Babes in Toyland (1934)

Overrated and overhyped

Just what I expected

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Funny, even though Laurel and Hardy are in this film, I don't think of it first as a Laurel and Hardy movie. It has all those memorable nursery rhyme characters in it that have a certain resonance for kids growing up in an earlier time, and I think that's part of the magic the picture has to offer. Charlotte Henry is just as enchanting in this story as she was as the title character in the prior year's "Alice in Wonderland". Here she has a romantic partner in Tom-Tom Piper (Felix Knight), while fending off the lecherous advances of the evil Silas Barnaby (Henry Brandon). With Stannie Dumb and Ollie Dee on the case, you just know that the bad guy will be foiled in his attempt to foreclose on the Widow Peep's (Florence Roberts) mortgage.You know, I was kind of amazed with Stan Laurel's hand/eye coordination whenever he took up with his pee-wee craze. It's more than evident when it comes time to battle Barnaby's Bogeymen near the story's finale. With Stan batting a thousand during the dart attack, I had to wonder why he never made it as a big league baseball player. It seems he couldn't miss! Like a handful of other reviewers, I first came by this picture when it went by the name of "March of the Wooden Soldiers", and yes, I too remember when it was a staple offering on Thanksgiving Day in the New York television market, way before the age of cable. It's another one of those films that brings back a sense of nostalgia for a simpler time when life wasn't so hectic, even if Stan and Ollie made it seem that way. With any luck, kids will be catching this entertaining film for a long time to come.

A Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy classic, and a great sentimental favourite. Whether Babes in Toyland is among their best is up for debate but when it comes to personal favourites of theirs Babes in Toyland is very high up. Of the four films with the title Babes in Toyland, this is by far and away the best and the only great one. The others being the 1961 Disney film, which is decent but one of their lesser live-action musicals, the 1986 Drew Barrymore/Keanu Reeves film which had its moments but most of it was pretty messy and the 1997 animated film which as I recall was only okay but a re-watch is due asap. Laurel and Hardy certainly don't disappoint. Their antics and jokes are a sheer delight, corny at times but in an endearing way, and they look so animated. And thankfully they don't swamp the supporting cast. Henry Brandon is particularly good and sinister as the villain Barnaby, and Charlotte Henry and Felix Knight are charming with wonderful singing voices, thankfully they don't drag things down which is a tendency with star-struck lover roles and subplots. William Burress is winning as the kindly toy-maker too, if not quite as memorable as Ed Wynn in the Disney version. The costume and set design are colourful and brings the inner child within you, like a fantasy world that you don't want to leave. The photography is equally nice and the effects have their acceptable charms, by today's standards they're not all that cheap. Victor Herbert's score and songs are not among his best but they are pleasant and memorable, the incidental scoring has the right amount of whimsy and Toyland and March of the Wooden Soldiers are deservedly the highlights of the songs. The dialogue is tight with plenty of jokes to enjoy, and there is a real sense of joy, fantasy and enchantment in the story that the other Babes in Toyland films don't quite manage, well the Disney film did but the 1986 film didn't. March of the Wooden Soldiers was the highlight and cleverest moment of the Disney film and it is every bit as memorably staged here. The Boogeymen are still frightening now. This version is the best directed by a mile, the film actually goes at a good pace(the Disney film had a few dull stretches while the 1986 film never really came to life as well as being indifferently directed) and is directed by people who clearly knew what they wanted to do and had enthusiasm for it. All in all, timeless for children and for adults. Those who like the operetta will be enchanted and will cherish this as the best version, and even if it is a little different to what Laurel and Hardy usually did even Laurel and Hardy fans can find much to enjoy(some die-hard fans will disagree, just for the record I've always liked Laurel and Hardy a lot). 10/10 Bethany Cox

Delightfully surreal fantasy here, which I give thumbs up to on all fronts, even to Laurel and Hardy, which I normally snub my nose at. Here, while they are first billed, they're not on screen all the time, Instead, we get the goings on in Toyland, with Bo Peep, the old woman in the shoe, the three little pigs etc. The story involves some codger named Barnaby trying to get Bo-Peep any way possible. But Ollie and Laurel won't have any of that! Weird cinematography, stranger characters (what was with that Mickey Mouse?) and odd songs... Plus, the whole thing was (my copy at least) in strange computerized color. LOVE LOVE LOVE

While I think I previously watched several segments of this movie over the years, this might have been my first time watching the thing in its entirety. In summary, this was quite an enjoyable film, both as a Laurel & Hardy comedy and as a dramatic tale of the plight of the loving couple Tom-Tom (Felix Knight) and Bo-Peep (Charlotte Henry) and the villainous Barnaby's (Henry Kleinbach i.e. Brandon) attempts to marry the latter. And seeing Walt Disney's Three Little Pigs and Mickey Mouse (in costume form for those characters) was also a hoot to watch here. Really, in all my child-like wonder, I actually find this version of Babes in Toyland something really well worth seeing even in this more possibly cynical age we all seem to live in. So, yes, that's a high recommendation. P.S. I noticed a couple of times whenever Stan & Ollie point to something, they use the middle finger but the scenes are so brief and they're so innocent that I don't think they have any real malice when they do that. And their accidentally kissing each other also has no deeper meaning other than to get a laugh.