User reviews

Every single detail and frame of this film is a work of art. With only Laurel and Hardy in the cast, it is the most beautiful 18 minutes you could ever wish to spend watching a movie. Every gag, every nuance, every movement, every moment is timed and placed beautifully. I can only wonder if Stan and Babe had any idea when they were making this masterpiece quite what they were achieving... Is it possible to recognise timeless perfection in the midst of the process without spoiling the result? Whatever, this film could almost bring tears to the eyes it is so charming, so satisfying, so quietly side-splitting, and such a magnificent example of screen comedy at its best. Nothing comes better than this. Ever.

THE SELF SUFFICIENCY of the L & H team is presented here in the best example possible. The slow and deliberate method of working a gag to its maximum was very handily put to good use in these shorts. Whereas most all other comedians opted for an array of fast paced comic situations, being rapidly dispatched at sometimes break-neck pace, L & H worked each slowly and deliberately doing their own reactions to whatever. (As a true antithesis to this Hal Roach/Leo Mc Carey style, see some of comedian Larry Semon's silent screen work.)_

ANOTHER SINGULARLY UNIQUE feature of this short subject is that it is all Stan & Ollie. Other than the brief appearance of Billy Gilbert at the beginning, the boys have this one all to themselves. They play out their shtick against the backdrop of their seagoing reclamation project. The now familiar routines of Laurel messing up Hardy's work, Hardy's reaction, stare at the camera and his slow burn are meticulously combined with Laurel's crying to great effect.

ALONG WITH SUCH other titles as ME AND MY PAL. OUR WIFE and THE MUSIC BOX, we have what we like to call "quintessential Laurel & Hardy".

AS IS THE norm, all is lost in the end; bu we know that there will be other moments to come.

Laurel and Hardy have a business plan: instead of buying fish and selling it, they'll catch the fish themselves and cut out the middleman. Unfortunately, the people who are going to execute this idea are Stan and Ollie.

It's my favorite short by Laurel and Hardy. There are others just as good, but this is just them. Except for a brief appearance by Billy Gilbert (maybe seconds) to sell them a boat, it's all the Boys and the boat they are trying to recondition, right next to a big mud puddle. The inevitability of disaster is delicious, and the gags are, as usual, great.

Towed In A Hole finds Laurel and Hardy seeking to expand their business horizons. When we first meet them they are selling retail fish from the back of their truck, fish caught by other people. Of course Stan gets the idea that they should get a boat and start catching their own fish to sell and become wholesalers. But what do these guys know from boats or fishing.

They buy a used boat that's a fix-it-up from Billy Gilbert who saw them coming a mile away. Then the rest of the film is spent in their futile attempts to repair this beached craft. After that it's the usual antics.

Best scene for me was Stan getting his head caught between the inside wall of the boat and the mast. What to do but saw the mast to get his head out. Good thing he had around a saw that he had been trying to make music on a few minutes earlier.

Problem was that while Stan was below Ollie was on top of the mast doing some repair there. When Stan finishes solving his problem the results are disaster for Ollie.

Directing these shenanigans for Hal Roach is George Marshall who would in a few years start turning out a whole series of some great comedy films.

Towed In A Hole also gives us some idea of Ollie's singing voice which was quite good. He doesn't sing, but right at the beginning he's hawking those fish in good voice in which he occasionally slips into the southern speech of his native Georgia.

Nice short subject for Stan and Ollie's legion of fans world wide.

Can it get any better than this. Stan has a great idea. Instead of working for "the Man," they should get a boat and fish themselves, thereby accruing all the profits. Since they have little money, it means buying a piece of junk boat and fixing it up. Actually, their ideas are sound and at times their skills aren't bad...but when it comes to coordination and execution, they are totally lost. As soon as they are finished trying to destroy the boat before getting it launched, things seem ship shape, if you will. But it isn't long before their mutual efforts begin to clash. Of course, as is usually the case, poor Ollie gets the worst of it. He is crunched, glued, painted, and abused. Yes, he did make the mistake of listening to his friend whose track record is anything but solid. I think the fact that their hearts are always in the right place is what made these guys so endearing. They never meant to be nasty to each other. Circumstances just didn't go their way. This effort, with really just them on the screen, except for a short scene with Billy Gilbert, shows them at their absolute best.

Towed In a Hole (1932) : Brief Review -

Laurel & Hardy builds a ship of pre-code comedy that sails all the way in their regular form. 30s was the best decade for Pre-code comedies, especially the first half of the decade. Early 30s saw many great comedies in talkies era and few silent films also found a Praise. Laurel & Hardy did a lot of shorts than feature films, that's one thing which always makes me sad. Because they were almost a decade late for short comedies. Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloys started working in feature in early 20s only so obviously Laurel & Hardy's short in 30s was late. Anyways, everyone had different work mode and identity so let's not compare these comedy legends but yes, the same film in early 20s would have felt much better. Towed In A Hole is a trademark Laurel & Hardy story- A Fine idea going into mess. Although they are successful fishmongers, Stan convinces Ollie that they should become fishermen too - but making a boat seaworthy is not an easy task. Actually, it's bombed down already in the first scene when Stan mentions the idea but later makes sense when they start working on a leaking Ship. The situations are perfect and unintentional. It has got that sense of storyline which doesn't need over-the-top theories in comedy genre. That one thing has always remained just the same in every Laurel & Hardy film. Stan Laurel is little cheesy here but extremely innocent. Couple of times i felt sorry for him despite knowing that he's the one who is creating this mess. Oliver on the other side is smarter compared to Stan but not enough to make things right even if they are simple. Although I found this one less funny than many other L & H films i have seen, i must admit that director George Marshall has done an excellent job. He brought the conviction, he kept it engaging and that's the best any other director could have done with this story. Overall, another Nice comedy by master duo.

RATING - 6.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Laurel and Hardy are travelling fishmongers, selling door to door on the street. Laurel has the idea to cut out the middle man and catch the fish themselves – hence turning pure profit on every fish they sell. They buy an old boat and begin to do it up – with predictable consequences.

From the opening conversation where Hardy asks Laurel to repeat his sensible and good idea and Laurel proceeds to muddle himself (`if we catch the fish, the people wouldn't have to pay and….') I was sold on this short film. The action follows this banter with a fantastic mix of physical humour and the good old double take stuff they do so well. Here the two (styles) really compliment each other – the highlight being when Laurel causes Hardy to become covered in paint and there is an eternity of looks, double takes and pauses before he asks `why did you put that stuff on your face'!

The stuff around the boat is all good and both men do really good work with their looks and their bodies. Hardy shows his class while leaning on the mast of the boat, hears sawing, looks to camera, looks down towards the sound, looks to camera then goes!

Overall this short has everything in it that I love about Laurel and Hardy and should be immediately seen by anyone who is wondering what all the fuss is about!

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. 'Towed in a Hole' for me is up there with their best and certainly among their funniest, 'The Music Box' and 'Helpmates' are a couple of other examples of this.

Can't really find anything wrong with it, was past caring this time as to whether the story was standard or not because it gets to the point and has a lot of energy throughout, on top of being riotously funny in its best moments. Whoever knew that attempting to make a boat sea-worthy, something that can be fairly stressful, could be so entertaining?

From start to finish 'Towed in a Hole' is great fun, never less than very amusing and the best moments, such as the ending, being classic hilarity. It is never too silly, there is a wackiness that never loses its energy and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be new as such but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive. A lot happens yet it doesn't ever feel rushed or over-stuffed. The ending is a sheer delight and hilarious, despite the viewer being in no doubt how things were going to end.

Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'Towed in a Hole' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'Towed in a Hole' looks good visually, is full of energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. Simple it somewhat is but it doesn't ever get overly so.

In summary, one of Laurel and Hardy's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox

"Towed in the Hole" is mainly a two man film, in that Laurel and Hardy are about the only people in the film. Billy Gilbert makes a brief appearance as the man who sells Stan and Ollie a boat after they decide to go into business for themselves. The idea is that Stan and Ollie need to re- paint and repair their newly acquired property. It is easier said than done with these two! At one stage, the usual bickering begins to turn a bit nasty but as the fans know, Stan and Ollie ALWAYS stick together in the end. Another comedy masterpiece.

Towed in a Hole...a pun on the saying "Toad in a Hole", which is really a dish in england. and has its own web page on wikipedia.org ... this is a shortie by laurel & hardy. also guest Billy Gilbert, whose nose and sneeze and over the top acting was featured in a bunch of Abbott & Costello vehicles. Laurel & Hardy decide they should become fishermen, and visit Joe at the junkyard (Gilbert). the usual laurel and hardy antics, pratfalls, gags, and revenge, as they try to fix up the boat to go fishing. Directed by George Marshall, who had a long career, but only directed two Laurel & Hardy films. it's good, although if you've seen one, you've seen them all, compared to today's choices available. kinda fun. shows on various cable channels here and there.

This film is highly reminiscent of another Laurel and Hardy short, HELP MATES. They both concern this clumsy and dopey duo trying to fix something. In HELP MATES, it was home repair and here it is fixing up an old sailboat. In fact, now that I think about it, it's pretty much the same film all over again with only some minor differences. This, though, is not that bad, as regardless it is still very entertaining and funny. I particularly liked the paintbrush goatee that Ollie is sporting late in the movie after a mishap. And the ending, is pretty much as you'd expect--a total disaster. This is pure Laurel and Hardy and, like their best material, NOT set to music or a contrived plot--just simple stupidness--the way Laurel and Hardy are meant to be seen.

I`m probably risking a Fatwa against me but I found TOWED IN THE HOLE to be one of the weaker shorts by Stan and Ollie and I`m slightly surprised that it has an average rating of 8.3

I don`t know why I find it one of the weaker shorts . Maybe it`s something to do with a lack of plot development ? The plot can be summed up with " Stan and Ollie try to renovate a boat " , there that`s it , that`s the entire plot so there`s no place for the story really to go with the entire short being carried by slightly sadistic slapstick which of course the boys excell at , but a lack of a supporting cast doesn`t really help much either

Entertaining enough as we see the usual routine of Oliver prat falling and Stan turning to camera and shrugging his shoulders but far from classic L&H. Six out of ten

While Stan & Ollie are successful fish salesmen, Stan suggests they can be even more profitable if they catch their own fish instead of buying them. So they buy a boat named Ruth (after Stan's about-to-be-second-wife) and work on it, with disastrous results, of course! Great slapstick sequences abound with Hardy, of course, getting the brunt of it. This was the last of their three films directed by George Marshall who left Hal Roach Studios after general manager Henry Ginsberg fired him over production delays. He later helmed classic films starring W. C. Fields, Bob Hope, and Martin & Lewis with a couple of solo Jerry Lewis pictures after that team split up. So as we leave Stan & Ollie attempting to go to sea, we'll next see Bud Abbott & Lou Costello at sea in In the Navy.

I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the 1932 Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy comedy short film "Towed in a Hole" here in 2023. And of course I opted to watch it, given it being a Laurel & Hardy comedy.

Writers Stan Laurel, George Marshall and Charley Rogers put together an enjoyable script for the feature, and it definitely felt like the slapstick comedy that we all love and admire from this comedy duo. So if you enjoy the Laurel & Hardy comedy, then you will definitely also enjoy "Towed in a Hole". Pretty straight forward storyline that puts the audience into the comedy right away. Nothing to think about, just lean back and enjoy the fun.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy do what they did best here in this 1932 short comedy film. So you can't help but be entertained.

My rating of director George Marshall's 1932 short film "Towed in a Hole" lands on a six out of ten stars.

The inimitable comic duo decides to work as fishermen, only to have a lot of trouble simply fixing up the boat! It's a safe bet that Laurel and Hardy had a lot of fun filming "Towed in a Hole", especially the end. What's particularly interesting about this one is that aside from an appearance by Billy Gilbert early on, it stars only Stan and Ollie, both doing their usual set of stuff.

Really fun.

PS: Billy Gilbert played Herring in "The Great Dictator".

Towed in a Hole concerns fish salesman Laurel and Hardy, as they drive around in their vehicle, aimless as ever, trying to see if they can sell any fish to make a profit. Laurel, after mustering up more thought than he may have ever in his life, suggests they catch their own fish, rather than splitting the profits with a middle-man who catches the fish for them. Hardy likes the idea, so the two buy a ratty boat from a junkyard and, predictably, problems ensue from the get-go, such as the condition of the boat along with the eventual task of getting it on the water.

This particular Laurel and Hardy short is noteworthy for two key reasons. For one, it has an ingenuous little special effect in the beginning, so serene and quick you may have missed it. It occurs when Hardy throws a bucket at Laurel, who narrowly misses it before the bucket bounces back and whacks Hardy in the face. One can see the primitive video effects employed so that the bucket could "miss" Laurel before hitting Hardy. The other noteworthy element is watching drama unfold in one particular claustrophobic space, which begs to be kept a secret until the short is actually watched. The claustrophobia in the film isn't a very high level, but it provides for notable variety for a duo that stuck to basic shot/setting structure for their shorts.

Other than the previous elements, little noteworthy humor comes out of Towed in a Hole, and when it does, it's derivative of the very shorts Laurel and Hardy have already done and done better. This is the first time where I've seen true technical aspects and footnotes take away from the humor in a comedy short but, in that case, it's just another thing to make Towed in a Hole notable for all reasons that aren't in the comedic department.

Starring: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Directed by: George Marshall.

This is probably my all time fav. L&H short. right from the start with the call of 'Fresh Fish' (toot), this is a 'hoot'. As always, Stan has an idea this time expressed as only Stan can. 'If we had a boat .....'. The bit that makes me howl is when Olly is painting the rudder and Stan is scrubbing the deck and finds the tiller in the way. The pause before 'what did you put that stuff on your face for' is agony!. As for Stan's method of getting his head out from behind the mast... See this one now.

This short had everything that is L & H.

The whole episode is just about them. No other real cast. So pure interaction of their characters. It had all their trademark gaffs and oddities and just built itself up throughout to the ultimate calamity climax.

Beautifully timed comedy at the top of their game.

Been a pleasure laughing at you lads!