Dick und Doof in tausend Nöten

Strange early L&H-Talkie. The first half is almost completely silent and the second part is filled with many surrealistic gags.

Laurel & Hardy are street-musicians in the winter of 1929. They don't have any success, perhaps because of the kinda unfitting song they play, "In The Good Old Summertime" or the place they've chosen to perform at, the deaf and dumb-institute. Their luck seems to change when they find a wallet, but a suspicious looking guy obeys them and chases them down the street until a cop holds him up. Thankful, L&H spend him a lunch at a nearby restaurant. When it comes to paying, they find a photo of the cop in the wallet. The cop sees it too, misunderstands the situation, thinking L&H had stolen the wallet from him. He pays his check with his money and L&H are left to the wrath of the waiter.

A strange film, but one of my favourites L&H-shorts.

BELOW ZERO

Aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white - Short film)

A pair of bumbling street musicians (Laurel and Hardy) find a wallet in the snow, leading to a series of comic complications.

James Parrott's wonderful comedy short opens with L&H playing 'In the Good Old Summertime' to unappreciative passers-by during a heavy snow storm, only to discover they've been performing on the most unprofitable street in the city (I won't spoil the gag by revealing it here)! H.M. Walker's inspired screenplay piles disaster upon disaster for our hapless heroes, culminating in a restaurant encounter with outraged cop Frank Holliday and no-nonsense restaurateur Tiny Sandford. Like so many of these early shorts, the movie amounts to a loose assortment of comic incidents rather than a cohesive narrative, but it works like a charm. Highlights include L&H's encounter with hatchet-faced Blanche Payson, who responds with violent abandon to an errant snowball, and a surreal ending which closes proceedings on a slightly cryptic note (modern viewers will have their own idea what Stan whispers into Ollie's ear during the closing moments!). Photographed with vivid intensity by future filmmaker George Stevens, BELOW ZERO is one of the highlights of L&H's illustrious career.

While not their funniest film, Below Zero is perhaps one of Laurel and Hardy's most artistic. The victims of depression in a snowstorm, there's even a touch of Chaplin in certain elements. The short is still heavily indebted to the silent era, and all the better for it, inspiring greater pathos. The first, and most successful, half of the film contains less than twenty lines in over ten minutes of running time.

Stan's completely gormless expression while playing the organ had me in stitches, as did the inanity of the music. His morbid fascination with the unfortunate and deformed sees them playing in front of a deaf and dumb institute and ending with his belly swollen and distended. In one of their most blatant displays of toilet humour, he also apparently mimes needing to go to the lavatory as the climax. Freudians would even have a field day with Ollie's phallic weapon, while there's also time for a joke about a blind man in there as well.

The second half sees them find a wallet in the street, and treat a helpful policeman to a slap-up meal with the proceeds. Despite this being one of the Laurel and Hardy movies with the most integrity, make no mistake: it is also highly amusing. There's even touches of surrealism with Stan's multi-pocketed wallet, and, while scant, some clever wordplay. Recommended.

"Below Zero" helped to establish Stan and Ollie in talkie films and this comedy short contains some very good scenes of slapstick. We also bear witness to the loyalty and true friendship that exists between the two. The setting is that of a harsh winter. Stan and Ollie are two street musicians and earnings are nearly non- existent. They soon realise this after they discover they have been performing outside a home for the deaf and blind! Later on, they befriend a policeman and invite him to be their honoured guest for lunch. Oh dear...... I could feel the comic tension ascending as the fate of the boys is sealed, thanks to obtaining money that wasn't theirs! Plenty to enjoy here.

Amusing short comedy with Laurel and Hardy as two street musicians in the cold winter of 1929.

While they don't deserve much entertaining the people on the streets their luck changes when Laurel finds himself a filled wallet. They're almost robbed but a cop comes to their rescue. To thank him, they take him to dinner.

When the check is due though they find out that the wallet they found is actually the cop's, so in the end they're thrown out of the place.

Amusing short from this funny couple, though a bit slow at times, in particular in the first part. 6/10.