Berth Marks

I'm told this is the second sound film for Laurel and Hardy. They really look young in this one. They are a couple musicians, trying to get to a gig. They manage to get an upper berth on a train, so both have to sleep in the same bed. As they work their way through the close quarters, they do some troubling things. This time they don't pay the price because other people are mistaken for their actions. The ongoing joke has to do with people ripping up each other's clothes. The boys spend their time trying to locate music that Stan has misplaced and everywhere they go, trouble ensues. We can see the comic genius here. Obviously, they also did many silent features.

Berth Marks (1929)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Laurel and Hardy are a vaudeville team who are trying to catch a train so that they can reach their next gig. They barely catch the train but once on there they run into one problem after another with the biggest being trying to get up in their bed so that they can sleep.

BERTH MARKS was the duo's first sound film, although it was also shown in a silent version in theaters that hadn't yet upgraded their systems. For the most part this is a mildly amusing comedy but at the same time there's no question that it falls well short of classic Laurel and Hardy films. The biggest problem is the fact that there's really not too many laughs and the one joke pretty much takes up the majority of the running time. This joke has the boys trying to get into their bed but constantly failing for one reason or another. This here just isn't funny enough to warrant it taking up most of the running time.

Several published works on Laurel And Hardy seem to rate this as one of the boys' poorest shorts. How dare they! This is extremely funny - if not quite top drawer - Stan and Ollie. An early talkie, half the film is simply our two heroes trying to get undressed in the upper berth of a sleeper train, getting entangled in each others trousers, night-shirts etc. The boys have also inadvertently set the rest of the passengers against each other, via a method I won't spoil by revealing. It's simplicity itself, yet it works wonderfully well. When most comedies of the twenties and thirties have long been forgotten, the films of these two lovable characters continue to delight.

The real secret is surely in their universal humanity; there's a little bit of Stan and Ollie in all of us.

With their vaudeville careers slowly taking off, Messers Laurel and Hardy set off on a tour of small music halls. They arrange to meet at the train station with their instrument but find that the journey is not as comfortable or straightforward as they had first expected.

Laurel and Hardy's first short film with sound is clearly the start of a developing series of shorts. For the first few minutes there is almost no sound to speak of as they rely on their normal comedy style – it feels a little like they want to stay with what they know for a while. When the sound does kick in, it is very grainy and is given limited use for that reason. However, considering it is now over 70 years old this is understandable and it doesn't really affect the film too much.

The routines are pretty good and show a keen imagination – one running gap is left to run offscreen for five minutes before we are allowed to see it's extreme punchline! The routine in the train carriage berth has been reused to better effect by Laurel and Hardy but is still funny here. Both men are good and work well in the confines of the berth – Laurel has the better of the material here though.

Overall I enjoyed this short but must admit that the sheer age of the film did shine through in regards sound quality and even film stock at times. Regards though it was still funny although I missed the verbal wit that is part of their comedy in other shorts.

For anyone who doesn't believe that train rides can be a total hassle, see this film, and your views will be sorely changed. Laural And Hardy, two vaudeville stars heading for Pottsville, take us on a 20 minute ride of their life (one most of us wish would never happen). This movie makes me laugh tears right from the opening scenes, as the boys even find boarding the train a hard thing to do (this is one of the best scenes in the short). Next we find them on the train, and they've apparently lost their music for their act, can things get worse? of course! stan, on the way to his berth, walks into a womans room, causing her husband to think someone was looking at her, and a free for all coat fight ensues! The next scenes are what tops the short off... Stan and Ollie spend the last 15 minutes just trying to get in the berth and get settled into it! These last scenes make this short a killer, one to be remembered forever, and even though i am only 18, i will make sure my grandkids watch this when they are my age. A truly great L&H short...for everyone