Way Out West is unique in two ways. Not only is it the only Western Laurel and Hardy ever made, but it's the only feature with a title card reading, "A Stan Laurel Production." It also has one of the oldest plots since movies first flickered onto the screen, that of a daughter inheriting a gold mine from her father, which Laurel and Hardy have to deliver.

The boys have come west to give the deed to Mary Roberts (Rosina Lawrence), a present from her late father Sy. She works for Mr.Finn (James Finlayson), who runs the local saloon with his wife, singer Lola Marcel(Sharon Lynn). Together they plot to steal the deed from Mary. As Laurel and Hardy have never seen Mary, Lola pretends to be her, full of sweetness and light. Stan is his usual tactful self.

Lola: Tell me about my dear, dear daddy. Is it true that he's dead?

Stan: Well we hope he is, we buried him.

Later, when they meet the real Mary Roberts, the boys are determined to get the deed back. As Stan tells Ollie, "We'll get that deed back or I'll eat your hat!"

A running gag has the two crossing a lake to get in and out of town (on the Roach lot, this was known as Lake Laurel and Hardy). Stan crosses without incident, but Ollie manages to find the deepest part every time. As he sinks into the water, only his hat is left, floating on top.

Meanwhile the boys almost succeed in getting back the deed, but Lola corners Stan in a locked bedroom and tickles him until he hands it over (a very funny scene). Chased out of town by the sheriff, they contemplate their next move (Ollie has fallen into the lake again so his wet clothes are drying on the line). Ollie reminds Stan about the statement he made regarding a certain hat. He then forces Stan to eat it. At first he begins to cry, but after a while he gets a big napkin, sprinkles some salt on it, and begins to enjoy it. Ollie quickly pulls it away, but as Stan goes to check on his clothes, Ollie takes a bite and chews. He spits it out, disgusted. Although Ollie is disdainful of Stan, he's also a little jealous. After all, if ignorance is bliss, Stan must be ecstatic.

Just as he used his thumb as a pipe and smoked it in Blockheads, Stan is able to light a candle with his thumb in this film. All through the movie, a jealous Ollie tries to do it; when his thumb finally goes on fire, he's so terrified Stan has to come blow it out.

Way Out West is also one of their most musical pictures, featuring a duet on "Trail of the Lonesome Pine" and a great dance scene. Ollie had a fine voice, having been trained as a singer early in his career. In fact, as wonderful as their singing and dancing is, it's amazing that it occurs so infrequently in the films.

One problem that somewhat spoils the duo's great dancing is that, for some reason, it was filmed on a sound stage with obvious back projection. The only time back projection should ever be used is when someone is riding in a car or train. But even that can go terribly wrong if not done carefully. The worst back projection I've ever seen is when Lauel and Hardy are driving in the car at the end of County Hospital. It ruins what would otherwise be one of their finest shorts.

Running at just over one hour long, this Laurel & Hardy film is a none stop gag fest, both visually and orally. Perhaps more well known for being the film that contains the famous "Trail Of The Lonesome Pine" sequence, it should be noted that that scene is merely a part of a structured romp.

Stan & Ollie are asked to deliver a gold mine deed to a young lady by the name of Mary Roberts (Rosina Lawrence), naturally they get embroiled in some daft shenanigans as they are duped by the devious duo of Mickey Finn (a delightfully fiendish James Finlayson) & Lola Marcel (Sharon Lynne) into handing over the deed to them instead of the rightful heir. After learning they have been conned we then follow the chaotic attempts of Stan & Ollie to recover the deed and give it to the real Mary.

Watch as the boys get maximum laughter out of a hole in Stan's shoe, see Ollie's neck stretched, you will believe that a mule can fly, and embrace the rib tickler that is a saloon chase sequence late in the piece. Throw in a delightful dance routine the guys do to "At The Ball, That's All," and you have a simple recipe brought to the boil with wonderful results. End result? Comedy gold. 9/10

In general, I am probably much more a fan of Laurel and Hardy's shorts than their full-length films. That's because in the shorts, they are "pure Laurel and Hardy"--just humor with no unnecessary and distracting subplots or awful opera like occurred in so many of their longer movies. For these full-length films, I find it's an endurance contest or if watching them on video, I often just speed through these flat moments (and there are plenty in films such as THE DEVIL'S BROTHER, SWISS MISS, BABES IN TOYLAND, etc.). Beecause of my dislike of these distractions and filler, I was happy to see WAY OUT WEST. While it did have a couple distracting dance numbers (why, oh why did Hollywood put so much of this in the films of all the comedy teams of the 30s and 40s?), these were done by Stan and Ollie AND they were blessedly short--leaving more time for laughs and plot.

Stan and Ollie are do-gooders traveling cross-country to deliver a deed to a gold mine from a dead man to his surviving daughter. This really is ALL the plot of the film. For about an hour, the boys get the deed stolen by James Finlayson (a frequent foil in their films) and his wife and then they try to get it back. Some of this isn't super funny (like Stan's laughing--it's just overdone) and some of it is just great (I liked how the mule got launched to the second floor of the hotel).

All in all, this is a fun and quick little film. Not the best stuff the boys did, but still exceptional compared to most of their full-length films. Not as good as SONS OF THE DESERT (arguably their best feature-length film) but still a HUGE step above the films mentioned above as well as ANY film they made between 1941 and ATOLL K (yuck).