Customer Reviews

Laurel & Hardy: Early to Bed [VHS]

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This comic gem was made in 1928 and Laurel and Hardy were already one of America's favorite comedy teams. This film begins with a typical Laurel and Hardy scene on a park bench when Ollie learns that he is has inherited a fortune. The film then strays from typical Laurel and Hardy material by making Ollie the master of Hardy manor and Stan his well-meaning butler. When Ollie come home late and is a bit tipsy, it is Stan's job to put the master to bed. When this task proves too difficult Stan quits, but Ollie wont let him, so Stan tries to make Ollie fire him, and Hardy manor suffers for it but the two eventually settle there difficulties in the end. This is a very funny short where Stan and Ollie step outside of there normal relm, but are still able to provide lots of laughs.

This 1928 two-reeler directed by Emmett Flynn is an atypical Laurel & Hardy outing because this time the boys go after each other. Oliver inherits a fortune, gets himself a nice new mansion and hires Stan as his butler. For once, Stan is conscientious about his job, but Ollie decides the best way to enjoy his new wealth and power is to torment his friend, especially when Stan is asleep. Stan is about to quit when he accidentally damages one of Ollie's expensive new pieces of furniture. When he sees his employer's reaction, Stan proceeds to exploit his position and destroys everything in the house while Ollie tries to protect his huge vases and other breakables. This is not a great Laurel & Hardy film, but the final routine certainly ranks as one of their best: Hardy takes refuge in an elaborately decorated garden fountain, pretending to be one of the little cherub heads spewing forth water. The boys milk this one for what is is worth and then keep on going. As I said, this is a change of pace for Laurel & Hardy and the exception that proves the rule: being a team involves team-work and not going after each other.

Ollie has just inherited a windfall, and with his money buys a beautiful mansion and brings Stan on as his butler, together with their cute little dog Buster. He starts out being his usual little-kid-bossy self, but in a rare twist, Stan gets tired of being kicked around and begins to stand up for and assert himself. In the process of running amok and showing Ollie he can't push him around and get away with it, he ruins a lot of the things in the mansion. One can't blame him, after having seen how downright cruel Ollie was being towards him when all he wanted to do was to get him to retire to bed after coming home drunk. The best gag in the film is when Ollie tries to hide in a fountain that has ceramic heads resembling his own head. It's the only really original gag in this picture; the reason L&H stand apart from many other comedians, both solo performers and teams, of the same era is because of how creative and innovative their gags and plots were, and their great comedic personae. These weren't just two-reelers that any old comedian or comedians could have been in with no difference. And though I do like it when they play different roles, with Stan coming across as the smarter superior one, here it just seems weird and too mean-spirited, on both ends. It's interesting, and all fans should want to see it at least once, but overall it's just not incredibly memorable or one of their best silents.