The Chimp (1932)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Must See Movie...

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This could have been a Luis Buniel-Salvidor Dali if it would have had a group Catholic priests tied to pianos with dead donkeys on them. You have an ape named Ethel dressed in a tutu, a lion running wild in the streets and a flea circus thrown in for good measure. The fact that Ethel is obviously a man in an ape suit makes the film work. It reflects the innocence of the world Laurel and Hardy exist in. To have a more realistic approach in my opinion wouldn't be as funny and some of the bedroom farce a little creepy. THE CHIMP is one of the duo's better film's. It's construction is tight and the gags are not drawn out which can be a problem even in some of their better films. Stan Laurel expression and responses to what is going on around is remarkable and subtle. He communicates so much with eyes. And I found Ethel very funny. She's a good dancer. I would have loved to be in on the script conferences. THE CHIMP is definitely surreal.

I'm sure I must have seen this short Laurel & Hardy comedy before but I don't really remember it. Perhaps that's because it falls far short of the standards of most of their other short films. Stan & Ollie are hapless assistants at a circus that literally collapses thanks to them being allowed too close to a cannon. The circus owner gives each employee an asset from the circus. Stan gets a flea circus (which soon escapes in his bed), while Ollie wins a gorilla in a tutu called Ethel. The trio then get into a number of misadventures, none of which are particularly funny. While the surreal image of a tutu-clad gorilla dancing ballet at the foot of Ollie's bed is certainly a striking one, the film as a whole will quickly fade from your memory. And is it me, or are the opening titles the wrong way around? Surely the line about Mr. Laurel never getting past the monkey cage should come last

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history, and deservedly so, so I am happy to see any of their films. At a performing circus, all the acts are entering the arena, including the big attraction, Ethel the Human Chimpanzee, while Stan and Ollie are just helping Destructo The Cannonball King (Tiny Sandford) with his act. After the boys collapse the arena tent with an early lighting of the cannon, the Circus Owner (William J. O'Brien) says he is broke, and to pay the circus staff, he is giving them a valuable part of the show to look after. Pulling the names out of a hat, Ollie ends up looking after Ethel, and Stan is looking after the flea circus, but it seems only Stan can get Ethel to do what she is told, she gets mad with Ollie telling her what to do. Trying to get Ethel tied up into a crate, Stan manages to get the lion, MGM, chasing after them, and after it looks like they got away, the find a hotel room to stay the night, until they can sell Ethel to a zoo. Joe the Landlord (Billy Gilbert) isn't happy with the boys bringing in a monkey to a room, so after avoiding the lion once again, they disguise her in Ollie's clothes to sneak her inside, and then Stan would chuck down his clothes. Unfortunately, tossing the clothes Stan and Ethel fall out the window, so they lock her in a near large box, without realising a side is missing. The boys are sleeping in the double bed, until Stan moves to a single, and Ethel manages to sneak into the room and make Ollie think he is still sleeping with a fidgeting Stan. After waking and making Ethel move to the cloak room, Ollie joins Stan in his bed, where they start itching, and realise the flea circus has escaped. In another room, a man puts on his record player, playing some piano music, and Ethel in her tutu starts doing some ballet dancing, getting Stan to join her. Joe manages to hear the boys shouting the name "Ethel", and he thinks they are shouting the name of his wife, so he goes to get her. Joe soon sees his real wife (Martha Sleeper) come in, and she screams and runs seeing their Ethel, and when Joe shouts for them to get out, the monkey steals his gun, and the film ends with her shooting all over the place. Also starring James Finlayson as Ringmaster. Filled with good slapstick and all classic comedy you want from a black and white film, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Worth watching!

I can't disagree more with Neil Doyle, that this is a meager Laurel and Hardy story, he misses the point. It's a crazy farcical story, of being saddled with a chimp in lieu of your salary from the defunct circus (They actually destroyed). The boys intend to sell 'Ethel' the chimp, but in the meantime are having to hide her from their landlord (Billy Gilbert) at the hotel, who, incidentally is fretting about his absent wayward wife, who also happens to be named Ethel. On him seeing the chimp: "WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME IS THAT - GET IT OUT OF HERE, THIS IS NO ZOO!"Stan and Ollie are offered their rooms if the chimp is kept outside. As they are attempting to lock Ethel up somewhere the lion from the circus has followed them around too, to add the the craziness 'I just saw MGM!'. They hatch a plot to get Ethel into their room with them by having Stan take the chimp in, wearing Ollie's clothes. "Suppose the landlord sees us(this)?" says Stan. "Why he'll think it's ME!" replies Ollie, insulting himself unknowingly.It's Ollie who's 'earned' the chimp and Stan has the flea circus to cover his 'salary'. There's a scene where the boys are itching all over as Stan keeps the flea circus under his pillow and they've escaped!(A strange scene for me - I can't help but scratch myself when it's showing, and other people have said the same!). The boys manage to get Ethel into the hotel anyway as she later climbs up the drainpipe without inept help from the duo. But just as things start to settle down for the night, being a performing, 'human' chimp, Ethel starts to dance to some music being played by a guest in another room. The boys try getting Ethel to stop, naturally mentioning her name, which coincides with the landlord's wayward wife's name, who's been out all night (soon to return)!The landlord obviously enraged, thinking 'his' Ethel is in the boys' room with them, goes to the room at gunpoint and shoots the door open!When asking where 'Ethel' is, Stan points to the bed with 'Ethel' in it (She's under the covers at this point) leading the landlord to give a long speech about "her" 'knowing that he's loved her, doing this to him, being the mother of my children' etc unbeknowing he's talking to the chimp and giving Stan and Ollie the chance to look rightly confused! At this precise moment the 'human-wifey' Ethel walks in, Gilbert shouts : "Gahh Ethel!" The chimp wakes up to hear her name, leading the wife to scream (Her only 'line' in the short!) and have Gilbert exploding: "Get that thing out of here!" It's here where the chimp, Ethel gesticulates SHE'S had enough, Ollie kicks her up the behind, she grabs Gilbert's gun and lets rip with a few rounds, ending the short. A classic early one, one of the best! Especially the guy playing the chimp, although you can tell it's a man in a suit, he actually behaves very chimp-like!