User reviews

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.

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.

This is a rather enjoyable short Laurel & Hardy picture with again a story divided in two parts, that are both good and enjoyable in their own way.

Problem with some of the Laurel & Hardy pictures is that the movies that are divided in two separate parts are not the best or most consistent ones, due to the fact that often the one part is better than the other. In this case both parts of the movie have their own certain charm and entertainment value and they go very well together.

The first part is fun and a bit slapstick like and features some good old fashioned snowball fights. To be honest in the second part nothing really happens but it's hilarious nevertheless, due to the very fine comedy execution from director James Parrott and actors Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It makes both parts solid and should more than please the fans.

8/10

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Laurel and Hardy are busking on the cold streets during the cruel winter of 1929. They are making very little money out of it but there luck appears to change when they find a wallet loaded with cash. A thief tries to steal it from them but a kind policeman helps them out. In return for his help the duo take him for a big steak lunch.

This film starts quite well with the duo out in the cold playing music for cash. However the jokes are repeated even if a quite short period of time and this causes it to stall a little early on. The latter stages are funny and (although it is quite obvious) I didn't see the ending coming quite like it did! The snowball fights are amusing but just do go on for too long in my opinion.

The cast are good and feature quite a few Laurel and Hardy regulars. Laurel and Hardy themselves are good but Hardy overdoes his `looks to camera' by wasting them on minor things rather than holding them back for the bigger laughs. Laurel is good but has less to do.

Overall this is an enjoyable short in two parts – both of which are funny albeit one is easier to enjoy than the other.

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.

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.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. Didn't find 'Below Zero' as one of their best and a bit disappointing compared to their late 1928 and the best of their 1929 efforts, which were among their best and funniest early work. It is still very good and has much of what makes Laurel and Hardy's work as appealing as it is.

The story is extremely slight and the first part takes a little bit too time to get going and is a little formulaic.

When 'Below Zero' does get going, which it does do quite quickly, it is great fun, not always hilarious but never less than very amusing, the best being classic hilarity. It is never too silly, there is a wackiness that never loses its energy and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be new but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive.

Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'Below Zero' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'Below Zero' looks good visually, is full of energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. The supporting players are solid, but it's Laurel and Hardy's show all the way.

Overall, very good. Not essential or classic Laurel and Hardy, but a very good representation of them. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Laurel and Hardy are the two worst street musicians in the world. They think they've had a bit of luck when they find a well stuffed wallet. Soon, however, the rightful owner of the wallet shows up.

The first part is among the best of Laurel and Hardy, all woebegone reaction to the vicissitudes that an uncaring winter's day can throw at them. Blind men are more perceptive, everyone's a music critic. Even when things seem to be turning their way, it's just fortune turning them around to kick them in the pants. No wonder they're friends. They have no one to depend on. Even the audience laughs at them.

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" 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.

Call me crazy ("Hey, crazy!") but I never enjoyed silent era films. I tried, oh I tried, but each time an actor's mouth moved there was nothing but an awkward silence. Then after what seemed too lengthy of a wait, a placard flashed on the TV screen, reflecting what the actor had just said moments before. I found this to be very distracting, plus it slowed down the natural comedic timing. This lapse between action and dialog, for me, was like watching an entire movie subtitled, and I couldn't square the two up.

That being said, I didn't watch any of the short and feature length "TV reruns" unless they were "talkies." As a kid who was fortunate enough to have a tiny black and white TV set in my bedroom, every Saturday morning before my parents or the Sun were up, I was thoroughly mesmerized by the vaudevillian, overtly physical humor of Buster Keaton, Our Gang (The Little Rascals), The Three Stooges, and of course, Laurel & Hardy.

The first Our Gang (The Little Rascals) talkie was "Small Talk" released in 1929. Buster Keaton's first talkie was "Free and Easy," released in 1930. The Three Stooges (Larry, Moe and Curly) most recognized talkie was The Woman Haters (1934). "Unaccustomed As We Are," released worldwide in 1929, was Laurel and Hardy's film debut with sound. It was an immediate hit with audiences.

Unlike many of their silent film era contemporaries who couldn't make the transition from silent to sound film, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy effortlessly slipped into this new media. Both actors had the rare gift of "comedic timing," and the duo knew how to thoroughly exploit sight gags. Moreover, lovable Hardy routinely broke the "fourth wall" of film, and after each hilarious yet tragic gag, he would often look straight at the camera as if to say, "Can you believe what just happened to me?"

Below Zero (1931) was Laurel and Hardy's 8th sound movie. Like the first seven, it is a short. The setting represents what the 1929 Great Depression must have looked like. The film opens with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy playing sidewalk musicians. Ollie plays a large, out of tune, stand up bass while Stan plays a small and battered organ (which gets a lot more buttered later in the film). The boys aren't earning any money and it's snowing hard, very hard. Luckily, Ollie finds an abandoned wallet in the street and it's full of cash (credit cards hadn't been invented yet). A shady looking thief sees them with the wallet and follows them. The boys bump into a policeman who promptly chases the thief away (in the Spanish version the policeman actually shoots the thief, presumably hitting him). To thank the policeman for protecting them, Stan and Ollie treat the officer to a "big juicy steak" at a restaurant, but when it comes time to pay there is a gigantic problem with the wallet and its contents.

This comedy short is brilliantly choreographed by two of the arguably most iconic comedic teams in history, and they are supported by a wonderful set of familiar actors who would often appear in many future Laurel & Hardy shorts and feature length films.

No spoilers here as usual, but I will reveal that the initials on the stolen wallet are "FH." These are the actual initials of Frank Holliday, the actor playing the part of the policeman whose wallet is missing.

By the time of the release of BELOW ZERO (1930), the public was well aware of just what Laurel & Hardy's voices sounded like. Unlike other Comedians, Tragedians and Comedy Teams, the Boys took the New Era of Sound Films all in stride. Unlike others whose voices were deemed to be inconsistent with their screen image, and hence unfit to be used in the Talkies. There would be no going back from this point.

So we now had the Laurel & Hardy'modus operandi, which had been developing for about 4 years by this time. But now we can hear them; laughing, crying and delivering some very fine humor. Verbal humor would be added to the battery of Big Humor Guns. And, thank your Lucky Stars; the voices fit their visual images.

As for our film, we first have to comment on the chosen setting. BELOW ZERO, though it was undoubtedly filmed at Hal Roach Studios in Culver City (?), in Suburban Los Angeles, sunny Southern California. But it really felt Cold!! The falling 'snow', the 'snow' on the ground, the ice topped rain barrels all appears to be the McCoy! And, Brother, here in Chicago, we do know our ice, snow, sleet and slush.

The boys are cast as street musicians who are out on this particular Winter day, bravely and persistently hanging in there. They continually seem to be starting the same tune over and over again, Stanley on the Keyboard and Ollie plunking the Bass Fiddle to the tune of "In the Good, Old Summertime!" And all the while that they played, the snow kept falling, the Winter wind kept a blowin' and their teeth kept a chatterin'.' The one actually opening gag about their playing so long and compiling no gratuities; only to find that they were camped right in front of this one building. Though there was plenty of pedestrian traffic, they all seemed to just ignore the Boys. It was only when they decided to move on; Ollie discovered the placard on the one building which read: "Deaf and Dumb Institute!" This may seem a trifle in bad taste to us; and has been criticized by many. Especially today in our world of Political Correctness, where everyone seems so up tight about everything! In BELLOW ZERO the gang at Hal Roach Studios did a fine job of putting in the right ingredients into the mix. We see the boys engaged in some sort of work and no doing so well. We have the usual interplay, give and take between them. We have their getting in trouble with some tough hood, only to have the Cop come to their aid. But it seems that Laurel & Hardy usually go afoul of the Law and in this they do not disappoint. Finally they get into trouble with the tough restaurateur, ultimately winding it all up with favourite ploy, the Sight Gag, and then it's fade out, music, ending credits.

With the release of BELOW ZERO, the team now had a sound short to use as a barometer for all subsequent Sound Shorts.

I had BELOW ZERO on VHS as a kid, in a compilation with a few other Laurel & Hardy efforts. This one always stuck with me so that I went back to it over and over. Maybe it was the snowy setting, the relentless cold and misery that made it stand out from the rest.

Watching it again recently, I was impressed how well it stands up today. The slapstick humour hasn't dated one bit, and the sight gags are top notch (the bit with Stan in the water barrel is hilarious). The continuity is strong throughout, Ollie plays the exasperated side of things well (he could sometimes come across as a bit mean, but not here) and Stan is as loveably dumb as ever.

In amidst all the pitfalls, snowball fights and screw-ups, my favourite joke of all comes when the pair realise where they've been performing and why they aren't making any money. It's a beautifully understated moment with that one look from Ollie to the camera that says it all.

Although the subject of this short is particularly grim, I find myself constantly drawn to it. It has a certain minimalist attraction...very little dialogue and no underscoring(probably because of it being a relatively early sound subject and also so as not interfere with the boy's own music-making), and bleak and austere snow-driven sets. Stan and Ollie truly become victims of their dire circumstances and it is only the bizarre physical distortion at the end(Laurel was quite fond of such endings) that takes us out of our reality and back into theirs.

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.

It's BELOW ZERO and the Boys' attempt to make some money as sidewalk musicians has proven to be a spectacular failure. Then Stan finds a wallet loaded with cash lying in the snow...

A funny early talkie. Highlight: the snowball fight. That's Charlie Hall as the street cleaner & Frank Holliday as the friendly cop. Ollie sings `In The Good Old Summertime.'

Below Zero has all the components of a genius Laurel and Hardy short: for one, it's not burdened by its length in any way, it features a nice balance of situational humor and slapstick comedy, has a few inclusions of some fun special and practical effects, and never becomes dry or tiresome in its material. It's one of the funniest shorts by the men I have yet to see.

Laurel and Hardy are a couple of petty street musicians, performing in subzero weather and not even making a dime. When they are informed by a police officer (Laurel and Hardy regular Frank Holliday) that they are in a crime-ridden area, the two decide to treat the police officer to lunch at the finest restaurant. It isn't until they finish their meal and are acquainted with the bill do they realize a grave mishap has happened that could only infer false intentions.

Below Zero, in a way, feels like a satire of manners for this time period. By today's standards, even at their most foolish, Laurel and Hardy always use gentlemanly, proper language, but when they are out to lunch with the police officer, such language transcends the boundaries of self-parody, which is funny in its own right. Something about the brazen silliness of Below Zero combined with its uncanny ability to be so formal provides for a very tongue-in-cheek edge to Laurel and Hardy I'm not sure I've witnessed before.

The short also is helped by some uproariously funny situational humor, specifically the ending and the very beginning, when Laurel and Hardy discover why they have yet to make a dime despite performing for two hours. All of this, encapsulated in a zealous pace with two charismatic men at the forefront, makes Below Zero so charming and watchable and among one of the finer shorts of the Laurel and Hardy lot.

Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and Frank Holliday. Directed by: James Parrott.

Below Zero must have struck a poignant note with Depression audiences as it opens with Laurel and Hardy trying to earn some kind of living as street entertainers during the dead of winter. For too many people it was real.

And it was also real that these two had no outerwear of any kind. It was a great visual affect with both Stan and Ollie wearing their usual attire and Ollie looked especially ridiculous in a suit jacket that was way too small that he could barely button.

Anyway after they annoy some folks with their rendition of In The Good Old Summertime, a particularly inappropriate choice of music for the occasion their instruments get smashed. But as luck would have it they find a wallet with cash in it and decide to share their good fortune with a cop who chased away someone who tried to take the wallet from them.

After which the boys and the cop played by Frank Holliday decide to eat at Tiny Sandford's establishment which has a strict policy on deadbeats. During dinner Stan gets off a few remarks showing how unsophisticated he is in regard to fine dining to which Ollie properly asks, "where was you brung up?"

It all blows up in their faces and the boys do face the wrath of Sandford the proprietor. It ends with Stan thrown in a rain barrel of freezing water and when Ollie gets him out, let's just say the sight of Stan and how he avoided drowning is one of the best visual gags I've ever seen in a Laurel and Hardy film.

Below Zero is one of their best short subjects.