Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, William Janney, June Lang, James Finlayson, Anne Grey, Vernon Steele, David Torrence, and Mary Gordon
Director: James Horne
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
Stan and Ollie (Laurel & Hardy) accidentally join a Scottish regiment in the British military and are sent to India where they are assigned to a dangerous mission.
Although "Bonnie Scotland" is, in theory, a feature film, it feels more like two unrelated scripts for short films that were cobbled together with a romance plot but no one could be bothered to tie it together with a proper ending.
"Bonnie Scotland" starts with Laurel & Hardy arriving in Scotland to claim Stan's inheritance from his wealthy grandfather--which turns out to be far less than they were hoping for. Mishaps follow, and the pair end up joining the army, which leads to the second half of the film where they're in India for an adventure that mixes broad military humor with sinister local intrigues.
The plot line that the two halves together involves Stan's half-sister, Lorna (June Lang), who's inherited the bulk of the estate, her romance with a law clerk (William Janney), and the scheming aunt (Anne Grey) who is trying to trick her into marrying her ward, Colonel MacGregor (Vernon Steele). As these romantic plots go, this one is well put together, with all the characters actually being interesting and ones the viewer cares about. They're even different from the stock figures you might expect, especially the two romantic male leads, with the main boyfriend not being the usual pretty face with no character, and the secondary one being a surprisingly decent and honorable man. Unfortunately, we don't get to see how it all ultimately turns out, because the film ends without this plot line even being close to a resolution.
"Bonnie Scotland" ends on an elaborate sequence and series of jokes and gags where Stan and Ollie narrowly avoiding execution at the hands of a local warlord. Literally. As the sequence is at its wildest, the film just ends. Not only is the romantic plot and the characters involved not brought to a conclusion, but we're even left in the dark about the fate of the characters who were taken prisoner with Stan and Ollie (one of whom is Lorna's love interest). If there ever was a film that needed another five or ten minutes of running-time--and a production team that cared about telling a coherent story--then this is it. (It's a doubly regretful that such a mess was made of the film's story, because all the characters in the romance story line are interesting.)
For fans of Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel, this film delivers. They play the characters we know and love, and they do the gags we're familiar with. They even work in a goofy dance routine. If you like films that poke fun at the military, you will also find something to like here. If you want a film that delivers a satisfying story, you might want to take a pass on this one, and instead turn to some of Laurel & Hardy's short films. They have all the humor but they typically deliver a more solid story.
That said, I need to mention that "Bonnie Scotland" was a huge success when it was released in 1935; it was Laurel & Hardy's highest grossing picture. So, clearly, not everyone is annoyed by the sloppy story constructon... perhaps not anyone but me.
And speaking of 1935, I am posting this review on August 23, 2020, 85 years to the day after "Bonnie Scotland" debuted in theaters.
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