Laurel And Hardy - No. 2 - Someone's Ailing Classic Shorts (DVD)

Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy are one of the greatest comedy duos of all time. Many consider them in fact to be the greatest. They made many short films between 1927 and 1940 for the Hal Roach Studios. It was going to be interesting to view one of these digitally re-mastered DVDs of their work to see if they had survived the test of time and whether the films could still be seen as amusing if not hilarious. In this collection, all the films can be watched ...
...laugh fest, set wholly in Laurel and Hardy's rented bedroom. It was extremely clever how the whole film could be set in such a small environment and yet uses so many things to produce laughs without the need to go elsewhere. The duo is sharing a bed without any feeling or reference to sleaziness. Their innocent faces make it all appear perfectly natural and normal. The illness featured in this story is Ollie with such a bad cold that he does enormous ... more

Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy are one of the greatest comedy duos of all time. Many consider them in fact to be the greatest. They made many short films between 1927 and 1940 for the Hal Roach Studios. It was going to be interesting to view one of these digitally re-mastered DVDs of their work to see if they had survived the test of time and whether the films could still be seen as amusing if not hilarious. In this collection, all the films can be watched in the original black and white. However some of them have been colourised, presumably for today's audiences. I was sceptical about this as I prefer them to be seen as they were originally produced. However, my kids do not like B&W and will not watch B&W. So for them to watch some of this classic stuff, it is necessary for them to have the artificially added colour.

The theme of this collection of shorts is that, as the title implies, one of the main characters has an illness or injury. This is only a link for the collection as each film is self-contained. Hence each film can be watched entirely independent of all the others and in any preferred order. On this DVD, there are six short films of approximately twenty minutes in length each.

COUNTY HOSPITAL

In this short film (just under 20 minutes), Ollie is in hospital with a broken leg. (It is not explained why or how this came about, which is kind of enigmatic and lets the story get going straight away). The leg is in a cast and hanging up in the air all ready for any comedy effect later on. It is great how things are set up in advance where the audience can anticipate something is going to happen there but not know when. This is also done later when a loaded injection needle is carelessly left on a chair. Stan comes to visit him, as he nothing better to do. He brings him boiled eggs and nuts as a get-well present. The expression on Ollie's face tells you it is not what he would have liked. Throughout the film, Ollie looks at you the audience with pained exasperation whenever Stan does something silly or clumsy. These looks add greatly to the comedy as it brings you in, allying yourself with Ollie. Stan, however, is so innocent and regretful in his clumsiness that you bear him no ill will - unlike Ollie. The scene of watching Stan eat a boiled egg is wonderful to behold and the subsequent consequences of one thing leading to another are very amusing. Due to Stan's disastrous antics, that I won't spoil here, Ollie is expelled from the hospital. The attempts to get dressed are seized upon for further comedy effect and more humiliation for Ollie. The final part of the story where Stan is driving the car in a very erratic manner is not the best for today's audiences. It is badly edited and the obvious filming in a studio with a backdrop projection of the street makes this part rather an unfortunate mess. However, this unfulfilling finale should not detract from the wonderful pantomime of chaos caused by Stan inside the hospital.

THEM THAR HILLS

In this film, Ollie is afflicted by gout. So he his poor afflicted foot is heavily bandaged. He is advised by his doctor to go way to the country to relax and drink plenty of water. The thought of this actually happening with Stan around should have been the ironic "yeah right" but instead they set off with a sort of caravan in tow. This must have been set in the time of prohibition as we are shown ahead of them a gang depositing liquor down a well to get rid of the evidence before the police catch them. This is where Stan & Ollie decide to stay, of course. The comedy of this film then stems from Stan getting "water" from the well and getting drunk whilst not realising that it is laced with alcohol. Know-it-all Ollie thinks it is the extra iron content of fresh spring water! When a husband and wife couple, called Mr and Mrs Hall, arrive on foot having run out of gasoline, then the fun really starts. Mrs Hall joins them in drinking, whilst Mr Hall goes back for the car. When he returns and finds his wife has become drunk, the aggrieved Mr Hall and Stan & Ollie end up trading blows and making inventive malevolent actions upon each other. Though some of these were quite funny, the participants all seem to wait for the other to do the next bad thing to him without any preventative measure taken. I suppose it is like a game of dare or chicken but it seemed to lose its realism in context during this fight. However it does all end in a very satisfying conclusion.

TIT FOR TAT

This film is the one and only time there was a direct sequel made. So it is entered in this collection for that reason, although is no one actually ailing in this one. Here, Stan & Ollie are opening an electrical store but situated next door are the same Mr and Mrs Hall, from the previous story, in their grocery store. However, it is the only link to the previous story really and both films are really completely independent of each other. Ollie gets to be in Mrs Hall's bedroom and the misunderstanding of how this came about leads to the two couples getting involved in a tit for tat war that escalates out of control. This mayhem seems much more fitting than in the previous film and contains some wonderfully vicious attacks on one another and one another's property. An amusing little sub plot shows Stan & Ollie so caught up in their feud that they ignore the very polite chap who is robbing their store.

PERFECT DAY

This is a brilliantly ironic title for my favourite film of this collection. This features another foot with gout. This time, however, it is on the foot of their uncle. It is a lovely Sunday and Stan & Ollie are taking their wives and uncle out for a picnic with the car. Stan & Ollie squabble like little boys as they mess up getting the sandwiches ready. This inevitably leads to comic pain with the bad foot. This is only a prelude to the shambolic efforts of setting off in the car. A lot of jokes fly thick and fast in a great sequence including trying to change a tyre, a fight with the neighbours and overheating the car's engine. Inevitably, it again features great pain inflicted on the foot to hilarious effect. The over cheerful and optimistic "goodbyes" ringing out between them and various neighbours only intensifies the feeling that they are not going to be going anywhere. The story is beautifully brought to a final conclusion with brilliant expressions on the protagonists' faces. An interesting aside to this film is that at one point the uncle shouts a swear word, which was missed by the censor of the time.

THEY GO BOOM

The title of this short film refers to the spectacular ending, which you can wait and watch for yourself. This one was not watched by my children as, for some reason, there is no colourised version of this one. That is a shame as they miss out on this magnificent laugh fest, set wholly in Laurel and Hardy's rented bedroom. It was extremely clever how the whole film could be set in such a small environment and yet uses so many things to produce laughs without the need to go elsewhere. The duo is sharing a bed without any feeling or reference to sleaziness. Their innocent faces make it all appear perfectly natural and normal. The illness featured in this story is Ollie with such a bad cold that he does enormous sneezes which have some painful results. Poor Stanley gets the brunt of Ollie's bad mood when mostly it isn't his fault. There is some wonderful slapstick that makes you laugh out loud. The results of their use of the gas pipe to reflate their air mattress may be obvious but it brings an amusing tension about when the catastrophic consequences are going to take place.

LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING

This is clearly the oldest film in this little collection. The clues being the picture quality and it being silent! Again there is only a B&W version so the little ones are missing out once again. However, what they would make of no words being spoken is hardly something to speculate about. This is initially set in their rented apartment with them both in bed again. This time it is Stan that is afflicted. As the written banner so brilliantly puts it: "What's worse than an aching tooth at three in the morning? - Two of them!!" After some failed comical attempts to remove the tooth by some old fashioned homemade methods, the pair eventually go to the dentist. There is a painful wait in the waiting room whilst they witness the horrific results of others being treated. Then another brilliantly understated written banner comes up to sum up Oliver talking to the dentist "be careful - you might make him nervous". This results in a case of mistaken identity and laughing gas being spread around. Their laughing on screen is amazingly infectious to the watching audience especially when you realise you can't even hear it! Just when you think that must be the end of this episode, the pair move out to their car still intoxicated by the laughing gas and have a hilarious contretemps with a traffic cop.

As stated at the beginning, my children will not watch B&W. However, they did enjoy the "colour" versions. They did not appear fazed by the strange look of these imposed colours (Ollie had a jacket a very peculiar shade of purple in one film) and enjoyed the films in the straightforward manner that they were presented. The slapstick elements are always the most popular, especially when executed in sequence and with such exquisite timing. The kids laughed out loud in many places so their introduction to this classic comedy duo was undoubtedly a success. I enjoyed watching them immensely also and I will be looking forward to seeing other offerings. It is amazing to think that such films can still feel fresh and be enjoyable after over 70 years since they were first produced.

P.S. in case you were wondering, there are no extras!
 

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