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People could have said that casting Laurel and Hardy in the 1934 classic “March Of The Wooden Soldiers”, based on the Victor Herbert operetta “Babes In Toyland”, was simply a PR stunt to get them involved in the movie only to show off their comic talents and nothing more. Certainly how could they add anything to the plot? Well, people who said that couldn’t be more wrong. Laurel and Hardy added more to this movie than most people realize as they were ultimately the ones who saved Toyland. More on how later.
The plot is pretty simple. The evil Silas Barnaby, played magnificently by Henry Brandon, wants the hand of Little Bo Peep. She wants nothing to do with this wretched excuse for a human being. So, to get even with her, he goes to her home and threatens mother Peep, the little old lady who lived in a shoe, with eviction if she didn’t pay the mortgage, which he happened to own. When Hardy finds out about this he offers to pay the mortgage for her but discovers he’s broke. He tells her not to worry, that he would get the money from the toymaker. Well, things don’t go as well as he predicted, having botched the order for toy soldiers and making them too big for kids to play with and he and Laurel get fired.
Well, the wedding has to go on and it does, except with Laurel standing in for Bo Peep. When Barnaby discovers this, of course not until after the mortgage is torn up, he vows to get even. He does. He frames Tom Tom for the kidnapping of one of the three little pigs. Tom Tom is then sentenced to Bogie Land. But Laurel and Hardy soon discover that Barnaby was the one who stole the pig and framed Tom Tom. The chase through Bogeyland now begins.
Eventually, the chase leads back to Toyland where Barnaby makes his final attack along with the Bogeymen. In an effort to defeat them once and for all, Laurel and Hardy activate, you got it, the toy soldiers. The soldiers march out into the town and do battle with Barnaby and the Bogeymen, driving them all back to Bogeyland.
The movie was not only well done but featured some of the most beautiful music and singing. Highlights included “Don’t Cry Bo Peep”, “Toyland” and “Go To Sleep” among others. The acting was superb, especially Brandon who played Barnaby. Brandon was actually a very young man in his 20s when the movie. But great makeup and his magnificent performance had everyone believing that he was much older. Brandon stole the movie from everyone. He was pure genius in a role that most people overlook when discussing the greatest parts of all time.
Every year around Thanksgiving or Christmas this classic film is shown. It has been shown every year for at least 40 years. And through all this time it remains as great as it was the first time anybody saw it as a young child. Truly one of the greatest holiday movies ever made.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Films [http://films-guide.com].
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