Hinter Schloss und Riegel Review: Dumb Gags and Prison Chaos

If you want a quick laugh on a lazy Sunday, this one is absolutely worth 70 minutes of your life. Classic slapstick fans will eat it up, but anyone who gets annoyed by repetitive jokes or feels uncomfortable with very dated 1930s racial disguises should probably skip it. 🍿

It's basically Stan and Ollie making home-brew beer during Prohibition and immediately selling some to a cop. Talk about great business minds.

Soon enough they are locked up, and that's where the real nonsense begins.

The whole plot hinges on Stan having a loose tooth. Every time he talks, he accidentally blows a loud raspberry. Pffftt.

It’s a stupid gag. But god help me, by the fourth time he did it to the terrifying prison warden, I was laughing out loud.

The warden, played by Tiny Sandford, has this amazing slow-burn facial reaction. He just stands there, letting his eyes get incredibly wide before he explodes.

Then we meet "The Tiger," played by Walter Long. He looks like he eats gravel for breakfast.

Somehow, Tiger thinks Stan is being a tough guy by blowing raspberries at the guards. It’s a great bit of misunderstanding.

Honestly, the movie gets a bit weird in the middle.

They escape and end up hiding on a cotton plantation. This part has them in blackface disguise, which... yeah, it hasn't aged well at all.

It feels like the movie just stops so Ollie can sing a song. He has a lovely voice, sure, but it feels like it belongs in a completely different film.

If you've watched other comedy relics from this era, like The Whole Truth, you know how these early sound films loved to just pause for musical numbers.

The pacing is definitely bumpy.

The climax is just absolute chaos with guns firing everywhere. It feels less like a comedy and more like a weirdly violent action movie for about three minutes.

People are dropping, bullets are hitting the walls, and Stan is just wandering around looking confused.

I did notice one extra in the background of the mess hall scene who literally forgot to eat. He just stares at his spoon for like ten seconds. 😂

It's not their absolute best work, but Ollie's exasperated looks at the camera are always gold.

Give it a watch if you want some simple, old-school chuckles. Just be ready for some of that 1930s weirdness.