County Hospital (film)
County Hospital is a Laurel and Hardy short film made in 1932. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Ollie is in hospital with a broken leg, Stan comes to visit and ends up getting Ollie kicked out; on the way home Stan crashes the car.[1]
| County Hospital | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | James Parrott |
| Produced by | Hal Roach |
| Written by | H.M. Walker |
| Starring | Stan Laurel Oliver Hardy |
| Music by | Marvin Hatley Leroy Shield |
| Cinematography | Art Lloyd |
| Edited by | Richard C. Currier Bert Jordan |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 18' 41" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
Ollie is in the county hospital with a broken leg. Stan pays him a visit (he did not have anything else to do) bearing a "thoughtful" gift of a bag of hard-boiled eggs and nuts. Ollie complains he cannot eat hard-boiled eggs or nuts and asks Stan why he did not bring a box of candy. Stan explains boxes of candy cost too much and that Ollie did not pay him for the last box he had brought him. While eating an egg, Stan knocks over a jug of water and Ollie hits him on the head with a bedpan.
The doctor (Billy Gilbert) comes in to examine Ollie and tells him he should be in the hospital for at least two months. In a genius sequence of slapstick, Stan uses the traction weight to break a nut and Ollie's plastered leg hits the doctor on the head. The doctor grabs the weight in anger and falls out of the window. Ollie's leg flies up to the ceiling as the doctor dangles precariously.
The angry doctor orders both patient and guest out of the hospital at once. "You had nothing else to do so you thought you'd come around and see me," says an irritated Ollie. "Here I was for the first time in my life having a nice peaceful time and you had to come and spoil it. Get my clothes." Before leaving, Stan first manages to destroy a pair of trousers belonging to Ollie's roommate (who is also going home) and then accidentally sits on a hypodermic needle loaded with sedative. The nurse comes in, discovers this and nearly collapses into hysterical laughter.
Stan attempts to drive Ollie home, but is nearly asleep at the wheel due to the sedative, and the car careens wildly through the streets in a token comic "reckless driving" sequence of hilarious (yet obviously staged) traffic chaos...until Stan finally smashes the car between two streetcars, bending it into a 90 degree angle so that he can only drive round and round in circles.
Cast
- Stan Laurel (himself)
- Oliver Hardy (himself)
- Billy Gilbert as the doctor
- May Wallace as Miss Wallace, head nurse
- Estelle Etterre as Nurse Smith
- William Austin as Ollies' hospital roommate
- Belle Hare as a nurse
- Lilyan Irene as a nurse
- Dorothy Layton as a nurse
- Sam Lufkin as a police officer
- Baldwin Cooke as an orderly
- Ham Kinsey as an orderly
- Frank Holliday as a visitor
Filming locations
The front-entrance facade of Culver City's 1928 City Hall building at 9770 Culver Blvd.[2] was used as the exterior of the "County Hospital" where Stan Laurel makes an unwelcome visit to the recuperating Oliver Hardy.[3] The facade of the City Hall was salvaged as the freestanding frontispiece of its 1995 replacement.[4]
Filming locations for the final car sequence included Culver Boulevard, Duquesne Avenue, Tilden Avenue, Washington Boulevard, West 48th Street, and Second Avenue.[5]
References
- Laurel and Hardy, "County Hospital," YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAtcVihY-pU
- Historic Site #1: 1928 City Hall, Culver City Historical Society, https://www.culvercityhistoricalsociety.org/historic-sites/site1/
- Laurel & Hardy: "County Hospital" Filming Locations, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_SOR9VN37g
- "City Hall," The Center for Land Use Interpretation, http://www.clui.org/section/city-hall
- Filming Locations - County Hospital (1932) - Laurel and Hardy (2019 Version), YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek8FezI2XMw&t=405s