Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Way back in the nineteen thirties and forties, the comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy racked up the laughs with a steady line of hit movies that offered the public fresh and original comedy during the dark days of the Great Depression. Perhaps none of their many films, however, are quite as charming and downright funny as 1937’s Way Out West.

Way Out West transports the boys back to the old west, though still in their trademark suits and derbies. It has the added benefit of an appearance by James Finlayson, a regular in Stan and Ollie’s movies, as the villain. This is perhaps one of Finlayson’s longest (and best) performances, and that alone is a reason to catch this film.

Finlayson was known as “Mr. Double-Take”, thanks to his trademark “double-take and fadeaway” routine. This was usually in response to one of Stan’s sillier moments or statements. Finlayson would nod or smile in agreement, then look away for just a moment, and suddenly turn his head back in dubious amazement with a one-eyed stare.

As the film opens, Stan and Ollie are tasked with delivering news to one Mary Roberts (Rosina Lawrence). Sadly, her father has passed away, but in his will he has left her the deed to one of the largest gold mines in the West.

There’s just one problem: Stan and Ollie have never met Mary, a fact which her guardian, saloon owner Mickey Finn (Finlayson), is all too eager to take advantage of. He tricks the boys into thinking his wife, saloon gal Lola Marcel (Sharon Lynne) is really Mary, and thus they unwittingly deliver the deed into his greedy hands.

By a stroke of luck, however, Stan and Ollie meet the real Mary-and the race is then on to recover the deed and discharge their duties correctly by presenting it to her. The results are typically silly, zany, and downright hilarious, as the boys devise inept schemes as only they can.

Way Out West is chock full of some truly outrageous comedy moments. I still laugh out loud every time I watch it, and the routines never get tired or old. The usual back and forth banter between Stan and Ollie is in top form here, as are the sight gags, one liners and slapstick. Witness one situation where the Boys, trying to get Ollie up on a second floor porch with a rope, end up stranding their mule there instead. Such delightful moments abound in this film. The battle for the map in Finn’s apartment, Stan trying to get Ollie’s head free from being stuck through the floor, and more will have you howling with laughter.

Besides the great performances and comic genius of Stan, Ollie, and Finlayson, Way Out West offers a few musical moments worth noting. An appearance by the Avalon Boys as themselves delivers a whimsical little number that becomes even more enjoyable when Stan and Ollie arrive and dance to the music. There’s even a segment where the Boys themselves sing “On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine”. Ollie actually displays a decent singing voice here, though Stan, who can’t sing at all, more than makes up for it in his usual comic manner.

Way Out West is a pure delight and probably one of the best films the team ever made. It’s as fresh and funny today as it was when it was released almost 70 years ago. If you’ve never experienced the classic comedy that only Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy can deliver, there’s no better way to discover them than with a generous dose of Way Out West. In so doing, you’ll have stumbled on a treasure far more valuable than any gold mine in the West.

Other Laurel and Hardy Films:

Saps at Sea

March of the Wooden Soldiers

Bonnie Scotland

Pack up Your Troubles

Sons of the Desert

Swiss Miss

Pardon Us

For Love or Mummy




Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8