Bonnie Scotland (1935) on TCM Tonight! 1/26

**g koch** · 26th January 11, 05:37 AM

5:30pm EST
Two Americans in search of a Scottish inheritance wind up serving with the British Highlanders in India.
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, June Lang, William Janney Dir: James W. Horne BW-81 mins, TV-G

**Jack Daw** · 26th January 11, 06:29 AM

I hope to remember to catch it. Thanks.

**Lallans** · 26th January 11, 07:10 AM

Bonnie Scotland, at last! Exactly one second late for Burns Day, local time! I recorded it and managed to watch the first half hour or so this morning. The boys have broken out of jail in the US and travelled to Scotland illegally because Stan has been named on his grandfather's will and Oliver assumes he has inherited the whole huge 'McLaurel' estate. It turns out that Stan was basically disinherited because his father ran off to America and married a 'burlesque queen,' so all he gets is a set of bagpipes and a snuff box, both important historical items (Stan has to use his police fingerprint record to prove his identity, which shows his name is "Stanley McLaurel, alias Stan Laurel." Through comedic use of snuff from the historic box, Ollie loses his pants (UK=trousers) and the lads end up in kilts, having accidently enrolled in the "Third Batallion, Caledonian Highlanders". Of course there's a lot of comedy with all that; I was quite impressed with L&H's comedic skill, which I haven't been exposed to for years but which surpasses anything seen today.

From that point in the film, they go to India, which I didn't have time to watch this am. There's a subplot with the actual heiress of the family estate, who has to go to India herself to qualify under terms of the will. The older people seen in 'Scotland' are all strong, properly accented character actors, but (with the exception of Laurel, who had the remants of his original accent) anyone under the age of 60 simply speaks with an American accent with no (discernable) attempt whatever at a Scottish or even an English one. It's a little jarring but of course the industry was itself young in those days.

The kilted photo of the boys seen here:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...ictures-63277/ does NOT seem to be an actual still from the movie; there, they are much better attired in the Scottish manner as soldiers.

Never thought I'd say this, but thank you Mr Turner for taking my mere money and airing a movie I've been waiting decades to see.