Zenobia (1939)
Directed by Gordon Douglas

Film Review

Zenobia, one of Oliver Hardy's few solo outings without his famous sidekick, came about as a result of a contract dispute between Stan Laurel and his producer Hal Roach.  The ill-feeling between the two had been building for some time but matters came to a head when Laurel declared he had had enough and walked out after completing the principal photography on Block-Heads (1938).  With Laurel on suspension, Roach had no intention of letting his comedy partner Oliver Hardy sit idle, so he envisaged a series of films in which he would appear alongside Harry Langdon, the great comic actor of the silent era. 

Langdon's career had taken a nosedive since the advent of sound, and as his acting work dried up, he supplemented his income by working as a writer - in fact he had scripted the aforementioned Block-Heads and would write for a further three Laurel and Hardy films.  Roach's plans were comprehensively scuppered when Zenobia bombed at the box office.  It was a critical and commercial failure, most probably because audiences saw Langdon as a very poor substitute for Stan Laurel.  In any event, Roach had soon patched up his differences with Laurel and the next Laurel and Hardy film was soon in production.

Zenobia may not have been welcome in its time, but it is a charming piece that has worn surprisingly well.  It may be somewhat short on laughs, but this is made up for by a pleasing straight performance from Oliver Hardy, with Langdon and Billie Burke working hard to appear funny (as ever, it is the straight man who gets the laughs).  Hardy aside, the best comedy muscle is shown by Stepin Fetchit and Hattie McDaniel, two of the leading black actors working in Hollywood at the time (the next year, McDaniel would win an Oscar for her supporting role in Gone With the Wind). 

The oddest thing in the film is not the sight of Oliver Hardy been pursued by a lovesick elephant but a scene in which a small black child (Philip Hurlic) recites the entire Declaration of Independence (the famous text which states that all men are created equal).  Ostensibly, this is done in an attempt to exorcise social barriers between white Americans, but it could equally be interpreted as a not very subtle allusion to the injustice of racial segregation.  Were the writers being naive or daringly subversive...?   Interestingly, the  film was directed by Gordon Douglas who, much later in his busy career, would direct the popular Doris Day-Frank Sinatra vehicle Young at Heart (1954) and the sci-fi classic Them! (1954).  Well, if you start out by directing Oliver Hardy and a romantically inclined elephant, you can do almost anything...

Film Synopsis

In 1870, in a small town in Mississippi, Dr Henry Tibbett has given up pandering to wealthy hypochondriacs and now dispenses his services to those who really need it, often without payment.  His daughter Mary hopes to marry Jeff Carter, the son of a rich society woman, but the latter is against the marriage and is determined to prevent it.  When his elephant, Zenobia, falls ill, a travelling showman named McCrackle calls on Henry's services and is delighted when his precious pachyderm makes a full recovery.  Unfortunately, Zenobia takes a liking to Henry and begins following him around like a lovelorn teenager.  Outraged, McCrackle raises a lawsuit against Henry, encouraged by Mrs Carter, who now sees her chance to ruin the doctor and thwart his daughter's marriage plans...