Customer Reviews

Laurel & Hardy: Two Tars [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Two Tars is a treasure chest of laughs. This 1928 silent comedy appears to be one of Laurel and Hardy's turning points -- and it is probably the earliest film dealing with ROAD RAGE.

In the "Battle of the Century" L&H revolutionized the silent comedy pie fight by slowing down the victims' reactions -- showing shock, THEN anger, then their reaction (feeling victimized, then throwing a pie rather than just being angry). In Two Tars "the boys" slowed down their famous comedy of mutual destruction. The result: the viewer laughs more than ever.

I absolutely LOVED this movie. It's one I had read about but never seen anytime in my life -- not on television, or theater revivals. It's a perfect film for those just starting out to watch L&H AND for their longtime fans.

The plot is barebones basic. Stan and Ollie are a couple of sailors on leave. They meet and pick up a couple of ladies. And, after some problems with a gum machine, they take off with their new friends and get stuck in a traffic jam. There are minor fender benders...and the fun is watching what happens as a result.

Some things about this movie, and why you should buy this video. I was struck by:

--The amazing timing. Each gag works because of when a reaction takes place. It is flawless.
--A young Stan and Ollie. There's a youthful energy about this 20 minute short. Ollie, for instance, is not as heavy as in later years. They're the same characters, but there is a difference.
--An edgier Laurel and Hardy. They are less sympathetic than in later films. Here, they are more instigators than child-like victims.
--Priceless sight gags. Without giving it away, let's just say the studio took a lot of time building props.
--Two for the price of one. This short is really two shorts. The first part involves the boys meeting two ladies and a gum machine. The second is early Culver City "road rage" on a sunny day. Both parts work seamlessly.
--Great supporting cast. Two Tars features the wonderful Charlie Hall (who was in the ultimate L&H destruction comedy shorts Them Thar Hills and Tit for Tat) and "slow burn" foil Edgar Kennedy.
--Oliver Hardy's facial expressions. Watch this once for the fun of it, and a second time to see a comic master at work.

The video's only drawback is the pedestrian musical soundtrack. It works best at the end but is like the kind of bland music in early Hanna Barbera t.v. cartoons, stock background music pulled out of a royalty-free file. It doesn't ruin the comedy, but you can put together a better soundtrack with old CDs (Hal Roach film music, old jazz, honkey tonk piano). Print quality is superb. A MUST for any comedy lover.

This short finds sailors Stan and Ollie on leave. In the first reel we see them having trouble with driving (after lecturing Stan about his bad driving skills, Ollie then proceeds to take the wheel and drive their car straight into a lamp post) and then coming to the rescue of two Navy groupies who are having trouble with a gumball machine. They just wanted their two gumballs, but instead the contents of the entire machine come gushing out all over the sidewalk in front of the always irrascible Charley Hall's shop. Charley may have been a short little guy, but his character always had a bite bigger than his bark. He finds Ollie scampering around picking up the gumballs and stuffing them in his pockets, his hands, and down his shirt, and makes him drop them. They are soon involved in a showdown.

After getting away from Charley, the boys and their two new girlfriends head off on the road to have some fun. When we next see them, they are on their way back (presumably) to their ship, after having called ahead to say they may be a little late. Unfortunately, they get stuck in a heavy traffic jam, and a small incident of road rage builds into a complete melee and free for all, as they all begin destroying one another's cars until Officer Edgar Kennedy comes along to investigate the trouble. However, even the presence of a cop doesn't do much to quell what's going on, since things have already gone so far that the damage can't be easily repaired or forgiven. This is one of their best retribution shorts, right up there with 'Big Business' and 'Tit for Tat.'

Two Tars is probably one of Laurel & Hardy's greatest silent films. The print is good and the picture is clear. The only problem with this film is the music. The music in this film for the most part does not fit well with the action on the screen. In some parts especially the climatic highway scene is actually distracts away from the action. But, if you like Laurel & Hardy you should get this film. You can always ignore or mute out the music.

Laurel and Hardy are two sailors on leave in a rented car with a pair of women they hook up with. What they do to those cars in the traffic jam is an awful shame. <G> Another delightful release in the series of silent Stan & Ollie comedies. My only objection is to the musical score, which sounds a bit too generic for the material. Still, only a small complaint...just fire up the Beau Hunks CDs while you're watching this one.

Laurel & Hardy are a couple of sailors on leave who have taken up with fast women in slow traffic. Caught in a traffic jam their car
is bumped from behind. They feel the need to prove to the girls that they will not tolerate such an insult. It quickly turns into
all out warfare that spreads all up and down the line of stalled cars and trucks.
It`s pure slapstick fun L&H style. One of their best silents.

This is one of the demolition classics. I laughed uproariously at it the first time I saw it, and it has held up to repeated viewings. Ollie and Stan are much more amoral than they are in their later films, so the humor is partly fueled by surprise as they provoke other hapless drivers. But the timing of the gags is excellent, the comedy clicks on all levels. The film is somewhat similar to Big Business, another demolition classic, though more anarchic and sprawling.

The 3 star rating is mostly out of respect for Laurel and Hardy as pioneers of the medium, not to mention their multiple talents and charm such as I have rarely seen on the silver screen. But this item is purely a matter of taste. If yours runs to silent slapstick, this is as good a purchase as any. Otherwise, try the Laurel and Hardy talkies such as "Flying Deuces", or the Chaplin or Mae West movies.

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