This short film's direction is twofold. One is to avoid their wive's control over them (they always seemed to have wives who were much smarter, and much meaner than them) by stealing some alcohol from them. The other is to see what happens to them as they drink the tea that has replaced the liquor. The title of the film tells us that someone is going to get really drunk. Of course, they have already blown it before they go to the bottle club (taking a risk during prohibition) because of Ollie's big mouth (he is overheard by his wife). Anyway, the scene at the club is hilarious because the power of suggestion is more powerful than the realities of the human body. This is laugh riot. Will they pay a price for their actions? That's the question.

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. Stan is pacing the floor, which is annoying his wife (Anita Garvin), but she's not letting him go out unless it's for something important. Ollie rings Stan's house, but twice he gets hung up, and the third time Ollie gives him a feedback blare, and Stan blows Ollie's hat off. Ollie invites Stan to the Rainbow Club, where he has reserved a table, and he suggests making a fake telegram as an excuse to Mrs. Laurel. Unfortunately she was listening on the other end of the phone, so she heard this conversation, so to teach them a lesson she pours away the saved liquor and replaces it with some cold tea and kitchen ingredients. Stan finishes the fake telegram, and jumps out the window to have it delivered, and Mrs. Laurel pretends she knows nothing about what she heard, but she does say goodbye to Stan, and Ollie hiding outside. They get to the club, and after a crashing bottle opening, Ollie is first to drink the fake liquor, with some soda, and Stan soon joins too, and they are sure they drinking genuine booze. After seeing a female dancer in the club, we see Mrs. Laurel buying herself a new double-barrelled shotgun. So she arrives at the club without Stan or Ollie realising, but when they do, they just laugh, and only stop when she tells them about the fake booze. Then she gets out the gun, and they run out of the club being chased, and the cab they get into collapses with her shot, it ends fading to black with her running towards them. 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!

Until I watched Blotto last night I never knew how much homage was paid to Laurel and Hardy by Jackie Gleason in one of the classic Honeymooner episodes.It's the one where Ralph invites Ed over to enjoy a bottle of wine and Alice fearing the consequences empties the wine bottle and puts grape juice in it. The two of them as Ollie would have put it, none the wiser, polish off the 'wine' and get themselves drunk on the mere power of suggestion.It's prohibition time and the unmarried Mr. Hardy wants to go to a bring your own booze type club where they give you the set up if you bring the illegal liquor. But Stan's wife, Anita Garvin, keeps her husband on a very short leash.That doesn't stop our clever duo who turn out not to be so clever. Anita allows them to go to the club, but spikes the bottle with cold tea. Best scene in this short was a lachrymose tenor singing The Curse of An Aching Heart to Ollie and Stan crying in their tea.Besides Stan and Ollie in front of the camera, Hal Roach managed to get the talents of two future Academy Award directors behind the camera. Leo McCarey co-wrote the script and George Stevens was the cinematographer. Stan and Ollie's humor is not like that of the wisecracking Marx Brothers, nor is it finely honed burlesque routines. It depends far more on the characters created. So don't look for any clever lines here. Just look for a pair of lovable screw-ups who keep proving again and again about how smart they're not.

The basic plot of this Laurel and Hardy short has been seen in movies and especially TV by other comedians. I remember a HONEYMOONERS episode that "liberally borrowed" from this short and I recall a few other shows that also reproduced the main idea. I assume that even before Laurel and Hardy, there probably were other comedy shorts with the same plot as well! Stan is a very henpecked husband. He wants to sneak out to "play", but his wife is keeping a close eye on him. Ollie calls and convinces Stan to lie to his wife so they can both sneak off to a night club. Stan tells Ollie his wife has been hiding a bottle of liquor (since it is Prohibition) and he'll smuggle it out of the house. However, the wife is quite nosy and overhears the plan, so she substitutes cold tea in the bottle.What follows is a not particularly surprising segment where Stan and Ollie think they are getting drunk, so they start to behave very obnoxiously at the night club. In the meantime, the wife arrives with a brand new gun she purchased to shoot her husband for lying to her(that seems awfully extreme and ridiculous, I know). However, despite this being a completely stupid plot element, the final scene where she shoots at the pair is still a great sight gag.A very familiar theme that was executed very, very well with the usual Laurel and Hardy style and grace.