Series: Laurel and Hardy Director: James Parrott Producer: Hal Roach Dialogue: Photography: George Stevens Editor: Richard C. Currier Sound: Elmer Raguse Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Linda Loredo Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Released: 19 April 1930 Length: 4 reels Production No.: L-30-SP Filming dates: January 2-17, 1930 Rating: 5/10

La Vida Nocturna

Available on DVD:

• See also Blotto and Une nuite extravagante

Stan is at home anxiously pacing up and down before his wife (LINDA LOREDO) finally snaps at him. She demands to know what is going on and when Stan tells her he wants to go out she flatly refuses to let him do so. Stan then sits down in his chair and sulks. Meanwhile, best pal Ollie has taken over a phone box in his attempt to call Stan up to invite him out for the evening. Given Mrs. Laurel's temperament, Stan decides it's probably best he doesn't confess who is calling and dismisses the call as a 'wrong number' before hanging up on the confused Hardy. After the phone rings for the third time, Mrs. Laurel grabs the receiver and demands to know who it is on the other end. Ollie reveals his identity and she is seemingly happy, and allows Stan to continue the call (but then secretly listens in on their conversation on the bedroom line!) Ollie reminds Stan that they had made prior arrangements to go out to a new nightclub, but when Stan confesses he couldn't think up an excuse to leave the house which his wife would believe Ollie suggets that Stan sends himself a telegram, calling him away on important business. Stan puts the plan into motion whilst Mrs. Laurel substitutes a liquor bottle with mustard, pepper and other nasties when she hears that her husband intends to steal it. Stan then writes the all-important telegram and goes outside to ring the doorbell. Making sure that his wife overhears his imaginary exchange with the telegram messenger, he (eventually) brings the telegram indoors and reads it out. Wise to him, Mrs. Laurel bids him farewell... as well as Ollie, who is crouched down and hiding in the bushes!

Stan and Ollie arrive at the nightclub and are shown to a table by the head waiter (TINY SANDFORD) before being served by waiter BALDWIN COOKE. When nobody is looking Stan produces the 'liquor' bottle from his jacket and proceeds to undo the cork, knocking the table flying and causing a nuisance for everybody in the vicinity. There is an extended scene here where Ollie uses pincers to snap at Stan's hands as Stan tries to put his hand in the ice bucket. Ollie is first to taste the concoction. His reaction gives Stan a clue that something isn't right! Slowly but surely the duo get more and more drunk. The nightclub entertainment begins, first with a competent dancer, followed by a pathetic dancer with balloons which Stan and Ollie make fun of. The boys gets slowly drunk with Stan emptying the contents of the soda bottle all over Ollie and then falling asleep on his shoulder. Then comes a depressing song from the nightclub singer at the boys' table which brings Stan to tears, followed by yet another dancer. Mrs. Laurel arrives at the nightclub and she doesn't look happy to see them! Stan mocks her for being too dumb to realise he had stolen her drink and was now flirting with the effects of it. In what might seem to be a slight over-reaction for such a trivial injustice, she pulls out a double-barrelled shotgun and runs them out of the building. Quickly, the boys jump into a parked cab outside where a dozy Charlie Hall is seen briefly asleep at the wheel and they drive off. Mrs. Laurel stands in the road, takes aim and blows the cab to bits.

Favourite bit Stan and Ollie getting pissed and their hic-cups. Made me laugh! This is one of the scenes only available in the Spanish-language version and is absent from Blotto.

Trivia • This Spanish-language version of Blotto and was released two months later. • The Spanish title of the film translated into English means "the nightlife". • The film begins with a Spanish intertitle. • Stan and Ollie read their lines and pronounced them phonetically from cue cards viewed just off screen. • When Ollie is at the phone booth and asks Stan if his wife is listening, this scene is slightly extended with more reaction shots from Stan before the wife grabs the phone away from him. • Despite the actors speaking Spanish, the labels and signs seen throughout the film are in English, such as the "Reserved" sign on their table, and the packets of food in Mrs. Laurel's kitchen. The phone booth that Ollie uses is also the same one seen in Blotto, which has English words on the right-hand side (I can make out BATH SALTS). • It's pretty dumb of Mrs. Laurel to just pour her liquor down the sink just to prove a point. Why didn't she find another bottle to pour it into instead of wasting it? She could have then just hidden it. • Instead of standing there telling Stan that somebody is at the front door, why doesn't she just open it herself? • Stan goes to all that trouble in writing himself a telegram only to throw it onto the fire without anybody ever reading it! Seems like a waste of time. Or maybe that was the joke? • The scene where Stan writes himself the telegram is much longer. • When Mrs. Laurel enquires about buying the gun there is a sign in the window advertising Babe Ruth. • After the entertainer has finished singing Ollie offers his drink to the man. It would appear that he anticipated it a bit too early and it looks almost obvious that it had been previously rehearsed. • The name of the nighclub Stan and Ollie visit is called the Rainbow. • The gentleman with the moustache (Robert Cauterio) who is seated just behind Stan and Ollie is constantly looking at them and their antics throughout. Towards the end, when Stan is having his laughing fit, the gentleman is also laughing along. You can't fail to notice him in the background. • The dance routine with the nightclub entertainer is much longer than the brief one seen in Blotto. • There is an additional scene with Stan readjusting the ice bucket on the table and Ollie using the pincers to grab Stan's fingers when he tries to put his hands inside it. • After the singer finishes his song, Ollie offers him a drink but the singer spits it out. This scene is then extended with Ollie dismissing the singer's opinion and then singing drunkenly with Stan at the table. Stan continues to use the prongs as a tuning fork on the ice bucket as they both sing out of tune. The maitre d' comes over and stands there waiting to tell them off before pinching Stan's ear. • This dancer shows a little bit of underboob in her routine. Not much but you can see it! • Stan's laughing fit at the end lasts exactly 2 minutes and 33 seconds (five seconds longer than the original version). My opinion • The film is available on DVD and I would recommend it for all Laurel and Hardy enthusiasts, if only due to the fact that it is quite unique and interesting to see "Blotto" re-enacted with alternative scenes added into the mix. Some of the new material works, and some of it slows the pace right down, but there are lovely little touches that are priceless moments which are missing from the English-language version of the film.

	Stan Laurel Stan
	Oliver Hardy Ollie
	Linda Loredo Señora Laurel
	Tiny Sandford Maitre d'
	Baldwin Cooke Phonebooth gawker/Nightclub waiter
	Charlie Hall Cab driver
	Robert Cautiero Nightclub patron
	Symona Boniface Nightclub patron who sits in wet chair
	Jean De Briac Shopkeeper
	Jack Hill Phone booth gawker/ Nightclub waiter/ Man entering nightclub/ Waiter who gets clattered
	Bob Minford Phone booth gawker
	Clarence Wertz Phone booth gawker
	Amo Ingraham Phone booth gawker
	Harry Bernard Phone booth gawker
	Chet Brandenburg Phone booth gawker
	Hope Harper Phone booth gawker/Nightclub patron
	Ham Kinsey Phone booth gawker
	Clara Guiol Phone booth gawker/Nightclub patron
	Harry Wilde Nightclub patron
	UNIDENTIFIED Nightclub dancer with balloons
	UNIDENTIFIED Nightclub dancer
	UNIDENTIFIED Nightclub singer
	UNIDENTIFIED Nightclub dancer

CREDITS (click image to enlarge)

POSTERS (click any image to enlarge)

SHOT ON THE BACK LOT (click any image to enlarge)

INTERIOR SHOTS (click any image to enlarge)

RISQUE (click any image to enlarge)

Acknowledgements: Laurel And Hardy: The Magic Behind The Movies by Randy Skretvedt (book) Jesse Brisson (identification of Bob Minford, Robert Cautiero, Harry Wilde, Harry Bernard, Amo Ingraham, Clarence Wertz, Hope Harper, Chet Brandenburg, Ham Kinsey, Baldwin Cooke, Clara Guiol) This page was last updated on: 05 January 2025