Swiss Miss
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
John G. Blystone
Stan Laurel
Oliver Hardy
Della Lind
Walter Woolf King
Eric Blore
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Edward, the manager of opera composer Victor Albert, is preparing the Alpen Hotel for Victor's upcoming visit. As Edward rehearses the staff, Victor stops his car down the road from the hotel. After warning his driver Joseph that no one, especially his wife, prima donna Anna Hoefel, must know he is there, Victor continues his journey in a horse cart and is given a melodious welcome at the hotel. American mousetrap salesmen Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are also in town. They have come to Switzerland under the delusion that they will be able to sell more mousetraps where there is more cheese and therefore more mice, but they are having little luck. Blinded by thoughts of their encroaching poverty, the boys are easily swindled by Emil, a cheese factory owner, into selling him their entire stock for 5,000 Bovanian francs. It is not until after a large dinner at the Alpen Hotel that the boys find out the money is worthless, and thus begins their employment as the hotel's dishwashers. A few days later, Anna arrives, and Victor tells her that he is writing an opera about a Tyrolean peasant girl that will establish him as a great composer, as his talent has been ignored in favor of her singing. She wants to sing the lead in his new opera, but he believes that she could never play a simple girl whom a peasant could love. Anna sits pouting in the lobby when she meets Stan and Ollie, who tell her their story of being forced to work in the hotel, and she uses the same technique to stay on as a chambermaid. Later, Stan and Ollie are plucking chickens outside when Stan sees a St. Bernard dog with a barrel of brandy. Ollie explains to him that the brandy is only for emergencies, but Stan uses the chicken feathers to trick the dog into thinking that he is buried in snow, and a triumphant Stan is soon drunk. Meanwhile, Victor is distracted by Anna's presence and commands Edward to find him a quiet work place. Edward arranges for Victor to work in a remote treehouse, accessible only by a bridge suspended over a deep ravine. When Stan and Ollie arrive at Victor's room to move his piano, Anna makes a point of showing Victor that they adore her. The boys manage to push the piano up the mountain to the bridge, but while trying to cross it, they are chased by a gorilla. The bridge breaks, and while Stan and Ollie save themselves, the piano and gorilla tumble down. Back at the hotel, Anna flirts with Chef Franzelhuber and then Ollie to make Victor jealous. That night, the boys serenade Anna, and Ollie asks her to attend the Alpen Fest with him the next day. After telling them that she has a plan for the festival, she retires, and Franzelhuber, awakened by the racket, warns them that Anna is his and that there will be dire consequences if they do not leave immediately. The next morning, Stan, Ollie and Anna arrive at the Alpen Fest disguised as gypsies, with Anna intent on wooing Victor with her singing. Victor recognizes her and asks Edward to bring her up to his room. Stan and Ollie wait outside Victor's room while she goes inside, but the chef appears and they lead him on a merry chase. When they return to Victor's room and force their way in, they discover that the happily reunited couple are husband and wife. Disheartened, Stan and Ollie leave the hotel, and as they are walking away, the bandaged gorilla chases them, throwing his crutch at them.
Director
John G. Blystone
Cast
Stan Laurel
Oliver Hardy
Della Lind
Walter Woolf King
Eric Blore
Adia Kuznetzoff
Charles Judels
Ludovico Tomarchio
Franz Hug
Jean De Briac
George Sorel
Charles Gemora
Anita Garvin
Eddie Kane
Harry Semels
Etherine Landucci
Otto Jehle
Joe Studer
Louis Studer
Fritz Wolfesberger
Gustav Von Seyffertitz
Conrad Seidemann
Marjorie Kane
Virginia Dabney
Julia Kingsley
Lorraine Bridges
Ula Love
Stanley Blystone
Earl Douglas
George Granlich
Nick Copeland
Alex Melesh
Harold Gerard
Jack Lubell
Eddie Johnson
Eddie Brian
Jacques Vanaire
Ed Scarpa
James B. Carson
Agostino Borgato
Jean Cleveland
Forbes Murray
Marylin Peterson
Lois Laurel
Buck
Dinah, A Mule
Jack Koontz
Les Clark
Peter Gardiner
Jack Romler
Billy Taft
Boots Mallory
Doris Carlyle
Lucille Day
Marguerite Franz
Peggy Russell
Lola Field
Wilma Roelof
Mary Brooks
Jean Alden
Loie Tilton
Evelyn Eager
Virginia Blair
Barbara Booth
Esther Pressman
Jolane Reynolds
Dolly Verner
Ruth Alder
Nancy Mcmahon
Kenny Williams
Lew Leroy
Al Cooke
John Stanley
Robert Eason
Lester Shafer
Arnold Tamon
Edward Cutler
Paul Foltz
Harvey Karels
Lew Gould
Pat Lane
Charlie Teske
Diane Rochelle
Tudor Williams
Doodles Weaver
Vera White
Fifi O'brien
Chet Brandenberg
Ed Brandenberg
Kay Mccoy
Marie Barbe
Alex Finlayson
Carlton Griffin
Viola Wilkins
Ann Berry
Eleanor Peterson
Ruth Lane
Beverly Royde
Marion Shelton
Holly Hall
Ruth Royde
Ann Faruks
Paul Feiner
Sam Brooks
Ernie Alexander
Emmet Connors
Mike Drey
Nik Sommer
Hope Harper
Wilda George
May Cloy
Jack Hill
Max Etzkorn
Joe Lenz
Lou Duello
Captain Garcia
Ray Deravenne
O. M. Steiger
Pete Gordon
Jack Staegell
Countess Sonia
Sanna Caru
Anna Ross
Ethel Gilstrom
Marie Dolezel
Elisabeth Frohlich
Kate Melkus
Carolyne Melkus
Celia Derosa
Crew
Felix Adler
Henry Alberti
Joe Barret
Jack Barsby
George Beresowsky
Chet Brandenburg
Norbert Brodine
T. R. Burns
R. Butler
Tony Campenero
Simon Carfagno
Bud Carpenter
Barney Carr
Phil Charig
Joe Collum
L. F. Comport
Jim Coucks
K. Cunningham
Harry Davis
W. B. Delaplain
Angelo Demichele
Joseph Difiore
Mary Eagan
Howard Fenimore
B. Ferlazzo
Richard Flournoy
A. Franz
Leo Friedman
Bert Glennon
Charles D. Hall
William Hamilton
Ellen Hansen
Marvin Hatley
Cecil Higgins
Henry Hill
Haskell Isenhuth
Joseph Jacobson
Bert Jordan
Johnny Kiado
Ham Kinsey
Fred Knothe
Arnold Kraushaar
Otto Landeau
Lucia Laria
Stan Laurel
Silvio Lavatelli
William Leavitt
Harold Lewis
Art Lloyd
Sinclair Lott
Lou Marcasie
Louis Mcmanus
Charles Melson
Ray Menhennick
Arthur Morton
Charles J. Morton
Jean Negulesco
Samson Noble
James Parrott
Mel Pedesky
Michel Perriere
Bob Petkere
Charles Phillips
Arthur Quenzer
Elmer Raguse
William Randall
Val Raset
A. Reno
Hal Roach
Hal Roach
Hal Roach Jr.
Jack Roach
Paul Rochin
Charles Rogers
Willard Rush
Bela Schaffer
Ernest Schrapps
James Scott
Roy Seawright
John Sherwood
Henry Shostac
Ed Skrivanek
Larry Smaltz
Carl Spitz
Jerome Spolidoro
W. L. Stevens
Ray Stillwell
Ed Sullivan
Larry Tarver
William H. Terhune
S. S. Van Keuren
S. S. Van Keuren
Albert Vertchamp
W. W. Wells
Beth Slater Whitson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Swiss Cheese. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item and company records located at the USC Cinema-Television Library, Charles Igor Gorin, Inez Gorman, Helen Gleason, Ray Middleton and Illeana (who married Stan Laurel shortly after production began) were tested for "vocalist parts," but they do not appear in the completed picture. According to modern sources, actress Della Lind was given the choice of Middleton or Walter Woolf King as her co-star and she chose King. Lind, who was borrowed from M-G-M, made her American film debut in this picture. A Film Daily news item noted that producer Hal Roach was negotiating for Lyda Roberti to join the cast, and that Patsy Kelly had been signed. Although neither of them appear in the completed picture, the participation of Greta Meyer, who was included in the cast by a Hollywood Reporter news item, has not been confirmed. Actor Charles Gemora's surname is spelled Gamore in the onscreen credits. According to Hollywood Reporter news items and company records, Roach filled in for director John Blystone while he was ill, and associate producer S. S. Van Keuren directed the additional scenes shot in April 1938. Modern sources assert that while Roach did contribute to the script, very little, if any, of the footage he directed was included in the completed picture. Company records also reveal the portions of the film were shot on location at Lake Arrowhead and Stone Canyon, CA. Dancer Mike Aransky is listed in the company records, but it is possible that this is a misspelling of dancer Michael Arshasky's name. The film's pressbook notes that Franz Hug participated in the opening ceremony of the 1936 Olympic Games, during which he demonstrated the art of flag throwing. According to a August 11, 1939 Hollywood Reporter news item, Isabella Knotter filed a lawsuit against Loew's, M-G-M and Roach in which she alleged that Swiss Miss and Way Out West (see below) were plagiarized from her book So Zwei Pechvogel. The outcome of the case has not been ascertained.
According to modern sources, Roach originally intended to make the film in color, but abandoned the idea because of the expense involved. Modern sources list LeRoy Shield, Nathaniel Shilkret and Marvin Hatley as additional composers of the incidental music, note that Jack Shaw worked on the special effects, and add the following actors to the cast: Sam Lufkin and Tex Driscoll (Bearded Swiss peasants); Bob O'Conor and Michael Mark (Astonished Swiss villagers); Val Raset (Dancer); Diane Lester Dorr, Cheryl Hopper, January Hopper, Raymond Rayhill Powell and Baldwin Cooke. For additional information about Laurel and Hardy's career together, please see entry above for Pardon Us.
