Beau Hunks (1931)

So… Beau Hunks. What a strange title for such a daft, charming little flick. Laurel and Hardy, you know, Stan and Ollie, those goofy giants of comedy. I had a VHS tape of their shorts tucked away in my room in Lidingö in ’86, and this was the one I always popped in on rainy November afternoons when school was just dragging and mum was shouting about muddy shoes in the hall.

The whole thing is basically Ollie’s heartbreak turned into the most childish form of resistance you’ll ever see – like when you’d dump a girl in high school (or, more honestly, were dumped) and then try to be extra tough about it, but still end up sniffing after her when she wasn’t looking. They head off to join the French Foreign Legion, which, honestly, will never not be funny to us Swedes. All that sand! All those moustaches!

Directed by James W. Horne, a guy who knew how to time a pie in the face down to the second. Producer Hal Roach does his thing again, spitting out comedy classics like salt liquorice in a candy shop. There’s something so silly yet kinda brave about these two. Jean Harlow gets a mention, but not a real role – she’s just the pretty face on a photo, which is…well, okay, a bit of a tease for Harlow fans, kanske.

38 minutes flies by – it’s loud, totally bananas, with those pratfalls and that music, and my neighbours definitely hated the noise back then. The uniform gags and ol’ Stan’s dopey charisma always make me laugh, but sometimes the plot’s skinnier than a Swedish sausage. Still, every time I see them, it reminds me of sneaking surströmming into my sister’s room, just for a laugh. Unless you’re made of stone, you’ll end up grinning like a fool. Får jag lov att säga – it’s a perfect Sunday pick-me-up, especially if you’ve had a rough week and need to remember not to take things so blodigt allvarligt.

watch the full movie on Mavshack Movies on YouTube

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