Blog site from internationally selling poet and author Steven Helmer showcasing movie and product reviews, poems, short stories, nature photography and more.
Movie Review: Babes in Toyland (1934)
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Synopsis: The greedy Silas Barnaby wants to marry the beautiful Bo-Peep and when she rejects his proposal and instead decides to marry Tom-Tom, the Pied Piper, he threatens to evict her mother and her large family from the shoe they live in. Two boarders, Stannie and Ollie Dum offer to help by getting money from the toymaker they work for. However, their incompetence results in the pair being fired while other attempts to save the day end in disaster.
The movie also goes by the title March of the Wooden Soldiers.
Who's in it? The movie stars Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charlotte Henry, Felix Knight, Virginia Karns and Henry Brandon.
Review: As I search for new (and old) movies to watch, I am sometimes amazed with some of the inaccurate film descriptions that are out there. It's honestly as though the people who wrote them didn't bother watching the movie. In the case of Babes in Toyland, for example, the photo showed the 1986 Drew Barrymore movie, the description was about the 1997 Lacey Chabert animated movie, and I didn't figure out it was a Laurel & Hardy movie until I started watching it.
Sadly, I can't even say I was pleasantly surprised.
So, first, the movie's title (both titles in fact) is a bit misleading. They aren't in Toyland, and the wooden soldiers play only a small role in the film toward the end. Instead, the entire plot revolves around Mother Goose fairytales and even that is a bit of a stretch since the bulk of the characters don't have much to do.
My biggest complaint though is the movie has a hard time staying focused on the plot. Some of the Laurel and Hardy comedy, while humorous, dragged on longer than it should and the musical numbers both seemed forced and were beyond lengthy, especially the scene with Tom-Tom (Knight) trying to court Bo-Peep (Henry). It's a 78-minute film and could have easily been less than an hour without all the extra stuff.
The part about Tom-Tom's banishment to Bogeyland and the need to fight off Bogeymen at the end of the movie was admittedly unique. However, by the time we get to that excitement, the movie is almost over, and the scenes are rushed. It also would have helped to have a bit more background about Bogeyland/the Bogeymen so the banishment and the creatures made a bit more sense. I mean, it wasn't as though those Bogeymen were any creepier than some of the other characters living in town, especially that cat and mouse, characters that I think could give some kids nightmares.
Final Opinion: It isn't a terrible movie as far as the main plot goes. However, it is a film that tries to squeeze in too much in a short amount of time and isn't as good as it could be as a result.
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