Product Details

• Actors: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Nostalgia Archive
• VHS Release Date: July 14, 1994
• Run Time: 42 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303198112
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,359 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic of Silent Comedy, November 9, 1998

By A Customer

An evergreen classic of the "reciprocal destruction" comedy that Stan and Ollie sometimes engaged in. The boys are selling Christmas trees in sunny California where they run afoul of perennial nemesis Jimmy Finlayson. This sets off an incredible string of destruction gags. The story Hal Roach told (which Stan Laurel later denied, but can't we maintain SOME illusions?) was that the bungalow to be wrecked was supposed to belong to a studio employee, and it wasn't until the last day of shooting (and house-smashing) they found out they had the wrong address! A tape which should be in every comedy fan's home.

4.0 out of 5 stars Big Business = biggest laughs!, August 23, 2008

By	Annie Van Auken (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Laurel and Hardy's BIG BUSINESS is one of the greatest comedies ever made-- it's that simple!

This silent two-reeler opens with Stan and Ollie hauling Christmas trees around Southern California in an open bed pickup truck. They carry a tree to Jimmy Finlayson's front door and ring the bell. Finlayson brusquely tells the boys he's not interested, and slams the door on a branch of the tree when he goes back inside his home.

Stan tugs at the caught tree, and rings the doorbell again to free it. An annoyed Finlayson comes out with a branch cutter and lops the evergreen into thirds. This spiteful act sets off an escalating war of destruction-- Stan and Ollie tear up landscaping and then the bungalow while Jimmy destroys their merchandise and truck, all under the watchful eye of a gathered crowd. Police officer Tiny Sandford observes the action and calmly takes notes. This is slapstick of the highest order.

Written by Leo McCarey and directed by Charley Chase's younger brother, THEY GO BOOM! was L&H's seventh talkie. In this short, Stan uses some unorthodox methods to treat Oliie's cold, including a mustard plaster on his massive posterior.


Also suggested: THE MUSIC BOX was Laurel and Hardy's only Oscar-winning film. It's presented on this VHS tape along with "Helpmates." Both films have been expertly colorized.


Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.

(8.2) Big Business (silent-1929) - Stan Laurel/Oliver Hardy/James Finlayson/Tiny Sandford/Charlie Hall/Retta Palmer/Lyle Tayo

(6.5) They Go Boom! (1929) - Stan Laurel/Oliver Hardy/Charlie Hall/Sam Lufkin