DailyView: Day 246, Movie 344

We travelled back to 1930 for the next short, but this is no longer the silent variety as we saw with Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. This short stars EYG Hall of Famers Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

Another Fine Mess started off with Laurel and Hardy being chased by a police officer whom Stan had insulted in the park. They hid out in a fancy estate owned by Col. Wilburforce Buckshot (James Finlayson). Col. Buckshot is heading on a trip and is trying to rent out his home. Stan and Ollie wind up taking the position of Buckshot and a butler (and eventually a maid) after Buckshot had left. When Lord Leopold Ambrose Plumtree (Charles K. Gerrard) arrived with his new wife (Thelma Todd), Stan and Ollie had to assume these roles to avoid being caught.

Laurel and Hardy are funny, and they know what they do well. I did think that there was too many pratfalls by Stan and there were a few jokes that were run into the ground (especially Lord Plumtree’s laugh), but when the comedy worked, it was very funny. I would say that Laurel and Hardy’s bits worked more often than not.

There was a reliance on dialogue in this film, which was not common for Laurel and hardy films. I welcomed it as I found that it was funnier, in my opinion, than a lot of the physical slapstick that was on display here. It will be interesting to compare this to other Laurel and Hardy shorts moving forward.

I enjoyed the ending of the film as it felt like one of the funniest bits from the physical comedy in the film. The image of the bicycle and who was riding it was very hilarious.

It was fun to see a different type of the early day films for the DailyView today and I am happy that Laurel & Hardy gives me another type of short to cover those days when a short film is needed.