Men O'War (1929)

Director: Lewis R. Foster

Writers: H.M. Walker, Leo McCarey

Composer: stock music

Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Anne Cornwall, Harry Bernard, Baldwin Cooke, Pete Gordon, Gloria Greer, Charlie Hall

More info: IMDb

Plot: Two sailors on leave, Stanley and Oliver meet two girls at a park and invite them to have a soda. Unfortunately, the boys have only enough money to split theirs, a point which Oliver can't seem to get across to his friend. That problem is solved when Stanley hits the jackpot on a slot machine. Now with enough money to hire a boat, they start a battle-royal with other boaters, with everybody eventually winding up in the lake.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

This was fun.  The payoff on the sassafrass soda bit was worth the long setup.  And the end was fun. It's amazing how many people you can fit in a boat before it sinks.  What's remarkable is that the film makers had to experiment with the number of people and what the tipping point would be for the final guy (the one who rented the bot to The Boys) to make it all happen.  I wonder how many takes it took.  It's quite a feat regardless.

Berth Marks (1929)

Director: Lewis R. Foster

Writer: Leo McCarey

Composer: (stock music) Milton Ager, William Axt, Jack Yellen

Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Harry Bernard, Sammy Brooks, Baldwin Cooke, Paulette Goddard, Charlie Hall, Pat Harmon, S. D. Wilcox

More info: IMDb

Plot: Big-time (so they think) vaudeville stars Stanley and Oliver take the train to Pottsville, their next booking. On board, they bumble into the wrong sleeping compartment, startling a semi-dressed woman. Her irate husband mistakes another passenger for the intruder and starts a coat-ripping free- for-all. The boys spend the rest of the trip trying to squeeze themselves into their cramped single upper berth.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Probably.

While it's not a laugh-fest, it has its moments.  The jacket ripping and its evolution is pretty funny but there's little to laugh at in the extended scene once the Boys are in the bunk.  I did laugh at the image of Laurel standing on Oliver's back getting into the bunk.  The pre and post train bits are good, too.

Unaccustomed As We Are (1929)

Directors: Lewis R. Foster & Hal Roach

Writer: Leo McCarey

Composer: (stock music) Milton Ager, William Axt, Jack Yellen

Starring: Stan Lauel, Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, Mae Busch, Thelma Todd

More info: IMDb

Plot: Oliver invites his friend Stanley over for a nice home-cooked meal, but Mrs. Hardy wants nothing to do with it and walks out. Mrs. Kennedy, Oliver's beautiful neighbor from across the hall, volunteers to help out, but the boys' bumbling soon has her dress on fire. Her husband, a policeman, investigates the ruckus just as Oliver gets the now partially-unclad Mrs. Kennedy hidden in a trunk. Kennedy's boasting of how he handles his own womanizing backfires when his wife pops out of the trunk and blackens his eye. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hardy has returned and wonders what all the noise is coming from next door.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Sure.

I recently acquired the Laurel & Hardy Essential Collection DVD set and I thought it was about time that I dove into it.  I've seen very little L&H over the years but I always laughed at what I saw.  I'm a HUGE fan of the Hal Roach Studio output (especially the OUR GANG/LITTLE RASCALS shorts - I was weened on that stuff) and I have a very large collection of silent and early talkie comedies.  This one, the first on the disc, is a good example of keeping it simple.  It's largely confined to one room and three characters.  L&H are great at prat falls.  I'm not familiar with Mae Busch's work (only her name), who plays Hardy's wife (her first of many in that role), but she's funny.  There's a bit where she starts bitching royally and Hardy puts on an record and her cadence begins to match that of the upbeat tune.  Funny stuff and well played. Thelma Todd had great comedic timing and she was crazy hot.  That's right, she needs to have my babies.  In this picture she once again shows how priceless she was.  And then there's the 'appears to be in everything' Edgar Kennedy.  It's funny because the picture opens with Hardy introducing Laurel to Mrs. Kennedy and the first thing I thought of was Edgar being her husband because in the Our Gang shorts he played a cop named Kennedy.  Sure as shit, in the last few minutes Edgar shows up as a cop.  Classic.