Blotto (1930) User Reviews

A Night On The Town

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 2 July 2007]

Until I watched Blotto last night I never knew how much homage was paid to Laurel and Hardy by Jackie Gleason in one of the classic Honeymooner episodes.

It's the one where Ralph invites Ed over to enjoy a bottle of wine and Alice fearing the consequences empties the wine bottle and puts grape juice in it. The two of them as Ollie would have put it, none the wiser, polish off the 'wine' and get themselves drunk on the mere power of suggestion.

It's prohibition time and the unmarried Mr. Hardy wants to go to a bring your own booze type club where they give you the set up if you bring the illegal liquor. But Stan's wife, Anita Garvin, keeps her husband on a very short leash.

That doesn't stop our clever duo who turn out not to be so clever. Anita allows them to go to the club, but spikes the bottle with cold tea.

Best scene in this short was a lachrymose tenor singing The Curse of An Aching Heart to Ollie and Stan crying in their tea.

Besides Stan and Ollie in front of the camera, Hal Roach managed to get the talents of two future Academy Award directors behind the camera. Leo McCarey co-wrote the script and George Stevens was the cinematographer.

Stan and Ollie's humor is not like that of the wisecracking Marx Brothers, nor is it finely honed burlesque routines. It depends far more on the characters created. So don't look for any clever lines here. Just look for a pair of lovable screw-ups who keep proving again and again about how smart they're not.

Little story present but more than enough laughs to compensate for this.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 7/10 · 4 January 2006]

There is little story present and the movie can mainly be split into two separate parts. The first part of the story is about Stan, who tries to sneak out of the house from his wife, to meet up with Ollie to go and have a good time in 'Rainbow club'. The second part of the movie is about Stan and Ollie, who get 'drunk' in the 'Rainbow club'. The second part of the movie is more filled with some typical good slapstick humor and hardly any words are spoken in those sequences. It's in my opinion the best part of the movie and the timing and comedy-acting is top-class!

The movie has more than enough laughs in it to make "Blotto" an entertainingly watchable comical movie with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Especially the slapstick moments make this movie a fun one to watch and are good for some serious laughs.

Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel are good as always and once more show the wonderful chemistry the both of them had together. Also Anita Garvin is wonderful in the role of Mrs. Laurel.

The movie also provides a pretty good view on '30's nightlife, when the two enter the 'Rainbow club'.

Perfectly watchable when you want to have a good and fun 26 minutes.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

"You can certainly tell good liquor when you taste it": Oliver Hardy

[weezeralfalfa · 6/10 · 23 October 2018]

Ollie utters the above line after he nearly passes out from drinking the awful tasting concoction, based on tea, that Mrs. Laurel((Anita Garvin) substituted for the liquor in her secret bottle that Stan found and stole so that he and Ollie could have a good time at the Rainbow night club. They didn't do much there except drink this stuff, and occasionally make a nuisance of themselves. The latter included Stan knocking over their table from the force of pulling the cork out of their bottle, Also, Stan ripped several items off the uniform of a waiter. Later, Stan initiated a laughithon, which Ollie sometimes joined in. But Ollie sees the wifie, siting quietly at a side table near them. She has a rifle beside her and means to use it, as she is a very jealous woman who doesn't stand for any funny business from Stan. Finally, from her table, she tells them that they supposedly got drunk on adulterated tea, instead of liquor. The boys hustle out of the nightclub, into a waiting taxi. Wifie is hot on their heels, and once out of the club, levels her rifle and shoots at the departed taxi. The taxi falls apart. Perhaps she hit the gas tank. ........The film begins with Mrs. Laurel getting mad at Stan for pacing back and forth for an hour. He says he wants to go out somewhere. Finally, Ollie calls on the phone. Stan answers, but, several times, puts the phone down. He doesn't want his wife to overhear what they have to say. Finally, wifie answers the phone and talks cordially to Ollie. Tells him that she will go to the kitchen, so can't overhear what they say. But actually, she goes to the upstairs phone, to listen in. Ollie tells Stan to fake a telegram that requires him to leave the house. Stan volunteers that he will steal the wife's secret liquor bottle, and Ollie is impressed. Stan goes through the telegram routine, even playing the part of the messenger boy, and throwing the gram in the fire as soon as he supposedly read it. Wifie doesn't object when he says the message says he has to see someone for business. Ollie shows up and hides behind the bushes. Stan says goodbye to wifie. She says goodbye to him and to Mr. Hardy, whom she sees behind the bush. This should have told them that she knew something about their plans........Incidentally, the word blotto means very drunk, a sarcastic take on the boys assuming that they should be drunk........I fault Stan for spending too much time just standing or sitting around, looking dopey, which isn't humorous to me. Also, some scenes, such as the man singing, went on too long. Thus, I don't consider this to be one of their better films. See it in color(or B&W) at YouTube

Excellent Work

[paggi2000 · 9/10 · 23 April 2006]

A very refined work by Stan Laurel and Oliver hardy in early thirties (the peak time of this comedy team). Stan and Ollie are planning to go to Rainbow Club (which is opening same night) but Anita Garvin (Mrs. Laurel) listen the conversation of both of them on telephone. Stan is telling Ollie that he cant come because he cant find some genuine excuse to go out. Ollie suggest him to send him self a telegram '' important business'' , then Ollie asks from where they can get bottle, Stan says don't worry my wife has got one , he will be blaming it on the iceman. Anita Garvin listen all their plans and change the liquor with cold tea. Wonderful expression by Stan when he wants to talk to Oliver but cant due to the presence of his wife who is sitting close to him. In the end , famous weeping and specially laughing ( that they drank her liquor) by them reflects that they were really master of humour and their records will keep on alive in generations to come. And simultaneously when Anita Garvin tells them that it was cold tea not the liquor, at that very point the transition of them from ''Laughing guys'' to the serious ones reflects that how natural they were while acting. Anita Garvin, performed her role very well, and would be remembered specially , because of her work with these comedy legends.

Fooling The Wife With Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 26 May 2000]

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.

Stan & Ollie head for an evening at a ritzy nightclub, against the wishes of a furious Mrs. Laurel. After getting BLOTTO on a mixture of cold tea & Tabasco, the Boys make a noisy spectacle of themselves. But just wait until Mrs. L. shows up with a shotgun...

A very funny little film. Highlight: Stan's laughing fit. The tearjerker sung by the crooner that gets the Boys crying is `The Curse Of An Aching Heart', a popular ballad from 1913. Mrs. Laurel is played by Anita Garvin.

Funny Despite The Weak Material

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 3 August 2003]

Oliver and Stan steal a bottle of booze from Stan`s wife and depart to a speak easy .

There that`s the plot . No seriously that`s the entire plot and it should have been awful but I spent most of the film with an amused grin on my face because it`s a show case for the infectious mirth making slapstick of the greatest comedy duo who ever lived or will ever live . There`s no reason why anyone should laugh at Stan passing a bottle to Oliver , or Stan putting an ice bucket on his head but I laughed out loud . Imagine if Jim Carrey and Chris Rock made a film where they bought some crack and decided to smoke it at an illegal drugs den ? It`s with a premise like that you really do appreciate the talents of Laurel and Hardy

Underrated.

[JohnWelles · 10/10 · 31 March 2009]

"Blotto" is one of the few underrated Laurel and Hardy shorts. Strange, when you consider that "Below Zero", one of there lesser shorts, to be much more highly appreciated. Stan Laurel in his solo scenes with Mrs Laurel (Anita Garvin) are a revelation. It is quite surprising, as you would have thought that without the other half of the duo, it wouldn't really be very funny. With so much talent for solo performances, I wonder why he entered into a partnership with Oliver Hardy? Still, the scenes later on in the film with Oliver Hardy are just as good and I can't think of any of their films (except the nineteen forties movies they made, under completely different conditions, which didn't allowed them any artistic freedom) that don't have at least a couple of riotous laughs in them. Also, its the only one of their films to have Stan Laurel married, but not Oliver Hardy. A film well worth seeing.

Very enjoyable and very familiar

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 19 October 2006]

The basic plot of this Laurel and Hardy short has been seen in movies and especially TV by other comedians. I remember a HONEYMOONERS episode that "liberally borrowed" from this short and I recall a few other shows that also reproduced the main idea. I assume that even before Laurel and Hardy, there probably were other comedy shorts with the same plot as well! Stan is a very henpecked husband. He wants to sneak out to "play", but his wife is keeping a close eye on him. Ollie calls and convinces Stan to lie to his wife so they can both sneak off to a night club. Stan tells Ollie his wife has been hiding a bottle of liquor (since it is Prohibition) and he'll smuggle it out of the house. However, the wife is quite nosy and overhears the plan, so she substitutes cold tea in the bottle.

What follows is a not particularly surprising segment where Stan and Ollie think they are getting drunk, so they start to behave very obnoxiously at the night club. In the meantime, the wife arrives with a brand new gun she purchased to shoot her husband for lying to her(that seems awfully extreme and ridiculous, I know). However, despite this being a completely stupid plot element, the final scene where she shoots at the pair is still a great sight gag.

A very familiar theme that was executed very, very well with the usual Laurel and Hardy style and grace.

Perhaps one of the funniest Laurel and Hardy scenes ever....

[borbetomagus · 9/10 · 28 August 2007]

I would have to say that seeing Stan Laurel laugh and cry in this short at the club is probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen. It's always good for a laugh.

I guess it's the contrast between his simpleton character and the overload of the sad and happy emotions he displays when he's 'drunk' which makes it so.

The drunken laughing scene in Fra Diavolo comes close, but I like this Blotto scene better, since it 'goes to 11', then you add to that his deadly serious wife.

I'm very surprised that Ollie can keep a straight face at the beginning of both segments. Though it's pretty funny when he too laughs uncontrollably with Stan, then wildly shakes his head 'No' when Stan wants him to tell his wife what they're laughing about. Jeff Daniels makes a similar move in Dumb and Dumber - when betting with Lloyd, though it's not as funny and is probably just coincidental.

Admittedly, there's not much of a plot, but how much of a plot can you expect with a 26 minute short?

Just when is this going to be available in the US on DVD??????

I'd be glad to hear of any other scenes you think top this, as I haven't seen all of their best material. I assume their Hal Roach shorts were their best.

This is Great Liquor!

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 12 January 2017]

This short film's direction is twofold. One is to avoid their wive's control over them (they always seemed to have wives who were much smarter, and much meaner than them) by stealing some alcohol from them. The other is to see what happens to them as they drink the tea that has replaced the liquor. The title of the film tells us that someone is going to get really drunk. Of course, they have already blown it before they go to the bottle club (taking a risk during prohibition) because of Ollie's big mouth (he is overheard by his wife). Anyway, the scene at the club is hilarious because the power of suggestion is more powerful than the realities of the human body. This is laugh riot. Will they pay a price for their actions? That's the question.

Laurel And Hardy's Sixth Talkie

[Sunsphxsuns · 10/10 · 4 January 2022]

Call me crazy ("Hey, crazy!") but I never enjoyed silent era films. I tried, oh I tried, but each time an actor's mouth moved there was nothing but an awkward silence. Then after what seemed too lengthy of a wait, a placard flashed on the TV screen, reflecting what the actor had just said moments before. I found this to be very distracting, plus it slowed down the natural comedic timing. This lapse between action and dialog, for me, was like watching an entire movie subtitled, and I couldn't square the two up.

That being said, I didn't watch any of the short and feature length "TV reruns" unless they were "talkies." As a kid who was fortunate enough to have a tiny black and white TV set in my bedroom, every Saturday morning before my parents or the Sun were up, I was thoroughly mesmerized by the vaudevillian, overtly physical humor of Buster Keaton, Our Gang (The Little Rascals), The Three Stooges, and of course, Laurel & Hardy.

The first Our Gang (The Little Rascals) talkie was "Small Talk" released in 1929. Buster Keaton's first talkie was "Free and Easy," released in 1930. The Three Stooges (Larry, Moe and Curly) most recognized talkie was The Woman Haters (1934). "Unaccustomed As We Are," released worldwide in 1929, was Laurel and Hardy's film debut with sound. It was an immediate hit with audiences.

Unlike many of their silent film era contemporaries who couldn't make the transition from silent to sound film, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy effortlessly slipped into this new media. Both actors had the rare gift of "comedic timing," and the duo knew how to thoroughly exploit sight gags. Moreover, lovable Hardy routinely broke the "fourth wall" of film, and after each hilarious yet tragic gag, he would often look straight at the camera as if to say, "Can you believe what just happened to me?"

Blotto! (1930) was Laurel and Hardy's 6th sound movie. Like the first five, it is a short. And like many of the early L&H Shorts, they were hilariously written by Leo McCarey who would someday win a Best Picture Oscar for "The Awful Truth" (1937). Blotto's plot is simple: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy come up with a badly worked out plan to attend the opening of a nightclub without first getting permission from henpecked Mr. Laurel's dominating wife. They even steal a bottle of alcohol from Mrs. Laurel to later drink at the club. Naturally, the two get completely wasted (Blotto) even though the bottle of booze they stole was nothing more than cold iced tea. "You can certainly tell good liquor when you taste it," says Ollie. The boys are having a grand old time until a steaming furious Mrs. Laurel shows up with a loaded shotgun.

It's all brilliantly choreographed by two of the most iconic comedic teams in history, and supported by a wonderful set of actors who would often appear in many future Laurel & Hardy shorts and feature length films.

No spoilers here as usual, but I will reveal that like several other L&H short features, Blotto was also filmed in a Spanish version, with Oliver and Stanley actually speaking Spanish.

"She doesn't suspect a thing."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 20 October 2015]

If you're easily influenced by infectious laughter you could be rolling on the floor by the time this one's over. When Stan goes into his laughing fit he's uncontrollable, and it eventually spills over to affect his buddy Ollie. However the whole premise of the boys going 'blotto' as the title suggests, is all in the mind, as the concoction Stan's wife (Anita Gavin) prepares for them is intended to teach them a terrible lesson rather than get them tipsy. Speaking of which, I couldn't help but notice that one of the ingredients going into the harmless tea potion came from a can of Colman's Mustard. The can hasn't changed appearance in eighty five years!! Talk about longevity.

The only distracting thing about this film short turns out to be the couple sitting at a table directly behind Stan and Ollie at the speakeasy. They watch the boys devolve into hysterics and aren't affected in the least bit. You would think they'd at least crack a smile.

Blotto

[jboothmillard · 5/10 · 20 December 2009]

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. Stan is pacing the floor, which is annoying his wife (Anita Garvin), but she's not letting him go out unless it's for something important. Ollie rings Stan's house, but twice he gets hung up, and the third time Ollie gives him a feedback blare, and Stan blows Ollie's hat off. Ollie invites Stan to the Rainbow Club, where he has reserved a table, and he suggests making a fake telegram as an excuse to Mrs. Laurel. Unfortunately she was listening on the other end of the phone, so she heard this conversation, so to teach them a lesson she pours away the saved liquor and replaces it with some cold tea and kitchen ingredients. Stan finishes the fake telegram, and jumps out the window to have it delivered, and Mrs. Laurel pretends she knows nothing about what she heard, but she does say goodbye to Stan, and Ollie hiding outside. They get to the club, and after a crashing bottle opening, Ollie is first to drink the fake liquor, with some soda, and Stan soon joins too, and they are sure they drinking genuine booze. After seeing a female dancer in the club, we see Mrs. Laurel buying herself a new double-barrelled shotgun. So she arrives at the club without Stan or Ollie realising, but when they do, they just laugh, and only stop when she tells them about the fake booze. Then she gets out the gun, and they run out of the club being chased, and the cab they get into collapses with her shot, it ends fading to black with her running towards them. Filled with good slapstick and all classic comedy you want from a black and white film, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Worth watching!

Blotto

[Coxer99 · 17 June 1999]

The boys find themselves in mischief again as Stan tries to sneak out of his house and out of the clutches of his wife to meet with Ollie. The Mrs. is smart to their plans as she then creates a wild concoction for the boys as they try to get their hands on a bottle of liquor. The boys get out safely and head for a club where the bottle would be unleashed. Even though the bottle is filled with tea and other non-alcoholic substances, that still doesn't stop the boys from causing a little mayhem. Constant laughter all the way, as only these two fellows can provide.

Getting really drunk with some cold tea?

[Shaolin_Apu · 8/10 · 24 June 2005]

Very descriptive - spoiler warning therefore.

Laurel & Hardy are about to sneak into Jazz Club with a bottle they have planned to steal from Stan's wife. As usual, women are more intelligent than men and Stan's wife empties the bottle and pours into it some cold tea mixed with spices. Ollie and Stan think they're clever when they manage to steal the bottle. It may be a little surprise that they also get drunk with that, at least Stan's ears swing.

It is no wonder that the pathetic evening ends in a full reprisal. The end culminates in a fantastic crash when Stan's wife fires a shotgun at the car, which breaks down like a house with its driver still holding the wheel and sitting in the middle of junk pile. That's realism with a flavour of absurdity.

Cold tea and liquor

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 10 September 2018]

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 'Blotto' as one of their best and a bit disappointing compared to their late 1928 and the best of their 1929 efforts, which were among their best and funniest early work. It is still very good and has much of what makes Laurel and Hardy's work as appealing as it is.

The story is extremely slight to the point of non-existence and the first part takes a little bit too time to get going and is a little formulaic.

When 'Blotto' does get going, which it does do quite quickly, it is great fun, not always hilarious but never less than very amusing, the best being classic hilarity. It is never too silly, there is a wackiness that never loses its energy 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 'Blotto' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'Blotto' looks good visually, is full of 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 with a scene stealing Anita Garvin.

Overall, very good. Not essential or classic Laurel and Hardy, but a very good representation of them. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Laurel & Hardy without a story

[rbverhoef · 7/10 · 27 August 2004]

This is a nice Laurel & Hardy short film, although you can not say there is a story. Laurel is married and wants to go out but his wife forbids him. Hardy calls Laurel a couple of times and after a while he speaks to Laurel's wife. She is nice instead of angry but has a plan of her own. She pretends to be in the kitchen while Laurel is talking but she also grabs a phone and learns about a plan the men have. This is the first part of the short.

The second part is the actual plan of Laurel & Hardy. They are on a night out but they have brought their own bottle of liquor. What happens there with the wife who knows where they are and their own bottle of liquor I will not reveal but it is a nice piece of comedy.

Maybe the premise doesn't sound very good, but there are a lot of laughs here. Especially Stanley Laurel is great and he manages to get a smile out of the most simple situations. Still, this is definitely not one of their best. Because it has no story it gets a little boring. Fortunately the final moment is hilarious and makes sure you will enjoy this short film from start to finish.

The Fatal Shot

[boblipton · 9/10 · 10 December 2020]

Stanley is supposed to go out with Ollie for a night on the town, but his wife, Anita Garvin, objects. So he steals her bottle of liquor -- not knowing she has switched the booze for cold tea with pepper -- and sneaks out.

This sort of 'boy's night out' short comedy dated bac decades, if not centuries when the Boys made this one, so they had plenty of material to choose from, from Stan being confounded by a Yiddish newspaper to Anita Garvin's brand of sexy shrewishness; of all the many top comediennes on the Hal Roach lot, none could approach her for comic malevolence.

You can't fool a shrew.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 22 September 2016]

Laurel and Hardy spend the first half of this film trying to get Laurel from under the watchful eye of his shrewish wife (the beautiful Anita Garvin who perfects the sour disposition of her character) who has forbidden him to leave for the night, but pretending to accept his excuse for an emergency when he does. The second half of the film surrounds her revenge when they succeed, which isn't pretty. Violent but often hysterically funny, this near three reeler shows how the woman who wears the pants in a rather dysfunctional family can get even with lying husbands. It's one of several of their films (shorts or features) which shows the woman in an unfavorable light, but in this age of pre-code comedy, it was all in fun. This has a cartoonish feel to it with the funny but one dimensional wife really stealing the show with her vampish look but evil demeanor. The ending gag doesn't really give a conclusion, but it is a classic.

Very funny!

[rocknrelics · 9/10 · 16 October 2021]

Just watched the colour version of this, and I know purists will hate it, but I feel the colorised versions of the Laurel and Hardy shorts really add something to them.

Especially here, where The Rainbow Club is seen in all its art deco glory!

I don't get peoples beef with there being no story, there is one, no matter how slight !

The scene of uncontrollable laughter never gets tired.

Highly recommended.

blotto

[mossgrymk · 7/10 · 26 December 2020]

Amusing 2 reeler from the duo. Not nearly as good as "Music Box", but then few short comedy features are. Love the tea placebo stuff at the night club as well as Anita Garvin's harridan with a shotgun (L/H was always fortunate in its gallery of hoydens). Too much time is spent getting to that funny point, though, and there should have been more physical gags along the way. Give it a B minus.

Never gets old

[Zorya_Beryl · 10/10 · 21 June 2021]

My favorite movie starring the trio of Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and Anita Garvin. It's so funny, I've watched it many times. So much better than 99% of modern comedies. 10/10.

Laurel and Hardy Hijinx

[arthur_tafero · 7/10 · 28 March 2022]

The team of Laurel and Hardy were the greatest comedy team ever assembled. This film, based on a screenplay that was probably developed during a lunch break, shows their ability to take any material and make it their own. Other comedians would have struggled mightily. Ollie and Stan step out to a nightclub, unbeknownst to their better halves. We all know where this is going. Soon, Mrs. Hardy seeks out the pair with a shotgun (the same one that was presumably used for the wedding) and the resulting havoc is very entertaining. Don't miss this one.

Rough transition to sound era

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 10 May 2016]

"Blotto" is an American 26-minute short film starring possibly the world's most famous comedy duo: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. This film was made over 85 years ago and that was when silent film slowly transitioned into sound film. This movie here that runs for a bit under half an hour is an good example of how people were still struggling with all the new possibilities. That is why a potentially strong script got a bit lost in filmmaking. This is not necessarily a criticism again Parrott, Walker and McCarey who were really talented and prolific, but it's always difficult to adjust to entirely new circumstances. Everybody knows that, no matter which area we are talking about. I personally thought this little movie had its moments and I can somewhat see why it is among the mote known Stan & Ollie works. Still, I hoped this would be better and my expectations weren't fulfilled. I also don't think the action and comedy are sufficient for 25 minutes in terms of both quality and quantity . This could have been better. This should have been better. Not recommended.