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.

Admittedly there are some slow spots in this one, but overall it is one of my favs.Some have said this is one of their weaker shorts. Comedy is always very subjective so I respect their opinions. But I don't agree.The central joke here is that Ethel The Human Chimpanzee is just that: Human! Finn says in the introduction that she reads, dances, plays cards and milks a cow! About the only thing she can't do is speak. A perfect foil for the two of the screens most adroit physical comedians. Of course she is a guy in a gorilla suit. It is a farce. It's not supposed to be logical or realistic. We are all in on the joke and that is what makes it so funny.The gorilla gets her share of laughs here sharing the spotlight with Stan and Ollie. The boys and Ethel finally settle down and try to go to sleep. Ollie turns out the light, and Ethel turns it back on. The big ape is apparently afraid of the dark! At one point, after witnessing the boys non-stop ineptitude, Ethel displays a dismissive hand gesture that says: "you guys are hopeless".You just have to suspend belief to get the most out of The Chimp.

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!

Only true Laurel and Hardy addicts will appreciate this sub-standard short that has the boys doing their best to demolish a circus tent with explosive gun powder, after which STAN LAUREL is given a flea circus for a parting gift, and OLIVER HARDY, a chimp called Ethyl.Naturally, when they decide to look for lodgings they get a hard time from landlord BILLY GILBERT who refuses to have them under his roof when he spies the chimp. Gilbert is already in a dither because his wife hasn't come home yet--his dear Ethyl.The rest of the short has the boys getting into one sticky situation after another, but the laughs are meager and the obvious use of a man inside an ape costume takes a lot away from the gags. Funniest line has Stan sighting a loose lion on the prowl and Oliver asking him what's the matter. "I've seen MGM," is his straight answer.But the slapstick happenings are not on par with the duo's best comedy shorts. This is strictly an early Laurel and Hardy featurette from Hal Roach that needed a much better script. At least BILLY GILBERT gets to do his customary energetic job as the irate husband who overhears Hardy telling the chimp, "Come to bed, Ethyl."Good potential material, but it should have been a lot funnier.