Helpmates

What would you expect from Stan and Ollie when it comes to making home repairs? Yep, absolute chaos and destruction as well as a healthy dose of violence that's highly reminiscent of a Wiley Coyote cartoon. Any normal person would have been killed by all the terrible things that happen to him, but somehow Ollie survives. And, of course, Stanley is about as helpful as an elephant on roller skates. Time and time again, the viewer is rewarded by good old fashioned slapstick that is, at times, painful to watch! While this may not be their absolute best short, it is among their best and well worth your time. Cerebral humor? Nope. But funny? Absolutely.

This is classic Laurel and Hardy. The origin of Dumb and Dumber and an inspiration for generations of comedians and comedy writers, Laurel and Hardy were the masters of complicating easy tasks beyond the point of minor disaster. Often referred to as the fiddle and the bow, this comedy team started in the silent era with slapstick humor. Many of the comedies revolve around the destruction of cars, for which they found many ways to destroy. Upon the coming of the sound era, many silent stars lost work because of voice flaws (see Singin' In The Rain for a great example) or because they could only do visual slapstick comedy. Laurel and Hardy were able to transcend the silent era of slapstick and successfully incorporate witty dialogue in amongst their visual humor.

This two realer is classic as the Boys try and clean up after Ollie's wild party before his wife comes home. The ending of this short comedy has the funniest line of all time. As usual, Laurel and Hardy are their bumbling destructive selves, which of course leads to one laugh right on top of another. As Ollie says in the beginning while looking at himself in the mirror, "I have two words to describe you. Impossible."

Helpmates (1932)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Mrs. Hardy is out of town so Hardy throws a big party. When the wife plans on returning home early Hardy must get Laurel to help him clean the house. Another wonderful short has non-stop laughs from start to finish. There really isn't one skit that sticks out but instead the laughs just build up.

Our Wife (1931)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Hardy and his fiancé have to run off to get married so they get Laurel for help, which of course leads to disaster. There are plenty of wonderful jokes and gags here including the small limousine and the best one when Hardy falls into a cake and brings a lot more with him.

Me and My Pal (1933)

*** (out of 4)

Hardy is about to be married but Laurel gives him a jigsaw puzzle for a wedding gift. The two start working on it and forget all about the wedding. This is more amusing than funny, although the final riot does get plenty of laughs.

This is one hilarious Laurel & Hardy comedy short.

The story is, as always, deliciously simple. Oliver Hardy just had a wild party in his house the other night. The next morning he hears by telegram that his 'lovely' wife shall return from Chicago were she has been with her mother the last couple of days. Of course the house is a total wreck so in all his panic, Oliver calls his good friend Stanley to help to clean the mess up before Oliver's wife gets home. But of course instead of cleaning up, the boys make an even bigger mess.

This is basically the only joke of the movie; the two boys cleaning the mess up. It provides some absolutely hilarious and well executed slapstick sequences. The slapstick moments are amazingly stupid and unlikely but because of that also extremely hilarious. This movie is really filled with great slapstick moments, so fans of slapstick comedy will be absolutely delighted while watching this movie.

This is how I want a Laurel & Hardy movie to be; simple, stupid and filled with well executed slapstick humor.

9/10

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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. 'Helpmates' for me is up there with their best and certainly among their funniest.

Can't really find anything wrong with it, was past caring this time as to whether the story was standard or not because it gets to the point and has a lot of energy throughout, on top of being riotously funny in its best moments. Whoever knew that attempting to clean up a house, something that can be fairly stressful, could be so entertaining?

From start to finish 'Helpmates' is great fun, never less than very amusing and the best moments, such as the ending, 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 as such but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive. A lot happens yet it doesn't ever feel rushed or over-stuffed. The ending is a sheer delight and it contains one of the best and most priceless lines of all Laurel and Hardy.

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 'Helpmates' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'Helpmates' 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 who take the honours here.

In summary, one of Laurel and Hardy's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox