After the Comic: Laurel, Hardy, and a Boatload of Trouble
Old School BJ here! After our fence-painting adventure, I thought Stan and Ollie might do better with a boat. That was my first mistake. Give these fellows a brush, a bucket, and one simple job, and pretty soon everybody needs a change of clothes. Pede might have left paw prints on our fence, but at least he didn’t try to become a shipbuilder!
Stan
Ollie
Boat seller
Towed in a Hole is a 1932 comedy short starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, with Billy Gilbert as the boat seller. George Marshall directed it, and Hal Roach produced it. Released in December, it belongs to the team’s early sound-film period, when their familiar personalities could turn the smallest disagreement into a disaster.
The boys are selling fish when Stan suggests an improvement: why pay somebody else to catch them? Buying their own boat should mean keeping more money. That sounds sensible until you see their purchase. Instead of heading straight to sea, they face repairs, cleaning, and painting. Ollie provides the confidence; Stan supplies the unexpected complications.
There is something wonderfully familiar about that arrangement. Most of us have started a “little” household project that grew bigger by lunchtime. Laurel and Hardy stretch that feeling into comedy. Their pauses, offended expressions, and stubborn efforts to continue make the mess almost personal. We laugh because we recognize the optimism that got them into it.
Three things you might not know about this short
1. The supporting cast is surprisingly small. Film researcher Lord Heath notes that Billy Gilbert’s appearance lasts only about thirteen seconds, with one spoken line. He sells the boat, then leaves Stan and Ollie to carry nearly the whole picture. That tiny role helps establish the problem without distracting from their partnership. It is a reminder that a comedy does not need a crowd to create chaos.
2. There is an Our Gang connection hiding in the scenery. According to Lord Heath’s production notes, the junkyard scenes were filmed at Hal Roach’s ranch in November 1932. The Our Gang schoolhouse can be spotted when the boys raise the sail. For Little Rascals fans, that background detail is a nice extra reason to study the setting. Different comedy worlds shared the same studio resources.
3. One of its best jokes works before the accident. TCM’s David Kalat highlights the sequence in which Stan, trapped behind the mast, starts sawing while Ollie is above him. We understand the danger before Ollie does. His puzzled looks toward the camera let the audience share the suspense. The waiting becomes part of the punch line, rather than merely a gap before somebody falls.
Our player presents a colorized copy of a film originally made in black and white. Enjoy my introduction, then settle in for the short. The lesson I am taking away? Friendship can survive a disastrous project. Whether the boat—or my fence—survives is another question entirely!
—BJ
Sources: Laurel and Hardy Central: credits and history · Lord Heath: cast, filming locations and production notes · TCM: the comedy of Laurel and Hardy. Cast images: film stills via Lord Heath.
Bootleg Comic Theater
Tap the player for BJ’s introduction and Towed in a Hole.
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