Watch Laurel & Hardy’s Slapstick-ulele

By Greg Olwell

With the ukulele’s popularity still soaring during the world’s first wave of ukulele love, it’s no surprise that one of the all-time great comedy duos used a uke in one of its famous slapstick romps.

For this week’s Throwback Thursday, we wanted to share this clip from the 1933 Laurel & Hardy film Sons of the Desert. In it, Oliver Hardy does a thoroughly decent job playing the film’s signature song “Honolulu Baby” on a soprano as the two return home with props trying to prove to their wives that they went on a Hawaiian cruise and not another adventure they weren’t supposed to have together.

Marvin Hatley wrote this hapa haole song, which was later covered by the Ka’au Crater Boys.

Without spoiling the ending, it must be said that this is a slapstick film, so beware.

Does anyone know what kind of ukulele he’s using in the film?