
Beat the Devil
1953

THEIR NEW FULL-LENGTH FEATURE PICTURE!
Ollie and Stan deceive their wives into thinking they are taking a medically necessary cruise when they are really going to a lodge convention.

Ollie and Stan deceive their wives into thinking they are taking a medically necessary cruise when they are really going to a lodge convention.
Stan LaurelStanley 'Stan' Laurel
Oliver HardyOliver 'Ollie' Hardy
Mae BuschMrs. Lottie Hardy
Dorothy ChristyMrs. Betty Laurel
Charley ChaseCharley
Lucien LittlefieldDr. Horace Meddick
Brooks BenedictA Son of the Desert (uncredited)
CharitaLead Hula Dancer (uncredited)
Ellen CorbyPartygoer at Table Next to Charley's (uncredited)
Robert CummingsSteamship Announcement Witness (uncredited)
John ElliottExalted Ruler (uncredited)
Billy GilbertMr. Ruttledge (voice) (uncredited)
Charlie HallWaiter (uncredited)
Pat HarmonDoorman (uncredited)
Hal RoachBit Part (uncredited)







Availability for your region. Streaming data provided by JustWatch.
Honolulu Baby! As members of the mason mens club The Sons Of The Desert, Stan & Ollie are desperate to go away to one of the clubs conventions in Chicago. This idea is given the no no from the boys' wives {Mae Busch & Dorothy Christy}, so Ollie fakes ill health and the boys wangle a supposed sea voyage to aid his recovery. Of course they head to Chicago for their boys own fun, unbeknown to them that the ship they had told their wives they were travelling on has sunk at sea! I think this stands the test of time as one of the best Laurel & Hardy pictures because it's one of the most professional that they made. Laurel wasn't wholly satisfied with a couple of preceding features that they did, he felt it was becoming slapstick for slapstick's sake, so in came a new writing team to work with him to give us a tighter character driven laugh fest. The films main triumph is the integration and impact of the wives, they add greatly to the comedy with sparky dialogue and visual madness. So many great moments that I don't wish to point any single one out, you just need to see it and enjoy. The songs are fun, the narrative is as tidy as they would do, and the underlying honesty is the best policy message is one we all should heed. 9/10

1953

2003

1988

1945

1989

1984

2010

1997

1993

1988

1985

2000

2019

1992

2007

1977

2019

2022

1991

1992