WAY OUT WEST (James W. Horne, USA 1937). The one-horse town in which Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have to track down the daughter of a gold magnate is located in the deep Wild West. The two have a valuable document in their luggage - the official confirmation that the daughter is the sole heir. With its wealth of fast-paced gags and perfectly timed slapstick numbers, this is a wonderful parody of the Western, which features many of the genre's conventions, such as trigger-happy cowboys, an overcrowded stagecoach and a sandstorm. The traditional vast landscapes are replaced with a provincial crossroads and a water point, which hides its own dangers and depths. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy often said later that WAY OUT WEST was their favorite film. Their interpretation of "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" is one of the most famous scenes in their filmography. (5.2)
