Brats

I have to give credit to the people who ran the Laurel and Hardy productions; they were quite creative. In one episode the guy's play their own sisters. In this one they play their children as well as the adults. This called for scenes to include furniture and props much bigger than normal. It comes off very well. Of course little Stannie is as big an idiot as his father and the same for the other "little" guy. Of course, they get into big trouble by doing exactly the kinds of things their adult halves would do. There are some really nice scenes of high slapstick. The ending is great. By the way, the wives are away. They are out doing target practice.

This is one of those Laurel and Hardy shorts that you've just got to admire for its novel plot and amazing sets as opposed to how funny it is. This isn't to say the film isn't funny, but the reason most will enjoy it has more to do with the odd plot and cool sets.

Stan and Ollie play dual roles--as themselves and as their young sons! And to do this, some amazing sets needed to be constructed. Identical rooms and props needed to be made--one in normal size and the other about triple normal size to make them look like little kids (probably about four or five years-old). And the film seamlessly switches back and forth! You've just got to admire all the work and final product here.

As far as the humor goes, the film is a bit thinner than the usual film for the duo. While there are gags, most of the time it just consists of the child versions slapping each other around, though occasionally the adult Stan and particular Ollie, get their lumps as well. The very end of the movie is a terrific gag where adult Ollie gets his! Overall, this is a very unique and watchable film that most should enjoy. While not my favorite short, it is still well worth seeing and packs a lot of entertainment.

PS--a continuity problem exists in the film. Stan turns on the water to the tub and the tub seems to fill itself in just a few seconds AND the water turns itself off! While hardly a major mistake, it is rather striking.

Whilst the quite well known 'Our Relations' is the main feature on DVD 5 in the Complete box set, I actually think that much shorter 'Brats' has more of the pair's classic slapstick than the others and is funnier.

'Brats' has Ollie & Stan creating havoc around and on a pool table, whilst the brats in question are two little boys (impish Stan & Ollie again) with everything, including the furniture made much bigger to make them appear small. At one point an animated mouse appears to have been drawn onto the film's negatives, the creature being on Ollie's back whilst Laurel gets a gun to shoot it off. The tiny pair then take a massive bath that overflows, disastrously (of course) then they undertake a boxing match - Stan flailing about with huge boxing gloves always looks funny. Adult Ollie then sings them a lullaby that goes on to sound more like an opera!

The 'Brats' of the title are mini-Laurel and mini-Hardy, working with over-sized props to give the impression of kids into everything from a bathtub to a wooden chest of drawers.

We find their dads playing a game of draughts (with suitable cheating) while the sons cause havoc and noise. After they are banished upstairs, the kids manage to half-wreck the place and set up a predictable, but still funny, pay-off.

For the facial reactions, the clever set-ups, and Mr Hardy's singing (trying in vain to get the tots to sleep), 'Brats' scores high on the comedy list. There's genuinely good stuff in this short.

With their wives out for the night, Laurel and Hardy are left to look after their sons. However, not having enough trouble simply trying to enjoy their games of draughts and pool, the two children are just as much of a handful as their dads.

As with many of their best shorts, the plot here is simple and allows for several extended sequences around the same theme. Here we have several good sequences – none of which would make the short it itself but together they work. The gimmick (for that is what it is) of Laurel and Hardy also playing their sons works quite well – although in the scenes where the adults and children are separate it doesn't really matter who is who as it's very much a case of `like father like son'.

The sequences are nothing you haven't seen before but the delivery of them is good and the short doesn't really dip more than once. That `once' is where Hardy sings. I enjoy his voice and always liked the features where he got more of a chance to sing a proper song, however here it goes on for a little longer than it should. The punch line is good but I really had hoped for more. Because it had been built up for about 3 minutes before it actually arrives I had been pumped up and then was a bit deflated by the actual delivery – but this was a minor flaw as I found the majority to be of their usual standard.

As adults or kids Laurel and Hardy are great. In all honesty there is no significant difference between their delivery as kids or adults but this doesn't matter. This is a fine example of their abilities as the two of them are the only people in the film – they carry the film and hold 100% of screen time. I know this must sound easy in a 20 minutes short but I feel that it only appears easy because they make it all look so effortless.

Overall this may be a little gimmicky but it works very well. I am probably a little jaded seeing adults playing kids etc in one form or another in recent movies but here the film moves past the gimmick and delivers classic Laurel and Hardy – just in two separate strands which come together in a flood of chuckles by the end.