Hired to sweep the chimney at Professor Noodle's house, the boys wreck the living-room and end-up in the mad scientist's laboratory where they interact with a rejuvenation potion.Hired to sweep the chimney at Professor Noodle's house, the boys wreck the living-room and end-up in the mad scientist's laboratory where they interact with a rejuvenation potion.Hired to sweep the chimney at Professor Noodle's house, the boys wreck the living-room and end-up in the mad scientist's laboratory where they interact with a rejuvenation potion.
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Featured reviews
Chimney sweeps and the mad doctor
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 'Dirty Work' quite one of their very best, but it to me still very good.
Admittedly, the story is pretty thin, in fact there's not really much of one, and is pretty standard.
It was something of a turn off seeing Hardy have an atypically unlikeable character, he does very well but the type of character doesn't suit him, he works better as a bumbler.
Despite that, 'Dirty Work' is great fun while also having a definite degree of substance, never less than very amusing and the best moments 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. It's all simple but it is effective in its simplicity without feeling too thin, Professor Noodle adds lots of fun and conflict. The ending is a little abrupt but great fun as well.
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 'Dirty Work' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable. Hardy is still funny even with a different and not so appealing character.
'Dirty Work' 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 cast support them well, with a fantastically nuts Lucien Littlefield being a terrific adversary.
Concluding, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Bricks on the Head
One of the best of Stan and Ollie's shorts
In this one, Stan and Ollie are chimney sweeps and get the job to clean the chimney at the home of Professor Noodle (Lucien Littlefield). While Noodle is doing mad experiments in his lab, Stan and Ollie cause much chaos trying to clean the chimney and make a mess of the living room. The end is where Ollie falls into a tank of special formula that Noodle uses for his experiments and this turns him into a chimp! The best part is where Ollie falls down the chimney and loads of bricks land on his head, but he doesn't seem to suffer much pain from this.
Dirty Work is Stan and Ollie at their funniest. Great fun.
Rating: 5 stars out of 5.
Timing Bricks
I wonder how much time was spent calculating the exact right moment to drop each brick onto Ollie's head to get maximum laughs as he sits at the bottom of the chimney. Possibly Stan, as he was the creative force in the partnership. If it was him, he got it exactly right. It's a small detail, almost inconsequential, but if it had been mistimed it wouldn't have been half as funny.
The potty professor's sarcastic butler is also pretty funny. 'You'll find it in there, standing against the wall,' he dryly informs Ollie when he enquires as to the whereabouts of the chimney.
"Is this the home of Professor Noodle? We've come to sweep his chimney!"
Our story is set in the home of Professor Noodle, who represents one element of the story-line: a wildly over-the-top parody of Mad Scientist tales. This marks a rare venture into sci-fi territory for L&H; Abbott & Costello and The Three Stooges tangled with mad doctors far more often than Stan and Ollie. In any event, the professor is obsessed with creating a rejuvenating serum that can make people younger, while his sardonic butler, Jessup, expresses skepticism with rolled eyes and the occasional dry quip. Meanwhile, Stan and Ollie are chimney sweeps who show up at the Professor's home the very day he perfects his solution. "Their" portion of the film consists of characteristic (but first-rate) slapstick involving the chimney, the roof, shovels, and a number of unfortunate mishaps. If you don't enjoy watching the boys screw up a task then you probably won't like Dirty Work, but for fans of the team this movie is a feast. The highlight comes when Ollie plummets through the chimney, lands in the fireplace, and is then pummeled with bricks that fall onto his head with maddening, rhythmic precision, one by one. I also like the shot of Ollie tumbling off the roof into a greenhouse; the process work is so rudimentary I suspect it was something of an inside joke, in the way that W.C. Fields' movies would boast the world's worst rear projection screens.
The slapstick stuff is great fun, but it's the mad scientist motif that makes this film memorably offbeat, and two supporting players deserve a tip of the bowler hat: prolific character actor Lucien Littlefield is terrific as Professor Noodle, delivering his overripe lines with relish and cackling with glee, while Sam Adams is a stitch in the less showy role of Jessup the butler. As great as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were in their prime, it's always worth noting that their supporting players at the Hal Roach Studio gave their films an enormous boost. So too, usually, did the background music of Le Roy Shield, but Dirty Work marks a rare occasion from this period that a Roach comedy has no musical accompaniment at all after the opening credits. Mood music might have enhanced the proceedings, but the lack of it is no great flaw. This is a highly enjoyable comedy, a prime example of what made Laurel & Hardy so popular in their day -- and long beyond it.
Did you know
- TriviaThe clouds of chimney soot which engulfs the boys and Jessup was actually powdered chocolate.
- GoofsWhen Ollie falls into the tank and turns into a chimp all his clothes vanish except his hat.
- Quotes
Professor Noodle: [unaware that Jessup is in another part of the house, taking a huge soapy bath to wash off the ashes] Jessup! Jessup!
[coming across Stan and Ollie who are busy sweeping up after cleaning the chimney]
Professor Noodle: Where is Jessup?
Oliver: Jessup? Oh, about 35 miles southwest of Augusta, Georgia.
Professor Noodle: No, no, no - - I mean my butler!
Stan: [innocently] Oh, he went somewhere to look for an electric chair.
Oliver: Is there something we could help you with?
Professor Noodle: Yes! A capital idea! You shall be the first to witness a successful rejuvenation experiment in the entire history of science! And it's mine - - ALL MINE!
[laughs hysterically in a paroxysm of delight]
Professor Noodle: Come here! Come here!
[leads the way to his lab, where the duckling is floating in the rejuvenation tank]
Professor Noodle: Watch! I'm going to rejuvenate this duckling!
[uses the eyedropper to add a couple drops of the dark liquid from the large glass beaker to the water in the tank, causing the water to bubble and churn vigorously. A few seconds later the water quiets down again, and an egg is left floating on the water where the duckling had been]
Professor Noodle: Ha-haaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! SUCCESS! I did it! I did it! And now - - for a HUMAN demonstration!
Oliver: [fearing that the professor means that he wants to use him or Stan for his demonstration] Well - - we'll be seeing you!
Professor Noodle: Don't go - - wait here while I find my butler - - and use HIM for my experiment.
[shouting out the door]
Professor Noodle: Jessup!
[proceeding down the hall]
Professor Noodle: Jessup! Jessup! Jessup? Where are you, Jessup? Jessup!
Stan: What do you think about it?
Oliver: The whole thing looks screwy to me!
Stan: Me, too.
[looks around the lab, and spies a small aquarium with a large goldfish swimming around in it]
Stan: How about us trying it on that fish?
Oliver: That's a good idea! We'll find out for ourselves!
[catches the fish in his hands, then tips it into the rejuvenation tank. Next he picks up the huge glass beaker of dark liquid, and leans the side of the tank to pour some in]
Stan: Be careful how much you put in - - you might make it TOO young!
Oliver: Get me the eyedropper.
[takes the eyedropper from Stan, then leans over the side of the tank again. But - - naturally! - - he loses his balance and tumbles head-first with a loud yelp into the tank, still clutching the huge beaker of dark liquid. So of course, the WHOLE BEAKERFULL of rejuvenation liquid - - over two quarts, by the look of it - - gets added to the tank, instead of just a few drops. The water inside the tank froths and boils and churns furiously, and Ollie thrashes about wildly inside, giving his famous cries and exclamations of horrified distress]
Oliver: Hooooooooooooh- hoh- hoh- hoh- hoh- hoh! Aaaaaaaaaaaa-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah! Ohhhhhhhhhh-oh-oh-oh-oh-aaaaaAAAAAHHCKK!
Stan: [staring at the chimpanzee that has appeared over the edge of the tank and is gazing silently back at him] Ollie - don't you know me? Won't you speak to me?
Oliver: [in a voice-over, as if the chimpanzee is speaking] I have nothing to say.
Stan: [in his typical helpless panicked wail] Oh-ohhh!
- Alternate versionsThere is an Italian edition of this film on DVD, distributed by DNA Srl ("NON ANDIAMO A LAVORARE", Various Shorts on a single DVD). The film has been re-edited with the contribution of film historian Riccardo Cusin. This version is also available for streaming on some platforms.
- ConnectionsEdited into Dance of the Cookoos (1982)
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- Also known as
- Trabajo sucio
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- Runtime
- 19m
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1