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This film is 90 years ahead of its time. One of the funniest things I've ever seen, and I am an avid comedy nerd that inhales the stuff.
The setup is basic. Laurel and Hardy are sat at home watching their respective sons while their wives are out ("at target practice," reveals a helpful intertitle). It's never made clear if they live together or are just teaming up for this one evening. In any part, the genius bit is still to come.
The boys are playing a bit of checkers and engaging in some typical shenanigans. Noise from the boys stirs their attention and, right as they turn to see the boys the camera cuts to - Laurel and Hardy dressed as little children surrounded by massive furniture. Hal Roach Studios apparently built giant furniture for several rooms to give the impression that L&H are, indeed, tiny. It's a stunning achievement, particularly in scenes in a bathroom with a giant tub, sink, and toilet. At points, the backdrop looks like film or green screen or whatever that was called in 1930, only to have L&H reach into what looks like a painting and pull out a three-dimensional object. It is truly stunning. At two other points the boys, fighting, throw an object at the other who ducks - cut to L&H as adults, one getting hit in the head with the object. Extraordinarily creative - visionary in fact.
If that weren't enough, the bits themselves are nothing short of hilarious. The brat's antics are virtually identical to their larger counterparts - Stan Laurel's wonderful nervous whine translates especially well - and two sets of L&H means at least double the jokes.
Yet despite the device, the best bit in the entire film is a simple one in which L&H play pool and mix up a marshmallow and a pool cue. The entire story circle plays itself out on their faces. It is a masterful comic performance.
There are far too many hilarious bits to recount them all. I'll just say that there is an escalating series of incidents that build the comic suspense and lead to a surprising resolution that shouldn't be surprising at all.
Every fan of comedy needs to see this. Genius is a word often overused when describing art - and comedy in particular. It belongs here.
The setup is basic. Laurel and Hardy are sat at home watching their respective sons while their wives are out ("at target practice," reveals a helpful intertitle). It's never made clear if they live together or are just teaming up for this one evening. In any part, the genius bit is still to come.
The boys are playing a bit of checkers and engaging in some typical shenanigans. Noise from the boys stirs their attention and, right as they turn to see the boys the camera cuts to - Laurel and Hardy dressed as little children surrounded by massive furniture. Hal Roach Studios apparently built giant furniture for several rooms to give the impression that L&H are, indeed, tiny. It's a stunning achievement, particularly in scenes in a bathroom with a giant tub, sink, and toilet. At points, the backdrop looks like film or green screen or whatever that was called in 1930, only to have L&H reach into what looks like a painting and pull out a three-dimensional object. It is truly stunning. At two other points the boys, fighting, throw an object at the other who ducks - cut to L&H as adults, one getting hit in the head with the object. Extraordinarily creative - visionary in fact.
If that weren't enough, the bits themselves are nothing short of hilarious. The brat's antics are virtually identical to their larger counterparts - Stan Laurel's wonderful nervous whine translates especially well - and two sets of L&H means at least double the jokes.
Yet despite the device, the best bit in the entire film is a simple one in which L&H play pool and mix up a marshmallow and a pool cue. The entire story circle plays itself out on their faces. It is a masterful comic performance.
There are far too many hilarious bits to recount them all. I'll just say that there is an escalating series of incidents that build the comic suspense and lead to a surprising resolution that shouldn't be surprising at all.
Every fan of comedy needs to see this. Genius is a word often overused when describing art - and comedy in particular. It belongs here.
