Laurel & Hardy

THE BOHEMIAN GIRL

MGM, 1936.  Directed by James W. Horne.  Camera:  Art Lloyd.  With Thelma Todd, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Antonio Moreno, Darla Hood, Jacqueline Wells, Mae Busch, James Finlayson.

Click for larger image

Click for larger images

A band of gypsies set up camp on the lands of Count Arnheim, who warns them they have until noon the next day to leave.  As the rest of the gypsies prepare for their night's work of pickpocketing villagers, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy do chores, while Mrs. Hardy alternately scolds them and cavorts with her sweetheart Devilshoof.

That night Stan and Ollie go to town, where they happily succeed in acquiring the contents of the townspeople's pockets.  Meanwhile, Devilshoof goes to Arnheim's castle and watches Arnheim give a medallion to his young daughter Arline, after which Devilshoof is captured by Arnheim's guards and flogged.

The next day, as the gypsies are leaving after being thrown off the land by Arnheim's soldiers, the bitter Devilshoof and Mrs. Hardy see Arline by the side of the road, where she has wandered from the castle, and they kidnap her.  At camp that afternoon, Mrs. Hardy tells Ollie that the child is his, which delights him.

Soon after, however, Devilshoof is preparing to leave the band of gypsies forever, and he hints to Mrs. Hardy that he will take her with him if she obtains enough money. Fooling Stan into helping her, Mrs. Hardy then makes off with all of Ollie and Stan's money and leaves a note telling Ollie that he is not Arline's father.  The note does not deter Ollie though; over the next twelve years, he and Stan prove to be excellent fathers to the child.

Now a lovely young woman, Arline believes she is a gypsy when they once again camp on Arnheim's lands.  One morning, after telling her foster fathers about her dream of living in marble halls, Arline goes to town with Ollie, who leaves Stan to bottle some wine for him.  The task proves to be too complicated, and Stan soon becomes what Ollie terms "guzzled."  Arline wanders off to the castle, where Arnheim is having her baby things packed away for good.  She is captured by the count's men, and Arnheim orders her to be flogged without seeing her.  Ollie witnesses her capture and runs back to get Stan, who can barely walk.  They succeed in reaching Arline, but are all recaptured before they leave the castle gates.  As Captain Finn begins to tie Arline to the flogging post, he tears off her medallion and throws it at Arnheim's feet.  The count recognizes the necklace and the birthmark on her shoulder, and the pair have a happy reunion.  Meanwhile, Stan and Ollie have been taken to the torture chamber, where Ollie is stretched and Stan is compacted.  Arline hears their screams and begs Arnheim for mercy, telling him how kind they were to her.  The boys are released, with Ollie now a thin giant and Stan a dwarf.

American Film Institute Catalog

Poster artwork courtesy of Dieter