March of the Wooden Soldiers [AKA Babes in Toyland] (1934)
Starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
Directed by Gus Meins and Charley Rogers
March of Wooden Soldiers proves that not all old holiday films should carry the moniker of "classic." Granted, the Babes in Toyland premise -- in which Little Bo Peep is forced to marry the evil landlord Barnaby in order to save her family from going homeless -- has never been that good of a story, instead relying on appealing Mother Goose nursery rhyme-style visuals which this 1934 movie certainly contains. However, in this nearly eight decade old flick, the comedy just doesn't hold up and the songs are rather pitiful. There's a part of me that can understand why Laurel and Hardy (who play recreations of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum here) were comically successful back in the 1930s, but they simply aren't funny here...not even in that whimsical nostalgic way.
The RyMickey Rating: D
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