GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

bkoganbing It's been remarked by some critics that Laurel and Hardy on the screen played it gay. I think most are reading too much into that, but in the case of The Dancing Masters this might be the exception.Meet Stan And Ollie proprietors of a dance studio and seeing them at the beginning in costume, especially Stanley in ballerina drag might just make you wonder. It was quite a treat to see them as dance instructors especially Ollie. For such a big guy he moved pretty good.They've got themselves in a situation. Already owing a lot of back rent to landlord Matt Briggs who has only been staved off from throwing the boys out by wife Margaret Dumont and daughter Trudy Marshall. Stan and Ollie get intimidated into buying insurance from some shady characters. The old protection racket with a veneer of legitimacy.They are also guardians to Marshall and her boyfriend Robert Bailey who apparently years ahead of his time has perfected laser technology. The invention works, but in Stan and Ollie's hands only too well.Although not up to the standards of their work with Hal Roach, Stan and Ollie do recapture some of the magic of those previous films. Best scenes are an auction where Ollie is suckered into buying some useless junk and the climax on a runaway bus. That final scene is more like an Abbott&Costello sequence, but it works for Laurel&Hardy.Allan 'Rocky' Lane plays a favorite of Briggs whom he'd like to match up with his daughter. And Robert Mitchum plays one of the 'insurance' salesmen. Speaking of Lane, Briggs does a rather unconvincing 180 degree turn in regard to Lane and Bailey for the hand of his daughter. That does weaken the film somewhat.Still die-hard fans of Stan and Ollie should like The Dancing Masters.

Michael_Elliott Dancing Masters, The (1943) ** (out of 4) Later day Laurel and Hardy has the boys working as dance instructors but they decide to help a friend try to sell a new invisible ray gun. This film wasn't as bad as I had heard but it's still one of the lesser films that the boys made. There are plenty of laughs throughout the film but for the most part the jokes fall flat on their face. We get several sequences, which we've seen in earlier L&H films and these include the entire ending when Laurel is trying to get injured so that they can collect some insurance money. The highlight of the film has to be seeing a young Robert Mitchum trying to sell the boys some insurance. Again, the film isn't that bad and it's mildly entertaining for 63-minutes but we've seen these jokes in better shorts before.

rbendernyc Up until Fox released these two three-disc sets of Laurel and Hardy's later films, I had only seen the three that had been previously available on video - and "The Dancing Masters" wasn't one of them. I have to say that as a life-long Laurel and Hardy fan I was very pleasantly surprised.Even taking the considerable negatives into account: rock-bottom production values, chop-shop editing, and an incoherent "narrative," it's downright astonishing to behold this pair so effortlessly mining genuine laughs from such old and cast-away material.From the "safe combination" routine near the opening to the "wet pants" bit with co-star Bob Bailey, I found this film to be a real treat - and I screened it with a friend who is not a big L&H fan - he loved it. It's the little things Stan and Ollie did - the gestures, the expressions, the glances - that made their style of comedy absolutely unique in film history. Like "The Bullfighters," my favorite among the L&H Fox films, this one has plenty of those moments, and has such a short running time that you can stick it in your player again right away and savor what you missed the first time around. I can't speak for the legions of other L&H fans, but I personally experienced a higher laugh count from this film than from many of their more minor Hal Roach shorts (sorry, Fox-haters).The only thing I did not like or understand about "The Dancing Masters" was the print quality. As released in this two-volume DVD set, the other five Fox films look to have been pressed from the actual masters, thus providing superlative picture and sound quality. But, this film suffers from a grainy, scratchy picture that even at times grows blurry and somewhat undefined. And, there several jarring "pops" and a lot of low-volume crackling on the soundtrack. Is there anyone out there who knows why Fox couldn't find a better print for release with this otherwise outstanding set?

Boba_Fett1138 Problem with this movie is that nothing in the movie really feels connected to each other. The story feels messy and weak. On top of that the supporting actors were also quite horrible in their roles.No, this is not the best Laurel & Hardy movie. It still is good for some laughs certainly but overall it's a disappointing movie to watch. The movie already begins weak and unfunny. The movie does get better as it progresses but it never reaches the same level as any of the other Laurel & Hardy movies.Another disappointment was Stan Laurel. He didn't seem to play his character with as much joy as he used to do and his acting was to be honest poor at times.Still watchable but not really recommendable, even though the movie does have its moments.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/