Dick und Doof im Flegelalter

The date of "The Lucky Dog" is uncertain; it has traditionally been given as 1917, but it has been suggested that it may have been shot as late as 1921. Stan Laurel here plays a down-on-his-luck young man who is thrown out of his lodgings for not paying his rent. He is held up by a robber and twice narrowly avoids being run over by a tram. His only friend is a stray dog who befriends him. The dog, however, proves to be his lucky charm, as it is through the dog that he meets a dog-loving young lady. The dog also saves his life from the girl's jealous boyfriend who is plotting to blow him up with the assistance of the robber.

There is nothing specially interesting about the film, which lacks the inventiveness and the slapstick brilliance of many silent shorts from this period, It has, however, become famous because of an accident of history. It was the first film to star both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, although they had not yet become a comedy partnership. In most of their films they play close friends, work colleagues or business partners, but here Ollie plays the robber who holds Stan up and later conspires with the jealous boyfriend. Had these two not gone on to become the famous duo of Laurel and Hardy, this film would doubtless today be forgotten.