Topic: Their Purple Moment (1928) - Laurel and Hardy

[metaldams]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019465/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_162_Their-Purple-Moment
http://laurelandhardycentral.com/purple.html


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ArBfgzlNcns

Watch THEIR PURPLE MOMENT in the link above



      Again, we're talking a short I've seen before maybe only once or twice and not in a long time until now.  I continue to be very impressed by these early Laurel and Hardy silents and their brilliant writing.  THEIR PURPLE MOMENT is also a thematically very interesting short in that it explores the baser sides of both sexes in relationships.  The wives of Stan and Ollie are very blatant in their lust of the money their husbands earn and it is to the point where they literally do not allow their husbands to keep a single cent to themselves.  The husbands are no better, as they go out, carouse with young women, and lie to their wives about it.  There's even an older busy body gossiping lady in town who rats out Stan and Ollie to their wives.  It's funny because I know a woman like her, I know husbands like Stan and Ollie, I know wives like the ones in this short.  Also, the young women Stan and Ollie persue, the pursuing is mutual.  Why?  It's because they are under the impression Stan and Ollie have money as their previous meal tickets didn't come through. Exploiting the tragedy of human nature sometimes makes for the best comedy, as the line between laughter and tragedy can be very thin.  THEIR PURPLE MOMENT is a great example of this.

      Some random highlights of this short for me...well, there are some close-ups of Stan in this short that are priceless.  When they are sitting at the table in the bowling al...er, night club, and Stan realizes they don't have money to pay for this expensive night out, they have long camera shots of Stan's horrified, deer in the headlights, crying face.  Just a perfect comic face expressing his sadness.  I can hear Stan's cries, and this goes back to what I was saying in the previous thread, I know what Stan sounds like here.  You guys who have never seen a talking Laurel and Hardy film may get a different reaction than me.  Another classic close-up is Stan with the bowl of pudding over his head, another shot they wisely hold for a while.  Heck, the whole ending food fight at the end rules.  The busy body gossiping lady landing in one of those great Hal Roach mud puddles is also great, and any excuse for a close up of Anita Garvin batting those big beautiful eyes is alright by me.

      Another very pleasant surprise in our Laurel and Hardy journey.  10/10

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Metal, bless you for knowing these films, and I wish it were otherwise but I've never seen this, nor You're Darn Tootin, nor, truly , any of the L&H silents except for Two Tars, Big Business , and  The Finishing Touch. , but that's about     I, for one, can comment on  Tights, Big Business, and Tars.  I hope that many others can commentate as we go along, But, as amusing as I find them, I have simply not seen enough of them to comment intelligently.

[metaldams]

Maybe somebody will gain interest in Laurel and Hardy from these reviews down the road or maybe some fan later on will discover a body of reviews to read and at the very least, the reviews give me an excuse to watch these chronologically, which has been fun.  Thanks for reading them, though, that's good enough for me.

[luke795]

I am not a big fan of silent films.  I have seen all of the Laurel and Hardy silent shorts that were released on the Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy DVDs.  I have not seen this short in a long time until today.  My favorite part of this short is the food fight at the end.

[Signor Spumoni]

This is the first time I saw this.  L & H were, naturally, absolute masters of facial expressions, and those are what I love about this short.  From their downcast faces when their overbearing wives demand all their paychecks, to their crafty looks when they come up with a plan to out smart the wives an so on, then Stan's and Olly's faces as they realize what deep trouble they're in, and all the way to the end - - nonpareil!

When I saw the family portrait on Stan's wall, I knew something would come of it, but I never expected it to be a safe.    That was good.  I got a laugh out of the way they walked down the sidewalk in one direction, then came back on the trail of they SYTs (sweet young things) who went the other direction, then did an about-fave smartly when they were spotted.

I laughed again when the cabby wrenched the fare box out of the taxi and set it on the table and it was still running.  Then Olly grandly invites him to join them, and that was good, especially as Stan is dying in his seat, now aware of their financial situation.

My complaint is that the ending is anti-climactic.  The pastry warfare was good so far as it went, but it just ended suddenly, as if the camera ran out of film.  I would have liked a resolution; perhaps the wives would have been forced to pay with the money confiscated from Stan followed by a Benny Hill-style chase with everyone going after The Boys.

Thanks for posting about this one.  I love silents, and this was a pleasure.

[metaldams]

I am not a big fan of silent films.  I have seen all of the Laurel and Hardy silent shorts that were released on the Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy DVDs.  I have not seen this short in a long time until today.  My favorite part of this short is the food fight at the end.

You're not the first one on here to mention disliking silent films.  It's funny, we all can make the jump to black and white, which most people these days can't, but silence is even further a leap, I guess.  I guess my freakdom is even more special.   

Thanks for commenting.

[metaldams]

This is the first time I saw this.  L & H were, naturally, absolute masters of facial expressions, and those are what I love about this short.  From their downcast faces when their overbearing wives demand all their paychecks, to their crafty looks when they come up with a plan to out smart the wives an so on, then Stan's and Olly's faces as they realize what deep trouble they're in, and all the way to the end - - nonpareil!

When I saw the family portrait on Stan's wall, I knew something would come of it, but I never expected it to be a safe.    That was good.  I got a laugh out of the way they walked down the sidewalk in one direction, then came back on the trail of they SYTs (sweet young things) who went the other direction, then did an about-fave smartly when they were spotted.

I laughed again when the cabby wrenched the fare box out of the taxi and set it on the table and it was still running.  Then Olly grandly invites him to join them, and that was good, especially as Stan is dying in his seat, now aware of their financial situation.

My complaint is that the ending is anti-climactic.  The pastry warfare was good so far as it went, but it just ended suddenly, as if the camera ran out of film.  I would have liked a resolution; perhaps the wives would have been forced to pay with the money confiscated from Stan followed by a Benny Hill-style chase with everyone going after The Boys.

Thanks for posting about this one.  I love silents, and this was a pleasure.

You're right about Stan and Ollie's faces, arguably the best in all of comedy.  I consider this more a Stan short versus Ollie short as far as that goes, but yeah, it does balance out in other shorts.  The scene where they make the sudden turn with the "PYTs" is great.  I'm glad you mentioned it, because I didn't.

[Paul Pain]

There's just not to mention in this film... I just... don't like it... It's just not comedy, not even as an analysis of a comedic climax of a tragedy.  I guess it's farfetched for me because people of Stan and Laurel's characters as in this would never be married to women like that in the first place.

Ouch!

[metaldams]

There's just not to mention in this film... I just... don't like it... It's just not comedy, not even as an analysis of a comedic climax of a tragedy.  I guess it's farfetched for me because people of Stan and Laurel's characters as in this would never be married to women like that in the first place.

Ouch!

When you say say women, "like that," what do you mean specifically?  Cold hearted gold diggers, or just unbelievable they'd be married in the first place?

[Paul Pain]

When you say say women, "like that," what do you mean specifically?  Cold hearted gold diggers, or just unbelievable they'd be married in the first place?

Both, but especially the former.  Stan and Ollie are chumps, but I think the Stooges do a better job of playing the married man, especially in PARDON MY CLUTCH

[metaldams]

Both, but especially the former.  Stan and Ollie are chumps, but I think the Stooges do a better job of playing the married man, especially in PARDON MY CLUTCH

With the exception of one bemused look by one of the wives in PARDON MY CLUTCH, the wives are just props in that short.  The Stooges don't have much to work off of, not that it's needed, it's a funny short as is.  Whether you think they're appropriate or not to Laurel and Hardy, at least the wives are fleshed out characters here. Now in all fairness, my ten rating may be a bit too kind, as you'll rarely see THEIR PURPLE MOMENT mentioned as a classic.  I enjoy it just the same, but it's not for everyone.

However, the idea of Laurel and Hardy being married, while not happening in all of their films coming up, certainly takes place in a lot of them, including SONS OF THE DESERT, their most famous feature.  If you watch that one and still say Laurel and Hardy in a domestic situation doesn't work, then married Laurel and Hardy films truly aren't for you.

[Paul Pain]

We shall see about that, my friend.  In SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME, Ollie's marriage worked just fine.  This one and WE FAW DOWN just seemed a bit... forced.  Yes, the wives have characters of their own, but the marriage is forced.

[metaldams]

We shall see about that, my friend.  In SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME, Ollie's marriage worked just fine.  This one and WE FAW DOWN just seemed a bit... forced.  Yes, the wives have characters of their own, but the marriage is forced.

Funny you should mention this.  After I made my post, I then remembered saying you like SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME, which has some great marriage stuff in the beginning.  You're right, we shall see, but my gut is saying you'll like SONS OF THE DESERT.

[Umbrella Sam]

I guess I'm in the middle on this short. On the one hand, I do have to agree with Paul on the relationship aspect of this short, in that it is hard to consider this couple being married in the first place. In SONS OF THE DESERT, I at least get the feeling that there is some love in their relationships. The wives are genuinely concerned when they think the boys have died and Ollie's wife also shows concern when he is pretending to be unwell. Here, I get the feeling that the wives only care about the money. To be fair, Stan and Ollie are taking out other women behind their backs, so it's not like their punishment is unwarranted.

Even without this element, I still do find it weaker than previous shorts. There are funny moments such as Stan and Ollie throwing the wallet around or Stan and Ollie's faces as they wait for their impending doom. We also get another mud puddle, although this time the gossip avoids it first before falling into it. Unfortunately, I just don't think it's nearly as funny as some of Stan and Ollie's other works.

Signor brings up an interesting point about the ending, a problem I also had with the short. I just recently began reading the book Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy, and the author pointed out that in the original script the ending was different. Stan and Ollie joined the group that was performing there and they were chased out of the club both by their wives and the women they were taking out. On the one hand, this would have explained the point of the two women making threats earlier in the short, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee that it would have been funnier, especially since a lot of this sequence revolved around Stan and Ollie in drag.

Nevertheless, this is the weakest short I've seen so far, not including the pre-team shorts. It's not bad by any means, but the writing could have been a little better.

6 out of 10

[Dr. Mabuse]

"Dedicated to husbands who 'hold out' part of their pay envelope on their wives — and live to tell about it."

One of the duo's lesser-known shorts, "Their Purple Moment" finds Laurel and Hardy in classic form. The Boys' first domestic comedy is beautifully timed and consistently funny. Stan's ingenious use of a family portrait remains among the great L&H moments. Producer Robert Youngson showcased a memorable abridgement in his 1970 silent-film anthology "4 Clowns." Nevertheless, it's preferable to watch the original two-reeler with a vintage score.

9/10

[HomokHarcos]

I love how even though Laurel and Hardy are holding out money from their wives, they are still portrayed sympathetically as it is implied that their wives are greedy and won't let Stan and Ollie keep any of their money. The hidden money in the picture frame is excellent, especially the fact that Stan and Ollie are unaware that their wives know about the location!

They go to have a night out and of course find more women who are just using them for money. This time at a restaurant setting. The trope where they see men get beat up for not being able to pay and think to themselves "luckily that won't happen to us" is used here. Anita Garvin is one of the women, who usually is a great foil for Stan. The peak of this short is when Stan is very nervous because he realizes they don't have any money, while Ollie keeps ordering more. What I noticed is that the women in this film are on the receiving end of the slapstick quite a bit, following into a mud puddle, slipping on the floor and falling down and getting food thrown on them.

It's amazing how much chemistry Stan and Ollie have together, when you consider that they were made for the movies. Most of the other great comedy duos spent years on the stage previously.