The Bullfighters

1945 film by Malcolm St. Clair, Stan Laurel

The Bullfighters

Theatrical poster for The Bullfighters (1945)

Directed by| Malcolm St. Clair (as Mal St. Clair)
Stan Laurel (uncredited)
Written by| Scott Darling (as W. Scott Darling)
Stan Laurel (uncredited)
Produced by| William Girard
Starring| Stan Laurel
Oliver Hardy
Margo Woode
Richard Lane
Carol Andrews
Diosa Costello
Cinematography| Norbert Brodine
Edited by| Stanley Rabjohn
Music by| David Buttolph
Distributed by| 20th Century Fox

Release date

| May 19, 1945

Running time

| 60:55
Country| United States
Language| English

The Bullfighters is the penultimate feature film starring Laurel and Hardy, the sixth and final film the duo made under 20th Century Fox as well as the last released in the United States.

## Plot[edit]

Private detectives Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy travel from their hometown of Peoria, Illinois to Mexico City in pursuit of an infamous larcenist named Hattie Blake (Carol Andrews), who is publicly known as ”Larceny Nell”. Meanwhile, an American sports promoter, Richard K. Muldoon (Ralph Sanford) meets with publicity man ”Hot Shot” Coleman (Richard Lane), and his assistant (Irving Gump) to discuss an upcoming bullfight featuring famed Spanish matador Don Sebastian. But when Muldoon sees pictures of the bullfighter he becomes enraged; Don Sebastian looks exactly like Laurel. Hot Shot is confused until Muldoon tells him the story: Eight years earlier in Peoria, Laurel and Hardy both testified against Muldoon in a criminal case, and Muldoon was wrongfully convicted of the crime (the details of which were never specified) and granted a twenty-year jail sentence; However, after five years the true criminal confessed to the crime and Muldoon was released. But while in prison he lost his home, his wife, his fortune and his business and had to start all over in Mexico. He still holds a grudge against Stan and Ollie and vows revenge with a large knife for emphasis: "Someday I'll run across them again! And when I do, I'm going to skin them alive! First the little one, then the big one! I'm going to skin them BOTH alive!!"

Meanwhile, Ollie and Stan confront Blake in an attempt to arrest her only for her to snatch the extradition papers that permit them to arrest her outside the U.S., followed by an egg-breaking tit for tat sequence before she escape. They run into Hot Shot who sees Stan's uncanny resemblance to the bullfighter while receiving a telegram that tells the real Don Sebastian's arrival is delayed because of passport trouble. After explaining Stan's resemblance to Don Sebastian to the confused Ollie and Stan and about the vengeful Muldoon's wrongful conviction, Hot Shot forces Stan to impersonate the bullfighter in the meantime, threatening to reveal his and Ollie's presence to Muldoon if he does not cooperate but promising them a very handsome payment for their trouble if he does. Stan reluctantly agrees, only because Hot Shot promises he will not have to fight bulls. Eventually, the real Don Sebastian's passport trouble turns out to be worse than originally feared and so Stan will have to take his place in the ring and fight bulls after all.

On the day of the fight Stan, nervous about fighting bulls, gets drunk. But then, unbeknownst to anyone, the real Don Sebastian has somehow miraculously contrived to making it to Mexico City just in time for the big bullfight. Ollie mistakes him for Stan and forces him into the arena. Stan staggers up, and Hardy sends him into battle. With two Laurels in the ring, the outraged spectators cry foul, especially Muldoon, who now recognizes "Don Sebastian" as Stan Laurel from Peoria who sent him up for twenty years and, in a livid frenzy, punches out Hot Shot, calling him a swindler. Every bull in the arena is then unleashed. Stan and Ollie try to escape the vengeful Muldoon, but not fast enough; Stan and Ollie, while packing for their flight back home and planning to sneak away to the airport, discover Muldoon hiding in their closet, his knife handy. Just as promised, he skins them alive; leaving them, except their heads, in bare bones. Ollie says his "another nice mess…" catchphrase to Stan. Stan whimpers before Ollie decides that they go back home to Peoria, "where we belong!"

## Cast[edit]

* Stan Laurel as Stan / Don Sebastian
* Oliver Hardy as Ollie
* Richard Lane as 'Hot Shot' Coleman
* Irving Gump as Mr. Gump
* Carol Andrews as Hattie Blake
* Diosa Costello as Conchita
* Ralph Sanford as Richard K. Muldoon
* Margo Woode as Señorita Tangerine
* Rory Calhoun as El Brillante - Disgusted Matador
* Hank Worden as Mr. McCoy
* Max Wagner as Farmer
* Emmett Vogan as Prosecutor
* Cyril Ring as Cafe Customer
* Jay Novello as Luis - Maître d'hôtel
* Edward Gargan as Vasso - Man Practicing Speech

## Production[edit]

Laurel wrote and directed portions of the feature.,[1] which was produced in late 1944 and released in May 1945. The revenge plot was reworked from their short film Going Bye-Bye! (1934), and a tit for tat egg-breaking sequence was reprised from the MGM all-star feature Hollywood Party, in which the team appeared in guest roles. This was Laurel and Hardy's last American film and also the film debut of Frank McCown, who later became famous as Rory Calhoun.

Laurel and Hardy were scheduled to make another film for 20th Century-Fox in the spring of 1945, but the studio discontinued all B-picture production at the end of 1944 and closed the Laurel and Hardy unit. When The Bullfighters became a hit, the studio offered to reopen the entire B department just for Laurel and Hardy, but the comedians declined.[2] Thus, The Bullfighters turned out to be Laurel & Hardy's final American film. (Their final film, Atoll K, was produced in France in 1950–51.)

## References[edit]

1. ^ MacGillivray, Scott, Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward (Second Edition); iUniverse, 2009
2. ^ MacGillivray, Scott, Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward (Second Edition); iUniverse, 2009

## External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Bullfighters.

* The Bullfighters at IMDb
* The Bullfighters at the TCM Movie Database
* The Bullfighters at AllMovie
* The Bullfighters at Rotten Tomatoes

* v
* t
* e

Filmography of Laurel and Hardy

* Stan Laurel
* Oliver Hardy

Short films|

| Silent|

* The Lucky Dog (1921)
* 45 Minutes from Hollywood (1926)
* Duck Soup (1927)
* Slipping Wives (1927)
* Love 'em and Weep (1927)
* Why Girls Love Sailors (1927)
* With Love and Hisses (1927)
* Sugar Daddies (1927)
* Sailors, Beware! (1927)
* The Second Hundred Years (1927)
* Hats Off (1927)
* Do Detectives Think? (1927)
* Putting Pants on Philip (1927)
* The Battle of the Century (1927)
* Leave 'Em Laughing (1928)
* Flying Elephants (1928)
* The Finishing Touch (1928)
* From Soup to Nuts (1928)
* You're Darn Tootin' (1928)
* Their Purple Moment (1928)
* Should Married Men Go Home? (1928)
* Early to Bed (1928)
* Two Tars (1928)
* Habeas Corpus (1928)
* We Faw Down (1928)
* Liberty (1929)
* Wrong Again (1929)
* That's My Wife (1929)
* Big Business (1929)
* Double Whoopee (1929)
* Bacon Grabbers (1929)
* Angora Love (1929)

|

Talking|

* Unaccustomed As We Are (1929)
* Berth Marks (1929)
* Men O' War (1929)
* Perfect Day (1929)
* They Go Boom (1929)
* The Hoose-Gow (1929)
* Night Owls (1930)
* Blotto (1930)
* Brats (1930)
* Below Zero (1930)
* Hog Wild (1930)
* The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930)
* Another Fine Mess (1930)
* Be Big! (1931)
* Chickens Come Home (1931)
* Laughing Gravy (1931)
* Our Wife (1931)
* Come Clean (1931)
* One Good Turn (1931)
* Beau Hunks (1931)
* Helpmates (1932)
* Any Old Port! (1932)
* The Music Box (1932)
* The Chimp (1932)
* County Hospital (1932)
* Scram! (1932)
* Their First Mistake (1932)
* Towed in a Hole (1932)
* Twice Two (1933)
* Me and My Pal (1933)
* The Midnight Patrol (1933)
* Busy Bodies (1933)
* Dirty Work (1933)
* Oliver the Eighth (1934)
* Going Bye-Bye! (1934)
* Them Thar Hills (1934)
* The Live Ghost (1934)
* Tit for Tat (1935)
* The Fixer Uppers (1935)
* Thicker than Water (1935)
* Galaxy of Stars (1936 promotional)

Feature films|

* Pardon Us (1931)
* Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
* Fra Diavolo / The Devil's Brother / Bogus Bandits (1933)
* Sons of the Desert (1933)
* Babes in Toyland (1934)
* Bonnie Scotland (1935)
* The Bohemian Girl (1936)
* Our Relations (1936)
* Way Out West (1937)
* Swiss Miss (1938)
* Block-Heads (1938)
* The Flying Deuces (1939)
* A Chump at Oxford (1940)
* Saps at Sea (1940)
* Great Guns (1941)
* A-Haunting We Will Go (1942)
* Air Raid Wardens (1943)
* Jitterbugs (1943)
* The Dancing Masters (1943)
* The Big Noise (1944)
* Nothing But Trouble (1944)
* The Bullfighters (1945)
* Atoll K / Utopia (1951)

Related|

* Combined filmography
* Stan Laurel filmography
* Oliver Hardy filmography
* Laurel and Hardy (animated TV series)
* The All New Adventures of Laurel & Hardy in For Love or Mummy (1999)
* Stan & Ollie (2018)
* Music
* The Sons of the Desert

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Malcolm St. Clair

1910s|

* Rip & Stitch: Tailors (1919)
* The Little Widow (1919)
* No Mother to Guide Him (1919)

1920s|

* Hungry Lions and Tender Hearts (1920)
* He Loved Like He Lied (1920)
* His Youthful Fancy (1920)
* Don't Weaken! (1920)
* Welcome Home (1920)
* A Kitchen Cinderella (1920)
* Wedding Bells Out of Tune (1921)
* Sweetheart Days (1921)
* The Goat (1921)
* The Night Before (1921)
* Call a Cop (1921)
* Bright Eyes (1921)
* You'd Be Surprised (1922)
* Don't Be Foolish (1922)
* Wedding Dumb Bells (1922)
* The Blacksmith (1922)
* Their First Vacation (1922)
* Twin Husbands (1922)
* Entertaining the Boss (1922)
* Keep 'Em Home (1922)
* Christmas (1923)
* Fighting Blood (1923)
* The Knight in Gale (1923)
* The Knight That Failed (1923)
* Six Second Smith (1923)
* Two Stones with One Bird (1923)
* Some Punches and Judy (1923)
* Gall of the Wild (1923)
* Rice and Old Shoes (1923)
* The End of a Perfect Fray (1923)
* When Gale and Hurricane Meet (1923)
* Judy Punch (1923)
* George Washington Jr. (1924)
* Julius Sees Her (1924)
* When Knighthood Was in Tower (1924)
* Money to Burns (1924)
* King Leary (1924)
* William Tells (1924)
* Sherlock's Home (1924)
* For the Love of Mike (1924)
* The Square Sex (1924)
* Bee's Knees (1924)
* Find Your Man (1924)
* The Lighthouse by the Sea (1924)
* On Thin Ice (1925)
* Are Parents People? (1925)
* After Business Hours (1925)
* The Trouble with Wives (1925)
* A Woman of the World (1925)
* The Grand Duchess and the Waiter (1926)
* A Social Celebrity (1926)
* Good and Naughty (1926)
* The Show-Off (1926)
* The Popular Sin (1926)
* Knockout Reilly (1927)
* Breakfast at Sunrise (1927)
* Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928)
* Sporting Goods (1928)
* Beau Broadway (1928)
* The Fleet's In (1928)
* The Canary Murder Case (1929)
* Side Street (1929)
* Welcome Danger (1929; uncredited)
* Night Parade (1929)

1930s|

* Montana Moon (1930)
* Dangerous Nan McGrew (1930)
* Remote Control (1930; uncredited)
* The Boudoir Diplomat (1930)
* Olsen's Big Moment (1933)
* Goldie Gets Along (1933)
* Crack-Up (1936)
* Time Out for Romance (1937)
* Born Reckless (1937)
* She Had to Eat (1937)
* Dangerously Yours (1937)
* A Trip to Paris (1938)
* Safety in Numbers (1938)
* Down on the Farm (1938)
* Everybody's Baby (1939)
* The Jones Family in Hollywood (1939)
* Quick Millions (1939)
* Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

1940s|

* Young as You Feel (1940)
* Meet the Missus (1940)
* The Bashful Bachelor (1942)
* The Man in the Trunk (1942)
* Over My Dead Body (1942)
* Two Weeks to Live (1943)
* Jitterbugs (1943)
* The Dancing Masters (1943)
* Swing Out the Blues (1943)
* The Big Noise (1944)
* The Bullfighters (1945)
* Arthur Takes Over (1948)
* Fighting Back (1948)

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