One of cinema’s most famous comedy teams, Laurel and Hardy mainly appeared in comedic shorts. With 1935’s Bonnie Scotland, we find one of their feature-length affairs.

When Stanley MacLaurel’s (Stan Laurel) grandfather dies, he and pal Oliver Hardy (Oliver Hardy) travel to Scotland to claim an inheritance. However, Stan receives little of obvious value.

Broke and in need of funds, Stanley and Oliver accidentally enlist in the military. This error finds them sent to India to deal with various conflicts.

Despite the scope of that synopsis, no one should expect Bonnie to provide a plot-heavy affair. Sure, it sends our leads on various adventures and it tacks on an unnecessary thread related to Stan’s cousin Lorna (June Lang) and her romance with Alan Douglas (William Janney), but these feel contrived.

Face it: the movie exists as an excuse to place Stan and Ollie in comedic situations where they blunder their way through predicaments. Does any of this have anything to do with Scotland?

Nope. That country acts as a vague setting but it fails to matter in the greater scheme of things.

Stan and Ollie’s escapades in India use that setting a bit more actively, though those sequences suffer from the increasing emphasis on the tedious Lorna/Alan subplot. Just like Marx Brothers movies would usually add superfluous and dull romantic elements, I guess those involved with Laurel and Hardy felt the wacky leads needed some story elements connected to “normal people” as well.

And maybe they’re right. Perhaps 81 minutes of nothing but two goofballs would grow tiresome.

Nonetheless, any time Bonnie leaves out Stan and Ollie, it grinds to a halt. The affair between Lorna and Alan – with a complication from competing suitor Colonel Gregor McGregor (Vernon Steele) – truly feels like it comes from an entirely separate movie.

And not an interesting entirely separate movie. Bonnie could lose the Lorna/Alan subplot and offer a much more enjoyable affair.

Though it’d also end up as a substantially shorter flick. I get that the producers needed more than just the semi-random antics of Laurel and Hardy to get Bonnie up to feature length, but I feel they could’ve found a superior way to fill space than the lifeless Lorna/Alan/McGregor soap opera.

When Bonnie remembers to focus on its leads, it amuses. Laurel and Hardy deserve their legendary status, and the only times the film entertains, it does so due to their chemistry.

Not that I think their shenanigans offer prime Stan and Ollie. While their moments amuse, the pair don’t really break a sweat.

Still, their talents shine enough to keep us with the movie – barely, especially as the film grows increasingly dependent on its secondary roles as it goes. Bonnie Scotland provides sporadic laughs but relies too much on unnecessary subplots to become anything memorable.

Bonnie Scotland appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not a stellar image, this one still held up well for its age.

Sharpness became the only moderate concern here, as the movie could lean a little soft at times. These tendencies didn’t seem substantial, though, as the majority of the film looked pretty well-defined.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects appeared, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed natural, and print flaws didn’t materialize.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows were smooth and clear. Despite some softness, I felt pleased with this largely age-defying presentation.

While the movie’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack seemed more dated, it worked fine for a mix of this one’s vintage. Speech could be brittle but the lines remained intelligible.

Music played a fairly small role and sounded pretty thin but lacked issues with distortion. Effects also lacked much to do here but they came across as acceptably accurate, albeit without much life. The audio seemed more than appropriate for a circa 1935 recording.

A few extras appear, and we get an audio commentary from film historians Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific view of cast and crew, story and characters, production notes and their thoughts about the film.

Though we get occasional insights related to the movie, this tends to feel more like an appreciation of the flick than an insightful look at it. Bann and Maltin offer a likable chat but not one that gives us a lot of substance.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we find excerpts from 1934’s Hollywood Party (12:30) and 1937’s Pick a Star (8:25) that feature Laurel and Hardy.

Though top billed in Party, Stan and Ollie only appeared in a small section, which we get here. They also did nothing more than a cameo in Star.

Don’t expect L&H to appear onscreen for the full running times of these excerpts, as they only show up for parts. It would be nice if Warner released both films in their entirety on Blu-ray, but these snippets will have to do in the meantime.

When Bonnie Scotland focuses on its comedic leads, it becomes amusing. Unfortunately, the movie subjects us to a wholly useless romantic subplot that drags down the project as a whole. The Blu-ray comes with more than adequate picture and audio as well as a mix of supplements. I like the Laurel and Hardy aspects of the movie but we lose track of those two too often for this flick to really click.