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. Professor Padilla (Richard Carle) wants to startle people with his new medical theory, but he needs a human body in order to do so (maybe like Frankenstein). Then Stan and Ollie comes knocking at the door asking some for some buttered, and the Professor offers them $500 if they go and get a body from the graveyard. Posing as the butler, police officer Ledoux (Charley Rogers) his department to come and take the Professor away, and while they do that he is going to deal with the boys himself. The boys are walking to the graveyard carrying a lamp, a shovel and a body bag, Stan does question whether the Professor is cuckoo, Ollie assures him he is just as sane as them. To check where they are Ollie climbs a near white pole all the way to the top, that is when he is Stan notice that the pole is covered in wet paint, so Ollie is covered all the way down the middle. The policeman is ready and waiting for the boys with a white sheet in the graveyard, and Stan is first to be scared out by a sneeze, but shakily goes back to start digging. The graveyard guard spots Stan digging, but is tripped over and scared away, along with Stan, by the policeman in his white sheet. The boys run away, and going back to the gate find it has been locked by the guard, so they try to find a way to hop over the wall. Ollie tries getting Stan to leap with his foot in his hands, and standing on his back, and after some failed attempts Stan finally gets over and falls into an open grave. Stan puts his lamp down on a tortoise and continues digging a grave, while Ollie looking over sees the moving lamp and screams, and Stan gets spooked by some echoing of his clap. Ollie gets scared seeing a cat run past him, and then gets smacked in the face by the shovel when Stan tries to hit a bat flying in his face. The tortoise and lamp reach the policeman crouching down, and the heat gets his backside caught on fire, and when he dashes past Stan he is so scared he leaps over the wall. Ollie decides to go over the wall himself on Stan's back, but instead he collapses the wall completely, and hurts his foot a little. Taking his shoe and sock off his slightly hurt foot, Stan continues digging and notices a wiggling toe under the near pile of earth, of its Ollie's, so runs out in pain getting a smack of the shovel. Stan going back gets scared again by the policeman holding up his white sheet, but Ollie goes in and manages to get the policeman's body, after he tumbled into the open grave. While walking, the policeman manages to tear his legs out of the bag, concerning Stan, and he also gets his hands out to scare Ollie taking his hat off. Ollie and the policeman in the bag run into a deep puddle, and after Ollie pops out of the water, the boys are running all over the place seeing the body under the bag crawling out. Filled with good slapstick and all classic comedy you want from a black and white silent film, it may slightly off tune music, but it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Worth watching!
Review of Habeas Corpus
