Clevercell Very disappointing...

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

mark.waltz No where even close to looking like a chimpanzee, the circus attraction traveling with Laurel and Hardy is still cute enough to warrant attention. They inherit both the ape and a flea circus, and end up in temperamental hotel manager Billy Gilbert (fresh from destroying the piano in "The Music Box") who opposes both the chumps and the chimp. There's also a ferocious lion on their trail, one Laurel jokingly refers to as MGM. It's amusing thanks to the wild animals involved, but not one of the funnier ones. I did find the use of titles to toss in some narrative wisecracks to be very funny, and who wouldn't laugh at a dancing simian in a tutu, or the presence of hundreds of pesky fleas? As long as it's not me dealing with them. It's also ironic that Gilbert (whose wife has the same name as the gorilla) doesn't find it odd that Laurel and Hardy share one bed when there are two.

JoeytheBrit I'm sure I must have seen this short Laurel & Hardy comedy before but I don't really remember it. Perhaps that's because it falls far short of the standards of most of their other short films. Stan & Ollie are hapless assistants at a circus that literally collapses thanks to them being allowed too close to a cannon. The circus owner gives each employee an asset from the circus. Stan gets a flea circus (which soon escapes in his bed), while Ollie wins a gorilla in a tutu called Ethel. The trio then get into a number of misadventures, none of which are particularly funny. While the surreal image of a tutu-clad gorilla dancing ballet at the foot of Ollie's bed is certainly a striking one, the film as a whole will quickly fade from your memory. And is it me, or are the opening titles the wrong way around? Surely the line about Mr. Laurel never getting past the monkey cage should come last

theowinthrop As mentioned in reviewing LAUGHING GRAVING, the plot of that film was based on the silent L & H comedy ANGORA LOVE, and the same plot was used (with changes) in THE CHIMP. LAUGHING GRAVY described how the boys attempts to hide a cute little dog from landlord Charley Hall eventually lead to that worthy's self-destruction. THE CHIMP does not quite end that way, although there is a chance that Ethyl the Chimp may hurt somebody at the conclusion.The beginning of THE CHIMP makes one wish it was a longer feature film. It is a comedy that starts off in a circus, which is on it's last legs. The clumsiness of Stan and Ollie (culminating in their firing a cannon upward so it destroys the big-top tent) leads to the bankruptcy of the circus, and the division of the animals between the employees (they are to draw lots for them - Jimmy Finleyson, the circus ringmaster, is certain he'll draw the cuckoo bird). The boys end up with Ethyl, who in the course of the short does something neither Angora Love the goat nor Laughing Gravy the dog ever did - she keeps demonstrating she is smarter than the two humans who got her. In fact, at one point she even gives Ollie a stare of disdain at a particularly stupid action of his.This intelligence leads to certain activities that could not be done in the earlier versions. In LAUGHING GRAVY Stan frets about his dog's freezing in the blizzard-like cold outside. In THE CHIMP, we see how really smart Ethyl is - she is supposed to be boxed up in a crate that Ollie is putting together. Instead she puts Ollie into the crate and starts sealing it! The conclusion is when they sneak the chimp into their rooms. Landlord Billy Gilbert is as rule conscious as landlord Charley Hall had been. When earlier he saw the chimp with Stan and Ollie he insists that they keep him outside. Stan says he might get pemonia. Ollie frowns and corrects Stan: "He means penumonia!" Gilbert smashes the language difficulty, saying "I don't care if you all get penumonia - keep that beast out of here!" But, as I said, Ethyl is sneaked back in. Soon she is dancing up a storm (wearing a tutu) and actually dancing cheek to cheek with a frightened Stan. Ollie yells, "Ethyl, will you stop that and come to bed." Unfortunately Gilbert is a jealous husband, whose wife is named Ethyl. He bursts in and melodramatically denounces the figure under the bed cover as a fallen woman. Just then the real Ethyl turns up, and the Chimp removes the cover and makes a quizzical grunt noise. Gilbert is furious and insists they take Ethyl out. But she does not want to go, and finding Gilbert's pistol on the floor starts firing it - and Stan and Ollie run about the room in a panic as the short ends. A very amusing short - and one that shows how low the level of the boys' mental abilities was in comparison to the animal kingdom.

Boba_Fett1138 It's really difficult to rate this movie. The movie beginning very promising and solid but soon descents to a lower level, due to some improbable moments and dragging humor.Reason why I still decided to rate this movie a 7 is due to the first halve of the movie which is set in a circus. The humor and slapstick moments in the first halve are extremely well placed and executed by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Also the presence of James Finlayson as the ringmaster is a reason to consider this movie an above average Laurel & Hardy picture. Finlayson delivers some fine comical lines in this movie and adds to the amusement level of the movie.The second part of the movie in which the boys have a some mishaps with their chimp (a guy in a monkey-suit) too often gets too ridicules and simple to consider it funny all of the time. The humor is for most part dragging, also because of this very reason. Definitely not Laurel & Hardy finest moment.The first halve and some other minor things still however make sure that this movie is an above, although slightly, average movie from Laurel & Hardy by director James Parrott, who in the same year also directed the far more classic Laurel & Hardy short movie; "The Music Box".Entertaining enough but could had been far more classic, if the rest of the movie was just as good and solid as the first halve.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/