Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Hitchcoc For me, this is the funniest of the Laurel & Hardy films. In this one, the boys, who belong to a lodge, are expected as members to attend a convention in Hawaii. This is quite an exploit but Stan's wife is OK. Ollie, on the other hand, as is always the case, has the shrew for a wife and nothing will deter her. So what happens is that Ollie feigns illness and gets a doctor (a veterinarian) to say he needs time away. They decide to go to Honolulu, but it is a ruse to get them to Chicago. They go, have a great time, and return with leis around their necks, thinking they are in the clear. Unfortunately for them, the girls have gone to a movie and see a newsreel about the convention and see the two idiots waving to the camera. To make matters worse, the ship the boys supposedly were on sinks on its way to Hawaii. Well, the girls are loaded for bear and the fun really starts. This is one hilarious film by any standard.

classicsoncall As good or as faulty as one's memory might be after fifty or sixty years, I'd say that this Laurel and Hardy flick is the one that managed to permeate my brain the best with a whole host of memorable catch phrases like the one in my summary line. Others include that business about two peas in a pod-duh (emphasis on the 'd'), and Ollie's ubiquitous exclamation about 'another fine mess you've gotten me into'. Oh yeah, and can't forget the one about 'every man should be king in his own castle'. It's no wonder Stan and Ollie have remained so popular over the years, I just love these guys.For me, the puzzler in this story is why the boys would go with the Hawaiian cruise gambit to put one over on their wives. Seems to me the girls should have jumped at the chance to go along and then we'd have had an entirely different picture. But since they went with it, I got a kick out of hearing that 'Honolulu Baby' song from nightclub crooner Ty Purvis. I'm pretty sure that song was parodied in one of those old Warner Brothers cartoons so I'll have to stay attentive to catch it some time. And this wouldn't have been the first time I noticed how well Stan fractures the English language with statements like "I think he's suffering from a nervous shakedown". Seems to me Leo Gorcey must have been well inspired by the malapropisms his predecessor came up with. But to my mind, the biggest baffler with the boys in this or any other picture, is how they managed to have such good looking wives. Mae Busch as Lottie Hardy and Dorothy Christy as Betty Laurel - go figure! One last thing, with Charley Chase as the obnoxious convention attendee, he kept using this word 'darb' so much that I had to look it up. Turns out it's an out of use expression that back in the day meant that a person or thing was excellent. So coming full circle on that, I'd have to recommend this film for all of you who haven't seen it yet, because after all is said and done, it's quite darb.

PamelaShort Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are at the peak of their comedic talents in this very amusing comedy, Sons Of the Desert. While typical in plot and characterization, this is one of their finest films as henpecked husbands who want to attend an out of town convention with their fellow lodge members. Of course their wives have a different idea, and vehemently forbid them from attending such folly. Stan and Ollie come up with an outlandish plan that fools the leery wives, but eventually backfires on the hapless pair. In this film we are treated with the funniest sight gags, hilarious dialogue and most priceless facial expressions. Mae Busch and Dorothy Christy are equally outstanding with their performances as Mrs. Hardy and Mrs. Laurel. Charley Chase is very funny as one of the boisterous lodge attendees Stan and Ollie encounter. This comedy is a pure delight from beginning to end and never fails to bring a smile and much laughter. A must see for all Laurel and Hardy fans and for anyone who needs a cheery lift.

Spikeopath As members of the mason mens club The Sons Of The Desert, Stan & Ollie are desperate to go away to one of the clubs conventions in Chicago. This idea is given the no no from the boys' wives {Mae Busch & Dorothy Christy}, so Ollie fakes ill health and the boys wangle a supposed sea voyage to aid his recovery. Of course they head to Chicago for their boys own fun, unbeknown to them that the ship they had told their wives they were travelling on has sunk at sea!I think this stands the test of time as one of the best Laurel & Hardy pictures because it's one of the most professional that they made. Laurel wasn't wholly satisfied with a couple of preceding features that they did, he felt it was becoming slapstick for slapstick's sake, so in came a new writing team to work with him to give us a tighter character driven laugh fest. The films main triumph is the integration and impact of the wives, they add greatly to the comedy with sparky dialogue and visual madness. So many great moments that I don't wish to point any single one out, you just need to see it and enjoy. The songs are fun, the narrative is as tidy as they would do, and the underlying honesty is the best policy message is one we all should heed. 9/10.