Busy Bodies

[StevePulaski]

Busy Bodies (1933)
Directed by: Lloyd French

Laurel and Hardy are happy-go-lucky as they drive to work in Busy Bodies.

Rating: ★★

I mentioned in my review of the Laurel and Hardy short One Good Turn, which preceded Busy Bodies by two years, that the manic slapstick and frequent use of physical fighting as a punchline felt much more like the work of The Three Stooges than Laurel and Hardy. My mind associates Laurel and Hardy with situational comedy. While they do engage in physical slapstick on occasion, they always find a way to make their shorts emphasize goofy happenings over mindless exchanges of slapping.

Busy Bodies, despite being one of the most well-known Laurel and Hardy shorts with sound, to me, is the biggest misfire I've seen from the duo yet. At nineteen minutes, the short can't help but feel long-winded and underwritten, concerning Laurel and Hardy as a cheerful duo, happy to have a job at a woodshop in Depression-era America. That is about the extent of the story behind Busy Bodies, as the short largely operates on a plotless basis. This isn't as big of a problem as some would assume because, when one thinks about the bulk of Laurel and Hardy's short filmography, a great deal of their shorts were plotless and relied heavily on situational occurrences rather than story and narrative structure.

The short's prime focus is to show Hardy at the dismay of Laurel, who's ineptitude lands Hardy in more hot-water and pain than any best friend should have to be put through. Laurel does everything from accidentally glue a paintbrush to Hardy's face, hit him repeatedly, in more ways than one, and cause him emotional distress beyond his wildest imagination. The short plays less like a short and more like a highlight reel of all the gags Laurel and Hardy have done over their career. It's exhausting and shockingly unfunny at times.

This is because, by now, Laurel and Hardy have established themselves as guys who get involved in funny, unpredictable situations. Busy Bodies is like the two comics engaging in a senseless slap-fight, with little method to their madness. It may not be unwatchably bad, but it's upsetting in how disappointing it turns out to be.

Starring: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Directed by: Lloyd French.