Babes in Toyland (1934)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Directors:

Gus Meins
Charley Rogers

Writers:

Frank Butler (dialogue)
Nick Grinde (dialogue)

Release Date:

14 December 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

1 and 1/2 hours of laughter!

Plot:

Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mortgage...

Plot Keywords:

Forced Marriage | Lifting Person In Air | Stop Motion | King | Wedding

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Stannie Dum
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie Dee
Charlotte Henry	...	Little Bo-Peep
Felix Knight	...	Tom-Tom Piper
Henry Brandon	...	Silas Barnaby (as Henry Kleinbach)
Florence Roberts	...	Mother Widow Peep
Virginia Karns	...	Mother Goose

Also Known As:

Laurel and Hardy in Toyland
March of the Wooden Soldiers (USA) (reissue title)
Revenge Is Sweet
Wooden Soldiers

Runtime:

77 min | USA:73 min (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Spain:T | USA:Approved (PCA #401) | Australia:G | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

The filming turned into a symphony of cast injuries. Stan Laurel fell off a platform and tore ligaments in his right leg. Henry Brandon was injured in a bar fight at the Brass Rail. Assistant director Gordon Douglas slid 15 feet from the top of the Old Woman's Shoe and tore ligaments in his left leg. Kewpie Morgan's part as Old King Cole called for him to laugh continuously - after two days, he ruptured muscles in his stomach. Oliver Hardy entered St. Vincent's Hospital to have his tonsils removed the day after filming wrapped, and Hal Roach developed appendicitis.

Goofs:

Continuity: The three little pigs are in their nightgowns - like everyone else in Toy Land - when Stan and Ollie return with Tom Tom and Bo-Peep. When the three little pigs close the blinds to their houses when the bogeymen are attacking, two of them are shown with their regular clothes on. Eventually they are seen with their nightgowns again when Toy Land is fighting the bogeymen.

Quotes:

[Stannie nibbles on pig sausage evidence]
Stannie Dum: It doesn't taste like pig sausage to me, it tastes like pork.
Ollie Dee: [Taking bite] Why this isn't pig nor pork. It's beef. I smell a rat.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Skinner's Sense of Snow (#12.8)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf

conversation with henry brandon

first i must disagree with the review of your last member on his appraisal of henry brandons role as mr. barnaby. my wife and i were personal friends of henry brandon and it was his favorite role and his first. he maintained a friendship with stan laurel and oliver hardy until their passings. he was scheduled to appear at a laurel and hardy convention in july of 1990 with ms. charlotte henry and my wife and i were to meet him there. his recollection of the production sets were of vivid colors. when he attended the preview of the film he was disappointed because all he saw were greys and black and whites. he wished that hal roach would have shot the film in color even two strip technicolor. when talking to him about his long career always babes in toyland was foremost in his mind. the film holds up well today with another generation of children ( my grandkids included} and adults enjoying this trip into the world of fairytales and make believe. recently it has been released in computerized color, but i prefer the original black and white; but i think henry brandon would be happy to see his supreme villiany in the color version. a wonderful film, laurel and hardy at their best and the birth of a cinema villain for decades to come, my friend henry brandon nee kleinbach. yours at the movies joe rinando.