weezeralfalfa Review of Going Bye-Bye!

Going Bye-Bye! (1934)

Very Funny: "At last, you're using my brains" Ollie to Stan

[10/10 · 13 November 2018]

I've seen most L&H comedy shorts, and I laughed out loud the most at this one. Right way, Stan makes some classic gaffs in the courtroom, which the audience laughs at. There's plenty of slapstick and sight gags. Walter Long is great as the creepy gangster Butch, whom the boys are mainly responsible for putting behind bars. The trouble is, Butch makes good his claim that no prison in the US can hold him very long. Seems the prison is right in the town where the trial took place, because Butch breaks out right away(which we don't see). Besides staying clear of the police, his main initial goal is to "Break off your legs and wrap them around your necks" in regard to Stan and Ollie......... The boys are trying to get out of town as quickly as possible, in case Butch does escape. But, they only have a little gas money. So, Stan suggests they advertise for a traveling companion, to share expense and driving. Unexpectedly, a woman is first to answer. Played by Mae Busch, with a blond wig, she talks like a gangster's moll. In fact, she is Butch's girlfriend, he calling her Mary! As the cops expected, Butch makes a bee line to Mary's place, and arrives shortly before the boys ring the door bell, which they have some trouble with. Butch and Mary assume it's the police who are ringing the doorbell. Thus, she hustles him into the back room, where there is a large empty trunk he's able to just fit in. Scared stiff, she opens the door and greets the boys. She takes them to the back room, and tries to open the trunk to give Butch some air. But, it's locked itself, and she doesn't know where the key is. Stan has the idea to drill some holes, to at least give him a little air. He finds an auger with a very long drill, and drills a hole, before sticking Butch in the side. He tries again, and miraculously misses Butch, but it goes out the other side, and sticks Ollie, who is on his knees. Now, Butch can see clear enough to recognize the boys. He licks his chops. But, he still has to get out, somehow. Butch suggests using s blow torch to melt the lock. They find such in the room, but turn it up too high. Somehow, the flame goes inside the trunk, and burns Butch and his clothes. He screams, as smoke continues to exit from the holes. The boys find a firehose in the hall, and squirt it in a hole. After a short while, we can see water pouring out of the holes, and hear Butch screaming that he's drowning........... Meanwhile, Mae has gone to get a friend to get Butch out. But, she's intercepted in the lobby, by a cop, who wants her to show him Butch is not in her apartment. While, the boys are putting the firehose back, Butch somehow manages to burst the trunk open, leaving it in splinters. When the boys return, they are horrified to discover it's Butch. .Just before a police squad enters, the boys try to escape, but Butch catches them, and makes good his threat articulated in the courtroom......You can see this at YouTube, either in its colorized form or the traditional B&W. I saw the colorized version, which, unlike some of their colorized films, was in sharp focus.