First off, I will complain that at least 4 reviewers consistently spelled the woman's name Ethel as Ethyl. Presumably, they are either chemists or like their ethyl alcohol. Also, I should note that the last 2/3 of this film is a reworking of the silent "Angora Love" short, as was the previous talkie short "Laughing Gravy"..........The boys begin as a circus pantomime horse, carrying a facsimile of Lady Godiva. Then, they are assistants for Destructo : the giant cannon ball eater. Unfortunately, they fill the cannon with too much powder and aim it at the tent ceiling, so that when it fires, it brings down the tent.(?). This was the beginning of the end for the circus. A few weeks later, the owner says he has no money to give them, but he will divide up the assets. Ollie gets Ethel, the fake ape, while Stan gets the flea circus. Both these will cause nothing but trouble. The fleas tend to get loose and make them scratch. Ethel is an impediment to finding a decent place to stay. So, why didn't they just have the guy take off the gorilla suit, so that he didn't scare everybody? They talked about selling Ethel to a zoo, so they are operating under the assumption that Ethel is a real ape! They try to sneak her past the front desk,(Joe, played by an upset Billy Gilbert), but it doesn't work. Then, they dress her up in Ollie's clothes and walk her past the front desk. Believe it or not, this works. But, when Stan throws down Ollie's clothes, so that he doesn't have to come up in Ethel's tutu.. But, one item gets stuck on the way down. Ethel tries to reach down and free it, but she falls down, So, they are back where they started from, plus the lion MGM has found them and is threatening them. They decide to put Ethel in a shack, and go to bed. But, Ethel gets out and climbs up to their second floor room. She gets in bed with Ollie, who moves over to sleep with Stan. Then, a neighbor puts on a record, and She dances around the room. Stan joins her. Ollie yells "Ethel, will you stop that, and come back to bed". Joe, the owner, naturally, assumes he is talking about his wife, who is another Ethel. It's 3AM and she hasn't shown up. He grabs his pistol and demands that they open the door. The boys think he's looking for the ape, who is under the covers. As he finds her, his wife shows up.(What she has been doing out until 3AM is never queried). Joe wants the ape out, But, in his excitement, he drops his gun, and the ape picks it up. She starts firing randomly, and everybody clears the room.........See it YouTube. The colorized version was too fuzzy for me, so I watched the original version.
Review of The Chimp
