Helpmates

Stan & Ollie are HELPMATES, always ready to assist the other out of a jam. So, with his house a wreck after a wild party and his shrew-of-a-wife returning from her Chicago trip in a few hours, Ollie asks Stan to help him clean-up. Perhaps that wasn't the wisest choice...

A funny little film, with lots of slapstick humor. Once again, one can't help wondering how Ollie could take so many bonks on the head without it damaging him.

"Helpmates" is one of a number of Laurel and Hardy short comedies based on the simple premise of seeing how much damage two men can do in one home in a short time without really trying. This time, Stan is 'helping' Ollie to clean up his house after a wild party, since Ollie's wife is due home soon. There is a lot of creative slapstick as they get into one mess after another. Most of the gags this time are fairly predictable, but are funny because they're done with good timing and the usual humorous mannerisms. Laurel and Hardy fans won't be disappointed by this one.

Finally, at long last, I have stumbled upon a Laurel and Hardy short that perfectly balances slapstick comedy and verbal banter to create a short that is a winning combination of the both, without being too reliant on the former. Helpmates concerns Hardy, who awakens after an evidently-raucous party took place in his apartment, with everything in total disarray and his wife coming home that very day. Hardy - after giving himself quite the hilarious lecture in the mirror - does all he can when he wakes up with a hangover and without a clue; he phones Laurel, who rushes over (after playing the most believable rendition of stupid and witless) to help his longtime pal clean up before the arrival of his wife.

Helpmates is the classic comedy short that derives its humor from the thesis question "just how much can go wrong for these two well-meaning individuals?" So much destruction and chaos is caused by trying to remedy the situation than was in the process of not even caring about the situation or the well-being of the house during the unseen party, it seems. Windows are broken, people are injured, and a cacophony of madness ensues for the boys as they try to do the right thing but end up doing everything completely and totally wrong.

Helpmates delicately balances the insanity with the narratively witty, setting up the short in a "one thing leads to another" manner rather than just having a plethora of ridiculousness cobbled together with no rhyme or reason. There's a structurally insanity to Helpmates that makes it so fun, and the age-old idea of destroying something even more when you're trying to fix it almost never gets old. This is one of the most fun Laurel and Hardy shorts I know, even more so considering it was a recipe for slapstick monotony.

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

Laurel and Hardy showed their greatness in classic shorts such as this. Slapstick with an economy of storytelling.

While the cat's away the mouse comes out to play and this big mouse, Oliver has thrown a party which has left his house in a mess and him with a hangover. Trouble looms as his wife is arriving home from a trip earlier than expected.

Oliver Invites Stan to help him clear up which leads to one disaster to another. Oliver would be lucky if his house is standing upright.

Both are at their bumbling best.

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."