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Actors: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, John Elliot, Mae Busch, Dorothy Christie, Charley Chase
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Sons of the Desert |
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Two bumbling fools who are members of a club get invited to a convention. However, their wives won't let them go.
The men have a plan to trick the wives. One of them pretends to be sick while the other goes to fetch a doctor and convinces him to recommend a cruise to Hawaii as the only cure for the man's made-up illness. The man's wife, deathly afraid of water, won't be able to go along. Therefore, the other man must go along to take care of him.
The two men sneak off to the convention. The ship that the men are supposedly on sinks and the wives are devastated. Until, they see video footage of their husbands at the convention.
The men return home and find out about the ship. They concoct an outrageous story of survival. However, with just one steely glare from his wife, one of the men confesses. His wife rewards him for being honest while the other man's wife throws everything she can find at him, smashing dishes and vases over his head, yelling and screaming at him the whole time.
--Brandon Swenson, Resident Scholar
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As members of the social and fraternal order of the Sons of the Desert, the boys (playing themselves as Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel) are obliged after taking an oath to travel to Chicago for the annual convention being held there. Oliver's wife Lottie (Busch) pitches a fit along with several vases at his head as the pair quarrels over their vacation plans. When Stan brings a veterinarian over to diagnose Oliver's sudden ailment, the animal doctor proclaims a trip to Hawaii as the best remedy. Stan is to accompany his buddy as Lottie suffers from seasickness.
Stan and Ollie secretly journey from their homes in California to the convention in Chicago where they cavort and carry on with their fraternal brethren. They meet Charley (Chase) and he is a hoot. The gregarious Texan calls his estranged sister in LA as a result of meeting the boys. As it turns out it is Lottie whom Oliver has been flirting with on the phone. The cruise ship the boys were supposed to be sailing on has been struck by disaster when a typhoon blows through the South Pacific. Lottie and Betty (Christie) prepare to wait for at the dock the next day to learn if their men are alive.
Stan and Ollie are hiding in the attic of Oliver's house when the girls return from the harbor where the boys are no shows among the surviving victims of the typhoon. As a result of their distress the two wives go to the movies to try to take their minds off the recent events. A newsreel before the feature film shows the conventioneers in Chicago living it up with Stan and Ollie clearly alive and doing just fine. The boys sneak out of the attic in the rain only to have a policeman return them to their wives. When Stan tells the truth of their escapades to Betty she wins the bet with Lottie as to which husband would be the bigger liar. Oliver is conked on the head with pots and pans for his deceit.
--David Fletcher, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Sons of the Desert |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Comedy, primarily
Yes
Time/era of movie:
- 1930's-1950's
Family, struggling with
Yes
Struggle with:
- Wife
Kind of comedy
- physical comedy
How much humor v. drama
- Nearly all humor
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- deluded
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) very short/crewcut
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) fat
Events of movie makes character more...
- irritated
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Dumb?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Dumb
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) very skinny
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- none
- Female
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- homemaker/wife
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 80%
Hair color
- blonde
Hair type
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Body type
- (woman) average
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Midwest
- California
City?
Yes
City:
- Los Angeles
- Chicago
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- very happy
- full of laughter
Check here if B&W
Yes
Any profanity?
- None
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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