Way Out West

Way Out West
Laurel and Hardy's Funniest Full-Length Feature
Customer Review: Tripping the Light Fantastic, L&H Style
As with any classic Laurel & Hardy, the plot is unimportant and just a frame on which to showcase their sweetly innocent brand of humor. Here they're trying to keep ownership of a goldmine out of the greedy clutches of a saloon owner and his blonde canary. The boys don't show up until 10 minutes into the proceedings, but from then on they are center stage with one routine after another. Most are pretty funny, though the keep-away parlor chase goes on a shade too long as does the break-in escapade. However, when Hardy smugly revels in his superiority only to lose his outer garments and dignity to Laurel's witless bungling, we get a good look at the core of their appeal. The comedy bits may be entertaining, but the several song and dance numbers are sublime. Notice how effortlessly the duo picks up on the hiccupping beat of the musical Avalon Boys. The resulting dance duet is among the most charming in film annals. Hardy in particular transforms from ungainly fat man into nimble blithe spirit, a beguiling triumph of grace over bulk, and more meaningful in its implications than the miles of over-produced, over-choreographed numbers from Hollywood's army of Big Musicals. Sadly, theirs is the fey, gentle humor of an era gone by. Quite simply, there's been no one like them before or since, and I shudder to think how they would be marketed to today's 15 year-olds who make up the bulk of the theatre-going audience and DVD purchasers. But at least a permanent record of their achievement remains for the rest of us who enjoy this lighthearted look at classic comedy.
Customer Review: One of their best
Along with Sons of the Desert, this is considered as one of the great L&H full length features. They had recently stopped making shorts when they did this movie. Many years before Blazing Saddles, this is a comedy western that spoofs some of the cliches of the westerns. Many visual slapstick laughs. A real treat and the kind of thing it's hard to find on TV today. For the entire family.