Tag Archives: Oliver Hardy

Watching 1939: Zenobia (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult. 

1939 film:  Zenobia (1939)

Release date:  April 21, 1939

Cast:  Oliver Hardy, Harry Langdon, Billie Burke, James Ellison, Jean Parker, Alice Brady, June Lang, Olin Howland, J. Farrell MacDonald, Hattie McDaniel, Stepin Fetchit, Hobart Cavanaugh, Zenobia the elephant

Studio:  Hal Roach Studios

Director:  Gordon Douglas

Plot:
Set in 1870, Dr. Tibbett (Oliver) is a country doctor who no longer cares for the rich people in town. His daughter Mary (Parker) becomes engaged to Jeff Carter (Ellison), whose mother Mrs. Carter (Brady) is one of the high society people Dr. Tibbett used to care for and Mrs. Carter doesn’t believe Mary is good enough for her son. Mrs. Carter schemes for her son to marry Virginia (Lang). Amidst the engagement news, Dr. Tibbett tries to care for a carnival elephant, Zenobia.

 

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Christmas Musical Monday: Babes in Toyland (1934)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
“Babes in Toyland” (1934) – Musical #576

Studio:
Hal Roach Studios
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Gus Meins, Charley Rogers

Starring:
Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Virginia Karns, Charlotte Henry, Felix Knight, Florence Roberts, Henry Brandon, Scotty Beckett (uncredited), Ellen Corby (uncredited), Dickie Jones (uncredited), Gene Reynolds (uncredited), Marie Wilson (uncredited)

Plot:
Silas Barnaby (Brandon) is the meanest man in the town of Toyland. He is demanding the mortgage from Mother Peep, the old woman who lives in the shoe (Roberts). Barnaby also wants to marry Bo-Peep (Henry), who refuses him. Along with all of Mother Peep’s children, Stannie Dee (Laurel) and Ollie Dum (Hardy) also live in the shoe. When they can’t pay the mortgage, Bo-Peep agrees to marry Barnaby, but Stannie Dee and Ollie Dum help her trick him into marrying a decoy. To get revenge, Barnaby frames Tom-Tom (Knight), who loves Bo-Peep, for kidnapping one of the Three Little Pigs.

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