The Soilers (1923)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Ralph Ceder

Writers:

Hal Conklin (writer)
H.M. Walker (titles)

Release Date:

25 November 1923 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

During the Alaska gold rush, a miner hits the mother lode, but a corrupt sheriff jumps his claim, leading to a tremendous fight.

Plot Keywords:

Claim | Sheriff | Alaska | Gold | Gay Cowboy

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Bob Canister
Ena Gregory	...	The girl
Mae Laurel	...	Woman in saloon
James Finlayson	...	Smacknamara
Billy Engle	...	Prospector
Eddie Baker	...	Prospector
George Rowe	...	Man in saloon
Jack Ackroyd	...	Henchman
Jack Gavin	...	Prospector
Marvin Loback	...	Henchman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sammy Brooks
Al Forbes
Katherine Grant
John B. O'Brien
'Tonnage' Martin Wolfkeil

Runtime:

USA:20 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

UK:U | Netherlands:AL (DVD rating)

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Celluloid Closet (1995)

Decent Stan Laurel Parody Feature

This is a decent Stan Laurel parody feature, and it helps to show why this kind of comedy was one of his specialties in the years before he teamed up with Oliver Hardy. This one is more dependent than most of them are on viewers having a familiarity with at least one version of the original story, but in its time that probably was a largely reliable assumption. James Finlayson, later a supporting player in many Laurel & Hardy classics, plays Laurel's antagonist here.

The story had already been filmed twice when this parody was made, and it was also filmed a number of times since then, most notably in the 1940s with John Wayne, Randolph Scott, and Marlene Dietrich. The main portion of the original story follows a claim dispute in Alaska, with a lengthy fight sequence capping it off.

This parody focuses most of the running time on the fight sequence, which it handles with a couple of amusing touches. The setup scenes are rather bland, and it was probably a good decision to rush through them to get to the highlight of the parody. The fight sequence sets up some humorous satirical parallels with the original, in which the whole town chose up sides during the big showdown. It also has some provocative touches of the kind that occur more often in movies of the era than many modern viewers might realize.

Some of Laurel's other parodies are a bit easier to understand now, since the originals are either better known or at least follow a familiar pattern. But this one works all right as long as you have at least a basic idea of the original story.