The Sawmill

As a supporting player Oliver Hardy worked in several silent films before teaming with Stan Laurel. This one, The Sawmill, was done with now forgotten silent screen comedian Larry Semon as both star and producer. Hardy did several with him.

I couldn't quite get Semon's style down, he seemed to flit from Buster Keaton, to Harry Langdon, to Stan Laurel with a little Charley Chase thrown in as well. Maybe a dash of Harold Lloyd. He's the little dunce of a worker at a sawmill who's in love with the owner's daughter. But so is Hardy who plays a Simon Legree like foreman who carries a bullwhip to enforce his will.

The more Hardy chased, the more Semon ran until the worm turned and he got the girl at the expense of a sawmill. The Sawmill had a few good moments, but it was not up to the standards of any of the folks that Semon copied.