SYNOPSICS
Be Big! (1931) is a English movie. James W. Horne,James Parrott has directed this movie. Stan Laurel,Oliver Hardy,Spencer Bell,Chet Brandenburg are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1931. Be Big! (1931) is considered one of the best Short,Comedy movie in India and around the world.
On their way to the train station with their wives for a vacation in Atlantic City, Stanley and Oliver get a phone call from a fellow lodge member who tells them a surprise stag party in their honor is being held that evening. Oliver feigns illness to get out of the trip, and the wives head off to the train station by themselves. Stanley's attempts to help Oliver get into his lodge uniform turn into a series of disasters. Meanwhile, the wives miss the last train and, returning to discover the deception, come after their husbands with shotguns.
Be Big! (1931) Reviews
Given that the plot is so mundane, the film gets a lot out of the material
Many of Laurel and Hardy's shorts were domestic comedies that concerned relatively mundane activities that somehow became hilarious due to excellent writing, direction and the acting of the team. This film is a great example, as the plot is paper-thin and yet the film made me laugh. The plot is an early incarnation of the plot that was later used in their best full-length film, SONS OF THE DESERT. Like this other film, the boys want to slip away for some fun with their lodge brothers and Ollie fakes an illness and convinces the wives to go off to Atlantic City without them. Probably the worst moment in the film was Ollies overacting--instead of a sick man, he sounds more like a walrus in heat! But no matter, the women believe the act and Stan stays back to take care of his friend. As soon as the ladies leave, Ollie tells Stan of the plan,...and dumb old Stan tells him he CAN'T go out because he's sick! Well, after finally helping Stan understand it was all a trick, they start to change into their lodge uniforms and believe it or not, it takes them half the film to do this, as Ollie accidentally puts on Stan's boots and cannot get them off. It IS very mundane stuff, but considering how much material they get from just this, it is truly an amazing film. Like SONS OF THE DESERT, the wives eventually see through the plan and make the boys pay--and boy do they pay!! It's a cute little short and while not their best, it's an excellent example of their work and well worth seeing. FYI--There is a French language version (LES CAROTTIERS) and Spanish language version (LOS CALAVERAS) of this film combined with LAUGHING GRAVY. Even if you don't know the languages, they are very watchable--especially after you see the English language versions.
Remember: BE BIG
"Be Big" is one of the better short slapstick movies that the legendary couple made.Like always the story is not as important as the many jokes and visual expressions. The phone and doorbell of Hardy is hilarious as well as the doorbell of Laurel. Still,the biggest laughs come after the wives have left and when Ollie & Stan put on their boots for the club.These scenes are,although sometimes a bit long,really funny. Of course it ends all wrong,but that is typical for these short features.A very nice piece of work. 9/10
Amusing but quite a lacklustre short
Laurel and Hardy and their wives are due to go away for a trip. However when Hardy's pals call him and tell him of a party in his honour he feigns illness and sends them on ahead of him and Laurel. But making excuses to his wife and getting away with it is only the start of the problem when it comes to actually getting ready to go out. In what seems to be more an exercise in patience rather than a short film, the duo go through the motions in a film that doesn't do them justice when viewed along with other shorts. The plot's high point is a sequence where Hardy tries to get Laurel's boot (which he has mistaken for his own) first onto his foot and then, realising his mistake, off his foot. This is the guts of the film and is easily the funniest bit but it isn't very good. It goes on too long and, save the great work in delivery, isn't funny enough to carry the film in the way it is expected to. The duo try hard and both Laurel and Hardy do their well known thing to the best of their abilities but the material and the gags simply let them down. As real troopers they do their best and they are still worth watching the short for (I can't help but love Hardy's looks!) but they are not well served. The support cast (the wives) are good despite having little of consequence to do it is nice to see Laurel and Hardy given wives who look pretty as opposed to battleaxe types (or themselves!) Overall I feel that Laurel and Hardy are always worth watching, but this would be a poor place to start. A short film that goes through the motions with no really good gags or high points.
Fun
Laurel and Hardy are both married in this comedy short. They are about to take their wives to Atlantic City when Hardy gets a call. The men at the club will honor Hardy tonight so he must be there. Hardy fakes he is suddenly ill and he wants Laurel to take care of him while the ladies must have their fun in Atlantic City. Laurel and Hardy change for the evening but there is some trouble with Laurel's boot on Hardy's foot. Hilarious sequences is what we get to see. Although almost the entire short deals with the boots, Laurel and Hardy find enough ways to make us laugh. Hardy takes some nasty falls and Laurel has some nice moments with his stupidity. A very entertaining short.
Slapstick Fun With Stan & Ollie
A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short. The Boys are all set to take their wives for a weekend in Atlantic City when Ollie discovers that the gang at the club are going to hold a stag party in their honor that very night. Feigning a terrific nervous headache, he gets Stanley to agree to send the wives on ahead by themselves. Now Ollie & Stanley can dress for the party - except for the little matter of Stanley's boots on Ollie's feet. If the wives find out they've been tricked, the Boys had better face their wrath like grownups and BE BIG! This is a very funny film, relying almost entirely on slapstick humor - one has to wonder how Ollie could take those falls without seriously hurting himself. Watching him strain to get Stanley's boot off his right leg is genuinely exhausting and will make all fat men ache in sympathy.