The Bohemian Girl (1936 film)
| The Bohemian Girl | |
|---|---|
1946 theatrical re-release poster
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| Directed by |
James W. Horne Charley Rogers |
| Produced by |
Stan Laurel Hal Roach |
| Written by |
Michael William Balfe Alfred Bunn (libretto) Frank Butler (screenplay) |
| Starring |
Stan Laurel Oliver Hardy Thelma Todd Mae Busch Antonio Moreno Darla Hood Jacqueline Wells Jimmy Finlayson |
| Music by |
Michael William Balfe (original operetta) Robert Shayon Nathaniel Shilkret |
| Cinematography |
Francis Corby Art Lloyd |
| Edited by |
Bert Jordan Louis McManus |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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February 14, 1936 |
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Running time
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70' 52" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Bohemian Girl is a 1936 feature film version of the opera The Bohemian Girl by Michael William Balfe. It was produced at the Hal Roach Studios, and stars Laurel and Hardy and Thelma Todd in her last role before her death. This was also the only appearance of Darla Hood in a full-length feature produced by Hal Roach. Hood was best known as "Darla" from the Roach's Our Gang (Little Rascals) comedy shorts.
Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy are a hen-pecked pair of Gypsies in 18th-century Austria. When Oliver is out pickpocketing, fortune-telling or attending his zither lessons, his wife (Mae Busch), has an affair with Devilshoof (Antonio Moreno). A cruel nobleman, Count Arnheim, persecutes the Gypsies, who are forced to flee, but Mrs Hardy, in revenge for Devilshoof being lashed by the count's orders, kidnaps his daughter, Arline (Darla Hood), and Mrs. Hardy fools Hardy into thinking she is their daughter since he believes everything she tells him. She soon elopes with Devilshoof, and leaves Oliver and "Uncle" Stanley holding the toddler. Arline is too young to remember her old life.
Twelve years later, the Gypsies return to Arnheim's estate. When grown up Arline (Jacqueline Wells) accidentally trespasses in Arnheim's garden, she recognises the place and Arnhiem's voice, but is arrested by a constable (Jimmy Finlayson) and sentenced to a lashing. Stan and Oliver try to save her, but Stan is too drunk and both are arrested. Just as Arline is stripped in order to be lashed, she is rescued in time by Arnheim, who recognises a medallion she wears and a family birthmark, and both try to rescue Stan and Oliver. It is too late though: Laurel and Hardy had already been worked over in the torture chamber: Hardy emerges stretched to a height of eight feet, while Stan has been crushed to only a few feet tall and the constable just stands yelling and moaning.
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