User Reviews

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.

This 1931 L&H comedy short is viewable at YouTube: both the original B&W and colorized versions. Since both the colorized choices were fuzzy, I chose the B&W. The title is spoken by 3 actors, at different times, thus has slight relevancy...........As many of the reviewers have complained, the chief problem is the inordinate amount of time(11 min.) devoted to Ollie's problem of getting his(actually Stan's) riding boots on, and then off, once he realizes they are Stan's. I would say that if this section had been cut down to about the most interesting 5 min. , I wouldn't complain........This is one of their films that includes a wife for each, who tend to do things together. Anita Gravin serves as Stan's wife, while Isabelle Keith is Mrs. Hardy. Both are classy looking and acting. Why they picked these 2 nitwit clowns are husbands is beyond me. Perhaps they wanted husbands they could easily dominate? ........The plan is to go to Atlantic city, for a weekend vacation. Everyone is packed and ready to go to the train station when Ollie receives a phone call from a lodge brother who informs him that the boys are having a stag party, with him and Stan the honored guests(If you can believe that!). Ollie says not possible. He's not breaking their vacation plan. But he softens up when Cookie(Baldwin Cooke) tells him something we cannot hear. His face lights up. Now, he has to think of an excuse to pull out of the trip, but also get rid of the wives. He decides to feign a sudden illness. The wives take the bait. But, Ollie tells them to go ahead and get on the train, and he and Stan will be there the next day, hopefully. The wives fall for this plan too, but almost ruin his plan when they return for Isabelle's expensive stole. In his haste, Stan gets mixed up and puts the stole around Ollie's head, like a bandage, and gives Isabelle the towel. Ollie resumes his sick act, and the wives leave. But , the boys aren't yet clear of the wives. As the boys put on their lodge uniforms, the wives learn that they just missed the last evening train for Atlantic city, thus head back home. Meanwhile, the boys are struggling with Ollie's boot problem, which still isn't resolved when the wives ring the doorbell. Stan panics, and runs to the backroom, where Ollie is. They both get on the hideaway bed and pull the cord that makes it fold into the wall. But ,Stan pokes his head out, giving them away. The wives each get a shotgun(from where?), and shoot into the bed, blasting a large hole in the exterior wall(right!), with the bed and the boys following it to the ground.........I'll give this a 6 rating. If the boot caper had been half as long, I would give it a 7..

A tangled web is what Laurel and Hardy end up in when they try to deceive their wives while getting ready for a trip to Atlantic City to go to their lodge instead. Left alone (with Hardy pretending to be sick), the two wrestle over Oliver ending up in Laurel's boots, and their desperate attempts to get them off. Between a boot jack, a badly places tack, a Murphy bed and a floor level bathtub, the boys will get their share of abused especially when the wives come home. It's a plot device they tried several times with different scenarios, most famously in "Sons of the Desert", a feature. This one, in abbreviated mode, is practically just as good.

One of the weaker Laurel and Hardy shorts from 1931.

Stan, Ollie and their wives (Anita Garvin and Isabelle Keith) are off on a vacation. They are almost ready to go when Ollie gets a phone call from his friend Cookie (Baldwin Cook) saying the lads down his club are giving a party in Stan and Ollie's honour. He reluctantly agrees to go along. He feigns illness, tells his wife he'll be fine in a day, Stan will look after him, then they will meet them on vacation. They somehow agree to this. Stan and Ollie get their outfits ready for the party, but due to a mix up of boots, Ollie can't get Stan's boot off. And will the wives get to their train on time...

This is a great situation which worked so well in the previous short 'Blotto', lie to the wives to go out with the lads. 'Be Big' is in someways a forerunner to 'Sons of the Desert' which is probably Laurel & Hardy's greatest ever film together. Here was a similar situation, lie to the wives and using illness as an excuse. Also, the club Stan and Ollie are in during 'Be Big' is similar to that of 'The Sons of the Desert' and the Sons of the Desert theme tune also plays during whilst they are getting their costumes on.

Yet the problem with 'Be Big' is that the gag of Stan trying to get the boot off Ollie lasts way too long. It takes up about half of the film and it's a three wheeler. This would have been a much better film had it had been a two wheeler. How many laughs can you possibly get from Stan trying to take a boot off Ollie? Apparently in some foreign language editions of this film, the boot gag goes on longer. That must have been borderline torture to watch.

'Be Big' had a great situation, but the over-use of material spoilt the effort. There was no need for it to be a three wheeler. It is little wonder when watching this film Stan Laurel was reluctant to make a 'Laurel & Hardy' feature film. 'Be Big' is a case of the Stan & Ollie resting on their laurels (ba dumb tish).

"Be Big!" is an American 24-minute black-and-white film from 1931, so this one is already over 85 years old and it stars Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, still considered the perhaps best comedy duo in film history today. This is one of their sound short films in fact and from the audio you can see that the medium sound film really hadn't progressed far at that point. It does sound a bit amateurish. But this is not the biggest problem here. I think it is the script that just feels pretty uninspired even if the two in the lead come close to making it work at least partially and probably nobody could have done it better then them. However, it all feels really uninteresting and that surprises me a bit as the two writers and the director were very successful and prolific back in the day and had also worked wih Stan and Ollie on several occasions. The one thing I found particularly weak was the wives reference, one that is common in the duo's films that they are bossed around by their wives and at least kinda deserve it. But the actresses did not impress me and honestly, they are their wives! There needs to be at least a bit of caring, sympathy and compassion there, but they were 100% antagonists. So all in all, this film is far from being as funny as I wanted it to be and for me it is npowhere near the best I've seen from Laurel and Hardy and I've seen a lot. Gotta give this one a thumbs-down. The material is maybe good enough for 10-12 minutes max if we take the better sequences only. Watch something else instead.

Being a life-long Laurel and Hardy fan and growing up with all of their features and shorts, specifically those made from 1929 to 1940, I can safely say these are some of the best works ever committed to celluloid. Though there are some I like more than others, and a few, like Be Big for example, never really sat well with me. I don't know, it's one I've never found to be that enjoyable, although it does have very funny moments, but it feels as though they had to make it in a very short amount of time as it seems to end without a real conclusion to the story. Not to mention, the boys have very little material to work with. So, let's dive in and see what's the big deal about Be Big. Our story opens with the Laurels and Hardys planning a trip to Atlantic City. Everything seems to be in order, they sound as though they'll have a good time, but then comes a telephone call out of the blue. It's Cookie, a member of the boys' lodge, who calls to inform Ollie that they're being thrown a stag party in their honor. He builds it up to be a big deal, but Ollie quickly turns him down, stating they have other plans and that "a Hardy's word is as firm as the Rock of Gibralter." However, when Cookie tells him some of the things they'll have at the party, I think a few other things become firm. It's funny that we don't hear what Cookie is saying to Ollie, either because it would've been too racy to say in a movie in 1931, or if it they thought it was funnier just seeing Ollie's reactions to some of the very obviously naughty things that would be waiting for them. Needless to say, Mr. Hardy is now sold, so Cookie tells him to make up an excuse to get out of the trip and come with Stan down to the lodge. After all, no man is bigger than the excuses he makes to his wife. He tells Ollie to be big. So what does Mr. Big do? He launches into dramatic mode and feigns a migraine headache. He moans and groans, blaming it on his nerves. When the girls suggest postponing the trip, Ollie insists they go on ahead and that Stan would stay with him. Fortunately, their wives aren't very sharp and don't see through their obvious ruse, so they leave the apartment. That's when Ollie tells Stan about the stag party, so they quickly rush to put on their lodge uniforms. Well, I've got to hand it to them, their trick actually worked. Sadly, I think we all know that it's only a matter of time before things start to go belly up. How's this for starters: when the wives arrive at the station, they find out they missed the last train to Atlantic City. Oh dear. They're sure the boys will be surprised to see them back... oh yes, they will.

Now, I'm not sure just what type of lodge Stan and Ollie belong to, but it seems to be the kind that makes its members wear dark sweaters with jockey pants and heel boots. The Loyal Order of Funky Dressers. Though Ollie seems to be having tremendous trouble getting his right boot on, so he asks Stan to help. However, in the process, he soon finds out that it was Stan's boot into which he was trying to wedge his enormous foot. As a result he tries to remove it, only now the darn thing won't come off. First, they try a boot jack, but then that becomes stuck as well. When trying to pull them off, Ollie tumbles out of his chair. Stan makes another attempt to pull off the boot, but ends up dragging Ollie around the room... right onto an exposed carpet tack. Ouch! Hey, guys, I have a suggestion: since this stag party obviously means a great deal to you since you lied to your wives to get out of a vacation you all wanted to go on, why don't you just go to the party as you are, and maybe there they can help you find a way to remove the boot, maybe with a pair of scissors? I mean, you're missing the party right now, the dancing girls or whatever "numbers" were performing are probably exhausted. No? Okay, well, just thought I'd give it a shot. So, after Stan pries the tack out of Ollie's buttocks, they calm down and try to look at the matter logically. There's nothing to getting a boot off. Well, no, but there are other variables to consider: by now Ollie's foot has probably swelled up inside of it. So he lays on the floor, holding the window curtains, while Stan stands on the Murphy bed... and voila, they don't remove the boot, but they do tear down the curtain rod, and even take out the window too. Then they get tangled in each others' clothes. Ha ha ha. You know, I just had another thought: shouldn't the wives be home by now? It didn't take them very long to get to the train station, so what's keeping them? Well, on the boys' next attempt, the Murphy bed closes on Stan, but opens on Ollie. Geez, this apartment is a real death trap, isn't it? The Hardys should ask for their deposit back. Once again, because Ollie seems to think this task is so simple, he demonstrates the removal of a boot by putting his on Stan's foot, then pulls it off with ease... so much ease that it sends him tumbling into a filled bathtub. The boot is still on, but now his sweater has been stretched into a dress... the latest in schoolmarm attire. LOL. It's then that Ollie asks, "what could be woise?" Oh no, don't say that, you know the answer will never be good. Lo and behold, there's the doorbell. Stan answers and the girls are shocked to see him in his lodge clothes, so he locks the door and he and Ollie hide in the Murphy bed. The wives, now realizing they've been had, grab loaded rifles that just happened to be sitting nearby and opened fire, sending the bed and the boys crashing through the wall. Wow, that escalated quickly, and I suppose we have to assume the worst because that's where the short ends. That's it, really? I mean, it's not as dark as the ending to Laughing Gravy (1931), but it's almost on par with Midnight Patrol (1933). I think a much funnier ending would've been the boys sitting up in the rubble, with Stan holding Ollie's boot. At first he panics thinking his foot was blown off, only to discover that it is still intact. He takes the boot from Stan and clonks him on the head with it. At least that's better than assuming their wives just committed a double homicide.

Like I said before, Be Big has plenty of laughs and excellent physical comedy, but the premise is threadbare: boot won't come off, try a bunch of useless solutions, when the obvious thing to do would be to either cut it off or go to the party anyway and worry about getting it off later. Be Big was never one of my favorites, and in some places, it's rather painful. Fortunately, it was remade, more or less, in 1933 as the boys' third feature, Sons of the Desert, which is MUCH better and arguably one of their finest films. The premise of feigning illness to get out of spending time with the wives was reused in the very first episode of The Flintstones, where Fred pretends he's ill and has Barney take care of him, so that they can go bowling instead of taking Wilma and Betty to the theater. Luckily the Flintstones never had to worry about boots. So, do I recommend Be Big? Sure, it's not a bad film, but it would definitely not rank among Laurel and Hardy's best. This one and Come Clean (1931), another short film with a few funny gags but no real plot and felt like a rush job. Also, this is one of three times where Stan was married to a woman who tried to murder him for lying to her. First was Blotto (1930), this film, and then Chickens Come Home (1931). I've heard of fury of a woman scorned, but this... whoo boy! So if you've seen their other works, you should see this one too. And remember, be big.

. . . but a reminder that the biggest home-wreckers of them all share a title commonly abbreviated to "M-R-S.," and are otherwise referred to as "wives." These self-styled balls-and-chains fetter guys in the Prime of their Youth, and often cling on like barnacles until the bitter end. When Stan and Ollie's lodge brothers arrange the thrill of a lifetime in their honor, this pair of one-time care-free bachelors find themselves to be more hen-pecked than the most beleaguered rooster. They are literally gunned down by their deviant distaff devilish "halves," and miss out on all the fun.

I remember doing some dumb things as a 6 year old. Stabbing my hand with a blue pencil and getting the lead stuck inside. I also remember sticking a small pearl up my nose and spent hours trying to remove it without the knowledge of my parents .Excuses Excuses Stan and Ollie convince their wives that they can't go with them on a Vacation.They con-cocked a story of illness to stay behind.The whole short takes place in Ollie's abode complete with floor level bathtub, boot jack remover and let's not forget a stray tack.Pulling and tugging and trying to remove Ollie's tight boots that really belong to Stanley's feet. Hilarious for 5 minutes but the majority of the short focuses on the failure of the boot removal accompanied by that horrible Hal Roach Orchestra background music which sounds like someone trying to defecate in a factory toilet. The only viewers who would be pleased would be the National Rifle Association when the wives come home with there shotgun in hands ready to fire!

"Be Big" features our two heroes happily about to go on a vacation to Atlantic City with their wives. The bags are packed, they are on the verge of leaving for the train when the phone rings, for Ollie. It is a lodge brother, telling him about a "surprise stag party" being underway in their honor.

I would be perturbed at this last-minute invitation. I also wouldn't want to cut short a vacation trip with my wife. I should mention both Stan and Ollie have good-looking wives in this film, and are presented as having no reason to NOT want this vacation trip.

But Ollie decides to go along, so he feigns illness and, despite acting like a wounded moose, convinces his wife and Stan's to take the train as planned. "Stan can stay and take care of me. Tomorrow, I'll feel fine and we can join you then." The wives go along with this non-sense and head off to the train station.

The boys now need to change into their hunting outfits for the stag party. Ollie tells Stan to go (across the hall) to get his outfit and they can change together. Ollie is next seen struggling to pull on a boot. With Stan's help, he finally gets it on, only to learn that he has squeezed Stan's boot onto his foot. They now spend several more minutes struggling to take it off.

Virtually half of this entire short film deals with the struggles with the one boot on Ollie's right foot. They wind up pulling off curtain rods and causing other havoc in the apartment. The finish, which naturally involves the wives returning and discovering the hoax, has some gunshots which truly destroy the apartment, without, of course, harming any people.

The boot antics could have been amusing if trimmed to two minutes or fewer. But around 12 minutes or more of this was so tedious I found myself just wanting it to end. If they had tried different tactics, it might have worked, but the vast majority of the time simply had Stan trying to get into a position to pull the boot off. Way too repetitious to be funny for even one-eighth the length of the bit.

This makes it one of the least-funny Laurel and Hardy short I've seen. Sorry to have to give it a 3.

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. Ollie and Stan are packed for a trip to Atlantic City with their wives (Isabelle Keith and Anita Garvin). But then Ollie gets a phone call from their friend Cookie (Baldwin Cooke) who invites them to a surprise stag party, he originally refuses because of the wives, but he agrees when he hears of things to expect. So Ollie gets talcum powder on his face, and pretends to be very sick to fool the wives, and Stan as well, and they go without them. So the wives leave for the train station without the boys, and they start dressing in their special clothes, while the wives find out that they just missed the train, and go back. While dressing for the stag night, Ollie manages to get his boot stuck on his foot, only to realise that he has got Stan's pair, so there is a big struggle to get one boot off. They try pulling hard on the rocking chair, using the boot jack and a little hammering, manoeuvring on the fold away bed, and a final backwards fall into the bath. Eventually the wives return home, and the boys hide in the fold away bed, and when the wives know why, they shoot the boys (in the bed) through the window, crashing, and landing in the below pond. Also starring Charlie Hall as Bellboy. 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!