[Inspector Abberline]

The Chimp...(1933)...
with added Ethel...

Unfairly written off as just a Laughing Gravy remake (mainly by me),my opinion has definitely changed, and it only took about 100 re-watches... While it has always been a personal favourite of mine (not necessarily L&H best short film, but certainly a top tier one) ,it has a amazingly un-realistic premise, in that the circus L&H are working for (as the pantomime horse for Lady Godiva no less) decides to close, and instead of being payed off with money, the circus performers are all given a piece of the circus acts...Stan gets the flea circus, and poor old Oliver gets the cross dressing Tu Tu wearing (perhaps this is wear Toxic Avenger got the idea from) Ethel the Chimp, although she looks more like a gorilla to my old eyes.... We'll at least they did not get MGM,as Stan calls him, the lion,(probably to hard to get a lion to dance in a Tu Tu)...A lot of the humour comes from the relationship between Stan and Ethel, even though it's Olly who has inherited the Chimp, it's Stan the Chimp has taken a shine too, swapping furtive glances behind Ollie's back, almost like a bizarre love triangle...It has to be said that Charles Gemora,(king of the ape suits, before Rick Baker came along that is) really brings a lot of comedy to the role, and manages to make Ethel pretty much the star of the film...L&H last silent movie was Angora Love, about the boys finding a stray goat, the mind really does boggle at times...(my only complaint is an under used James Finlayson, who briefly appears as the circus ringmaster.)..