Tit for Tat

For fans of Laurel and Hardy, this is a classic short. Others might be less impressed by this war of destruction between the pair and their next-door neighbor, Charlie Hall. It's all based on childish insults that cross the line when they start tearing up each other's stores.

It's simple and direct physical comedy in the best tradition of L&H and their slapstick brand of comedy. A running gag has someone pilfering their store whenever they go next-door to wreck havoc on their neighbor. Naturally, they never notice a thing, even when he loads all their wares in a truck by the curb.

Mae Busch is the wife about whom Charlie Hall becomes jealous. When Oliver gets tossed onto their window ledge by one of Laurel's gaffes, he's helped inside the woman's bedroom by the woman herself. Coming down the stairs, he utters a line that clearly got by the censors: "I've never been in that position before!" Any wonder the husband goes into a jealous rage? Funny stuff, tailor-made and simple story that provides plenty of slapstick moments you won't forget.

Revisitng Laurel and Hardy's films it's surprising to see that the practice of slipping in a few adult references for the grown-ups wasn't the idea of the makers of full-length 90s cartoon films. As other reviewers have mentioned, Ollie's comment to Mae Busch, the wife of the diminutive neighbouring shopkeeper with whom he is embroiled in the 'tit for tat' feud of the title, is clearly a deliberate double-entendre that somehow slipped by the censors as, no doubt, it would have any watching children. There's a similar sight gag in County Hospital that is quite subtle by comparison but no doubt just as deliberate.

Anyway, this one's pretty good. It's a sequel to the previous year's Them Thar Hills which introduced us to the memorable song lyric Pom Pom and it probably just shades that one for laughs. The boys were at the top of their game in the mid-thirties thanks to sharp, well-paced shorts like these and some of the touches here are truly first-class.

This is certainly one of the best L & H shorts because unlike most of the others there`s little in the way of an episodic feel and it has a continuity with THEM THAR HILLS . What makes memorable to me is the innuendo involved when Ollie comes down the stairs with the grocer`s wife and laughs " I`ve never been in a position like that before " I was totally shocked , Oliver Hardy comes out of a bedroom , down a flight of stairs and exclaims " I`ve never been in a position like that before " Of course there`s an innocent explanation for all this but it`s unbelievable the censors allowed this type of innuendo to be used in 1935 . I would have loved to have seen this at a cinema when it was first released just so I could see if anyone picked up on the ambiguity of Oliver`s statement

With a fine combination of both obvious and subtle laughs, "Tit For Tat" is one of the funniest Laurel & Hardy short comedies. It is a follow up to "Them Thar Hills", and it plays off of the memorable confrontation scene with Charlie Hall in the earlier movie - this time, Stan and Ollie open up an electrical supply store, only to find out that Charlie runs the grocery store next door. It doesn't take much for a full-scale battle to break out once again. It's very funny creative chaos - they make full use of the props in the two stores, and there is plenty of hilarious slapstick along with some more subtle humor (for example, watch for the running gag each time they go next door). Not to be missed for fans of these master comics.

Those who have seen a lot of Laurel and Hardy will most likely see that this movie isn't especially original. The plot involving an argument gone awry with the neighboring shop keeper is very reminiscent of their silent film, BIG BUSINESS except in this case they are arguing and becoming VERY destructive with Charlie Hall instead of James Finlayson AND there is the plot element of the jealous husband that was added to TIT FOR TAT. But, despite this lack of originality, the movie is still great fun and it is absolutely wonderful watching the 3 men literally destroy each other's businesses over absolutely nothing! This movie is certainly a sight to behold as their behavior gets more and more and more out of control as the film progresses!