Really Surprised!

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

"Beau Hunks" is a Laurel and Hardy film from almost 85 years ago. Wow.. how time flies. It is not silent anymore, but still in black-and-white. Hardy's sweetheart leaves him, so the two end up with the military and they cause lots of mayhem there too as well. In the end they are in the desert and running into enemy forces. The leader of these is actually played by the film's director James W. Horne. He worked with the most famous comedy duo in history many times and this is probably not his best work. I have to say the script is just not good enough for almost 40 minutes runtime. IIt's certainly a case of quantity over quality and there aren't enough jokes in here in my opinion. Enough funny jokes, that is. The film loses itself occasionally in action that involves other characters than the two funny guys. I don't think this is among Stan and Ollie's best works sadly. Not recommended.

After seeing ATOLL K and feeling that it's perhaps slightly better than its terrible reputation I decided to track down any Laurel and Hardy short just to remind myself if they were anywhere as good as I remembered them from childhood and the nearest one to hand was BEAU CHUMPS . After seeing it there was no doubt that ATOLL K was a weak film even though the comedy genius of Stan and Ollie shone through . Here they were on superlative form The opening sequence is one of the funniest things I have ever seen and in the hands of anyone else it would have been either silly or embarrassing . Here however it had this slightly cynical viewer laughing out loud as Ollie tries to explain what levity means when the door knocks Stan ( picking up phone ) HelloOllie: What are you doing ? Stan: Someone's knocking on the phoneOllie: See that's levity Stan: Hello - Mister Levity Okay it might not sound laugh out loud funny on the printed page but you'll laugh your socks off as it plays out on screen After this comedy escapade the duo depart to the French foreign legion in order to make Ollie forget a broken love affair . Why he needed to take Stan with him is never explained but we wouldn't have a story if he didn't and the laughs continue .Imagine if we had a present day film with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson where they joined the USMC and got sent to Afghanistan . It makes you appreciate Stan and Ollie the greatest comedy duo there has or ever will be

If as another reviewer says that Beau Hunks was Hal Roach's personal favorite of the many Laurel&Hardy shorts he produced, it certainly is a very good choice. Roach must have liked it because he expanded it later on in the decade to a full length feature film, Flying Deuces.Poor Ollie is pining over his lost love because his Jeanie Weanie is getting married so to forget his troubles he joins the Foreign Legion, dragging along poor Stanley behind him. Of course as it turns out Jeanie Weanie is Jean Harlow who's sent these loving autographed pictures all over the world as we see when they settle into the barracks of the Foreign Legion.The film is a satire of Beau Geste and of The Desert Song which only two years earlier had come to the screen. The enemy are the Riffraffs and a deadly bunch they are. Of course they haven't come up against Laurel and Hardy.Two best bits in the film are the boys getting lost in a sand storm on the desert and then actually arriving at the fort ahead of the rest of the troop. Second is when Laurel the dunce is asked by Hardy why he's not carrying any equipment for the march and he innocently replies that he packed his stuff with Ollie's. This is Stanley's innocence at its finest.One thing that is eerie about Beau Hunks is that the marriage Jean Harlow was to have the following year was to Paul Bern and we all know what a tragedy that turned out to be. She might have been better off marrying Ollie or one of the other Legionaires.Beau Hunks is a choice sample of Stan and Ollie's comedy which is absolutely eternal.

In 1980 I had the good fortune to be invited to the home of legendary motion picture producer HAL E. ROACH. I was there to show him a few films I made, hoping for some good advice. We talked about many things, including Laurel & Hardy.I then asked Mr. Roach what his all-time favorite Laurel & Hardy film was. After a thoughtful pause, he replied: "BEAU HUNKS."In 1939 BEAU HUNKS was remade as FLYING DEUCES (not by Roach) during a temporary lapse in the boys' contracts. The story must have been a favorite of theirs as well. BEAU HUNKS is an odd length (37 minutes), not too long and not too short. A classic which stands alone as one of Laurel & Hardy's most inspired films. No spoilers in this review, but if you are an L&H fan, seek out Hal Roach's personal favorite and you'll be glad you did!