Something here that you cannot miss, in fact in all the "talkie" L&H Hal Roach Shorts, is how these two men made the transition from silent film. Much of the exaggerated pantomime, side-splitting reaction shots and priceless facial expressions are left over from the silents and Stan and Ollie took that and ran it to the goal post.
I had the privilege of acquiring some hard to find video stuff and came across this one. Oh my god, no one else could make this work as well with the female counterparts played by themselves. That whole business with the telephones in the beginning had me laughing out loud in front of the screen. What fun! But the most golden moment for me was towards the end when "Mrs. Stan" (ie, Hardy) looks up, making Laurel look up, and just cracks him under his jaw with a dinner plate. Folks, I almost wet myself. No one could pull that sight gag off as well as these two huge talents. It's so funny that it's almost not a spoiler, you just have to see it for yourself.
Awesome. In that era, even a 20 minute short was to be perfection, especially at Hal Roach's shop!!!!
I had the privilege of acquiring some hard to find video stuff and came across this one. Oh my god, no one else could make this work as well with the female counterparts played by themselves. That whole business with the telephones in the beginning had me laughing out loud in front of the screen. What fun! But the most golden moment for me was towards the end when "Mrs. Stan" (ie, Hardy) looks up, making Laurel look up, and just cracks him under his jaw with a dinner plate. Folks, I almost wet myself. No one could pull that sight gag off as well as these two huge talents. It's so funny that it's almost not a spoiler, you just have to see it for yourself.
Awesome. In that era, even a 20 minute short was to be perfection, especially at Hal Roach's shop!!!!