Blu-ray: Laurel & Hardy - The Silent Years (1928)

Eureka’s second volume of Laurel and Hardy shorts catches the pair in 1928 on the cusp of their successful transition to the sound era, two of the 10 films originally released with synchronised sound effects and music.

This works especially well in We Faw Down, though having another actor dub Stan’s laugh is disconcerting. Otherwise, it’s hysterically funny, much of the material reworked five years later in Sons of the Desert, the boys digging themselves into an ever-deeper hole while lying to their improbably glamorous wives about where they spent the previous evening.

There’s some dispute about whose idea it was to team Stan Laurel with Oliver Hardy, producer Hal Roach and director Leo McCarey both claiming credit. The duo’s commercial appeal was clear, though, and they received their first "official" team billing in Should Married Men Go Home?. The partnership looked fully formed at this point, Stan’s disruptive effect on Ollie’s comfortable domestic life clear in the opening scene. Ollie’s doomed attempt to skip over the garden gate is something to savour, and the extended golf club sequence features Roach regular Edgar "slow burn" Kennedy, struggling to retain control of his toupee.

There are lots of ‘firsts’ here: Leave ‘em Laughing contains an early glimpse of the two men sharing a cramped double bed, and The Finishing Touch is the first of their "working man" shorts. Stan was disappointed by the film’s technical and continuity shortcomings, though Ollie’s ingesting a fistful of nails and Stan’s physically impossible carrying of a very long plank had me giggling. We get a perceptive interview with Neil Brand, emphasising that these 1928 films were the first to set the two comedians in, and against a recognisable, real world, and that the gags are better prepared and signposted than before. Try From Soup to Nuts, Stan and Ollie booked as waiters-for-hire at a posh dinner party (their business card reading “All we ask is a chance”). With each appearance of a huge cake comes the realisation that it will either be dropped or fallen into; that the joke is repeated several times doesn’t make it any less funny. Stan is instructed to serve the salad "undressed" – how he does it won’t surprise anyone.

Early to Bed, despite a stellar turn from Buster the dog and an ingenious joke involving a water fountain, falls largely flat. Ollie’s unexpected inheritance prompts him to hire Stan as his butler, and the resultant power imbalance is unconvincing. Much better is You’re Darn Tootin’, boasting a nicely synchronised score from Brand and a trouser-ripping finale, the final seconds including a superb sight gag. Most of these shorts are available for free on YouTube, but this Eureka release presents them in 2K restorations by Burbank’s Blackhawk Films. Extras include a generous selection of commentaries and alternative soundtracks, plus contributions from filmmaker David Cairns and artist Fiona Watson. The booklet is good too: Paul Merton’s succinct, perceptive comments on each short are a fun read, and there are essays by film historians Imogen Sarah Smith and Sheldon Hall. 

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