It is a typical
product of Hal Roach’s studio, which produced comedies with a much less frantic
pace than his competitor Mack Sennett. This film stars a relatively young Stan
Laurel before his successful pairing with Oliver Hardy. Stan was English and a
member of famous Fred Karno English music hall troupe that also gave Charlie
Chaplin to the cinematic world. An experienced comedian even before entering
films, he was in Hal Roach comedies for a while before working with American
comedian Oliver Hardy.
Even though this
short has a less frantic style than many of its counterparts, it is, however, a
bit more physical and fast even compared to other films produced by Roach. In
this film we can also see some witty intertitles, a standard practice in films
by Hal Roach studios, which had some quite funny ones.
Every gag the
scenery could provide was employed in this film, for instance with fruits,
machinery, facilities, etc.
An institution
of silent comedies is also evident in one of the characters. A crazy fake
moustache, which also emphasizes who menacing the man is.
Some people might
think it is a poorly produced film, but it is not true. We must have in mind
that those “bread and butter” comedy shorts were highly popular during silent
era and studios kept a steady and growing output of them to meet audiences’
demands. Some studios even produced those shorts on a weekly basis.
Further reading
and materials:
1. Stan Without Ollie: The Stan Laurel Solo
Films, 1917-1927 by Ted Okuda,James L. Neibaur http://books.google.com.br/books?id=HzjOf7hxTPYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=stan+without+ollie&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ei=Ic-lUoKdNaqnsQT5w4HYAQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=stan%20without%20ollie&f=false
This is the only Stan Laurel solo short that makes me really laugh. The slapstick is so inventive. And it's relentless! One thing after another. The part where he's trying to close that overflowing apple box cracks me up every time I see it.
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