Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.
Their previous short films were variable in quality, a couple decent and most average or just above, only '45 Minutes from Hollywood' misfired. 'Call of the Cuckoo' is not a step backwards but not a return in the right direction either like their previous three efforts were. It is nice and entertaining, more than watchable in an inoffensive way, but later offerings make far better use of Laurel and Hardy and their partnership and are much funnier, including its remake as mentioned by a few here. 'Call of the Cuckoo' felt like they were not yet fully formed and yet to properly find their feet.
'Call of the Cuckoo' looks quite good and hardly the work of an amateur. The performer who comes off best is Laurel who is great fun, 'Call of the Cuckoo' is worth watching for him alone.
There are very amusing, like the flames from the taps, and charming moments and the pace is generally very energetic.
Hardy however deserved more to do and much funnier material, and even more so that 'Call of the Cuckoo' misses the chance to utilise their chemistry properly. 'Call of the Cuckoo' doesn't really feel like Laurel and Hardy, due to Hardy having little to do and their chemistry barely existent.
Not everything is funny, too much of it being predictable and not being sharp enough in timing. The story is very slight, barely existent in fact, and erratically paced, sometimes too busy while not getting going soon enough.
In summary, worth a look but hardly a Laurel and Hardy essential. 6/10 Bethany Cox
