Babes in Toyland
Director: Gus Meins and Charley Rogers
Year Released: 1934
Rating: 2.0
(Stan) Laurel and (Oliver) Hardy, toy manufacturing failures, try to raise money to help Mother Peep keep her home from the clutches of creepy Silas Barnaby, who has his shifty eyes set on Little Bo-Peep as collateral. It's slapdash and not funny - Hardy's routine of looking 'at the audience' whenever Laurel does or says something stupid is irritating - at least when compared to similar comedies from the area (I'm sorry, but I prefer the Marx Brothers and even Abbott and Costello), though some much needed energy kicks in when Toyland gets invaded in the third act by monsters and wooden soldiers. I know a rather astute individual who regards this as one of her favorite movies ... though I'm guessing her admiration could stem from watching this in her childhood (in my childhood, I was particularly fond of Bill Murray in Scrooge for my Holiday Fun).
