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Sons of the Desert
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Wikipedia article
'Sons of the Desert' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy. Directed by William A. Seiter, it was released in the United States on December 29, 1933. In the United Kingdom, the film was originally released under the title 'Fraternally Yours'.
In 2012, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.King, Susan. [https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-dec-19-la-et-mn-national-film-registry-20121217-story.html "National Film Registry selects 25 films for preservation "] 'Los Angeles Times' (December 19, 2012)
Plot
The film begins with a group of men in fezes singing "Auld Lang Syne". It is a California meeting of the Sons of the Desert, a fraternal lodge of which both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are members. The organization will be holding its national convention in Chicago in a week and all members must take an oath to attend. Stan is reluctant for fear that his wife Betty won't allow the trip, but pledges after cajoling by Oliver.
They live next door to one another in a duplex house, Stan and his wife Betty on the left side with house number 2220 (Mrs. and Mr. Stanley Laurel) and Oliver and his wife Lottie (whom he constantly refers to as "Sugar") with house number 2222 (Mr. Oliver Hardy & Wife). On the cab ride home, Oliver rails against the idea that a man would be bossed by his wife. He tries to reassure Stan that Betty will have no choice but to let him go, because he has taken a sacred oath. But it turns out Oliver's wife, Lottie, puts up an even stiffer resistance. Lottie has another trip for Oliver planned with her to the mountains, a plan he has forgotten about. Oliver tries to cover his embarrassment by remarking to Stan that his wife is "only clowning", only for her to smash a vase over his head, followed by another one when he attempts to establish his authority as the boss of the house.
Unwilling to go back on the oath that he swore, but also unwilling to provoke further wrath from his wife, Oliver feigns illness to get out of the trip with his wife. Stan arranges for a doctor (of the veterinarian "religion") to prescribe an ocean voyage to Honolulu, with their wives staying home (Oliver is well aware how much ocean voyages disagree with his wife). Stan and Ollie go to the convention, with their wives none the wiser. They do have a close call, however; while drinking with a fellow conventioneer from Texas named Charley, as a practical joke, he calls his sister in Los Angeles... who turns out to be none other than Mrs. Hardy. Fortunately, nothing comes of this.
But then fate closes in even more relentlessly; while Stan and Ollie are en route home from Chicago, their supposed ship arriving from Honolulu sinks in a typhoon and the wives head to the shipping company's offices to find out any news about the survivors. At the same time, Stan and Ollie, blissfully unaware of the shipwreck as yet, return home as though from Honolulu and are confused by the empty houses. While Stan reads the paper, Ollie suddenly catches sight of the headline of their supposed ship's demise and immediately grasps its grisly implications.
Panic-stricken, knowing their wives will know right away they never went to Honolulu, they prepare to go to a hotel to spend the night, only to catch sight of their wives returning home. They end up taking refuge hastily in the attic and, as they can't escape, decide to camp out there. Meanwhile, the wives go to the cinema to calm their rattled nerves, where they see a newsreel of the convention featuring their husbands acting extremely hammy. Furious at being deceived, they blame one another's wayward spouses, while Betty, knowing Stan lied for the first time ever to her, is still confident he will atone and confess, more than Oliver will do. That outrages Lottie to the point of proposing a challenge to see whose husband will confess first.
As for the husbands, their camping in the attic starts out smoothly enough, but it's interrupted loudly enough as to attract the attention of the wives (prompting Betty, who suspects burglars, to investigate with her shotgun). They manage to flee out of sight, escaping to the rooftop. When they cannot get back in, Oliver sees this as their opportunity to follow their original plan of going to a hotel to pass the night. Stan, however, wants to go back home and confess to his wife. But Oliver, fearful of the consequences awaiting him from his wife if Stan should do such a thing, threatens blackmail; "If you go downstairs and spill the beans," he tells him, "I'll tell Betty that I caught you smoking a cigarette!"
They are about to make their way to a hotel to spend the night, but are stopped by a policeman who manages to get their home addresses from them thanks to Stan. The wives notice them coming, but while Lottie wants to shoot them the moment they walk through the door, Betty reminds her of their argument that needs to be settled. Upon walking into the house, they tell the wives about the shipwreck. Then, when asked about how they contrived to making it home a whole day ahead of the rescue ship carrying the survivors, their story begins to unravel; they say they jumped ship and "ship-hiked" their way home. Then Lottie looks Oliver in the eye and, telling him to be "bigger than he's ever been before", asks him if his story is the truth. He insists it is; "Do you think that a story like that could come from 'my' mind if it 'wasn't' the truth?! Why it's too far-fetched 'not' to be the truth!"
Then, Betty asks Stan if Oliver's story is true. After a long, uncomfortable silence (interrupted by some "encouragement" from Oliver: "Go ahead and tell her!" followed by a cigarette smoking gesture), Stan finally breaks down and, in high-pitched whimpers, confesses that they went to the convention in Chicago, not Honolulu; they were never in any shipwreck and had been hiding in the attic. Betty picks up her shotgun and ominously beckons for Stan to come along. Stan hysterically bawls anew, extremely worried at the fate he thinks awaits him at home. The two of them walk out, Betty with her gun and Stan whimpering loudly. After they have gone, Oliver is left to face his wife's wrath at being made a fool of now twice by him. After failed attempts to charm her with babyish mannerisms during a very ominous silence, Oliver finally suggests in a jaunty and winning tone, and with a smile, "How about you and me going to the mountains?" - the last straw.
Lottie lunges in rage towards the kitchen and empties the kitchen cupboards, piling up crockery while her bemused husband watches. Meanwhile, in the Laurels' residence, Stan is seen wrapped in a dressing gown on the sofa, sipping wine and eating chocolates, being pampered by Betty, who relays the age-old moral to him, "Honesty is the best policy." Stan agrees happily, as the sounds of hurled pieces of crockery start coming from the Hardys' side. Lottie is throwing pots, pans and dishes at Ollie. After the maelstrom, Stan arrives from next-door, sees Ollie sitting in the wreckage, and asks, "What'd she say?", to which Ollie replies, "Never mind what she said. What did Betty say?" Stan then replies, "Betty said that honesty is the best politics." Stan puffs on a once-forbidden cigarette, and then goes out the door singing "Honolulu Baby, won't you close those eyes". Ollie angrily hurls a pot at his head, upending him.
Production notes
The fraternal organization seen in the film is styled to resemble the Shriners, known formerly as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Cast
Soundtrack
* "Honolulu Baby" written by T. Marvin Hatley
* "Auld Lang Syne" written by Robert Burns
* "We Are the Sons of the Desert" written by Marvin Hatley
* "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!" music and lyrics by George Frederick Root
Awards and honors
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
* 1998: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies Nominated
* 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs #96
* 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
** Oliver: "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" #60
* 2007: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) Nominated
Similar films
* 'Sons of the Desert' is a partial remake of 1928's 'We Faw Down'.
* Another Laurel and Hardy short film called 'Be Big!' has very much the same storyline as this feature. Stan and Ollie are invited to a party with a club that the two attend. However, they are about to take their wives on holiday for the weekend. Ollie pretends to be ill and makes sure the wives still go, the boys will meet them there the next day, and Stan stays to look after him. They get changed into their uniforms which causes many problems such as Stan putting on Ollie's boots by mistake. However, in 'Be Big', Stan is initially unaware of the party at their club until Ollie fills him in, and then tells him his sick act was a charade.
Legacy
The international Laurel and Hardy society The Sons of the Desert takes its name from this feature film.
The title was also used as the name of a country group, as well as that of the Danish comedy quartet "rkenens snner" (1991-2019), the literal translation of the movie's title. The comedy group uses the basic theme of a fraternal organization, and their stage costumes are identical to the ones used in the movie's organization. Even their theme song is a translation of the one from the movie. Though adult themed, their gags and jokes resemble the ones seen at the movie's Chicago party.
References
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