Eureka! … Since 1981

Eureka! Classics | In ‘Bogus Bandits’, Fra Diavolo (The Devil’s Brother) hires Ollie and Stan as menservants but soon realises that they are just a pair of incompetent bandits. He, in his other guise, is known as the Marquis de San Marco, an aristocrat who discovers the whereabouts of the treasures worn by the ladies in high society!

This film set a popular style which was subsequently seen in such films as Zorro, The Scarlet Pimpernel and countless others. It has a pattern which was followed in Babes In Toyland (1934) and The Bohemian Girl (1936), and contains some superb sequences. The story was well chosen by Hal Roach as a good vehicle for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, the drinking scene confirms their combined genius and is outstanding.

Originally called Fra Diavolo, this film is based on the 1830 comic operetta of that name by Daniel F Auber. The film was subsequently called The Devil’s Brother, Bogus Bandits and Virtuous Tramps.

Directors: Charles R Rogers and Hal Roach

Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Dennis King, Thelma Todd, James Finlayson, Lucille Browne, Arthur Pierson, Henry Armetta, Matt McHugh and J Lane Chandler.