is some genuine spookiness and suspense as well.
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 from that point and in 'The Live Ghost' we are far from robbed of that.
'The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case' looks good visually, nicely shot with some appropriately creepy touches, 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, especially Walter Long who is quite frightening here.
Concluding, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox