Laurel & Hardy: Saps At Sea

In this twist on SOULS AT SEA (with a nod to Chaplin’s MODERN TIMES), Ollie goes berserk at the horn factory. When the doctor recommends an ocean voyage as an antidote to calm his nerves, the fellows rent a ship that slips her moorings and drifts miles from shore … with an escaped murderer on board. This farewell Laurel & Hardy film at the Hal Roach Studios was nostalgic, almost on par with A CHUMP AT OXFORD. Critics loved the lively, old-fashioned slapstick. Thereafter, Roach allowed his deal with Laurel & Hardy to lapse, and while both the partnership and studio flirted with the idea of reuniting to produce more movies, and eventually TV programs, strokes suffered by the two comedy giants in the mid-1950s finally made any such plans impossible. Directed by Mr. Roach’s protégé, Gordon Douglas. With James Finlayson and Rychard Cramer. Plus former Mack Sennett silent star Ben Turpin, and Harry Bernard, close friend of Charley Chase; all three of whom died shortly after the picture was issued to movie theaters.