http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_172_Men-O-Warhttp://www.laurelandhardycentral.com/me war.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020161/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x24v5zi_men-o-war-b-w-1929-laurel-hardy_shortfilmsWatch MEN O' WAR in the link above
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MAnLAnK_LnoWatch Abbott and Costello do a similar cafe sketch in the link above
First off, the guys from the laurelandhardycentral.com site linked above do a wonderful job with their write up on this one, so some of what I say will be echoed there. Still, I will try my best to add a Metaldams flavor, for better or worse.
OK, third talkie in, and easily the best one so far. The undergarment gag and soda fountain gag are truly talking gags, and they are done well. They are not gratuitous talking gags like in previous shorts where they are obviously trying to show off for the sake of sound. Here, there is situational dialogue going on that displays actual character, and we will be seeing much more of this in the future.
The short starts out with the undergarment gag, and in 2015, it's one of those scenarios where I'm glad older films exist as they are a window to a different time. I like the creative little set up of the undergarment falling out of the women's laundry basket, onto the ground, and one of the girls, unbeknownst to her, steps over it, making Stan and Ollie think she, er um.....lost them. Turns out in reality she did lose something, a pair of gloves, which leads to a hysterical exchange of the boys trying to get the girl to describe what she lost. The cop showing up with the real gloves saves the boys some embarrassment, but this is a pleasant gag that you can file under pre-code, and the only type of fascinating bit you'd see 1929 - 1934. Too risqué for the code era, not risqué enough after. I love this stuff. By the way, that undergarment? No way a girl today wears that. That's something Little Bo Beep would wear. Those girls today would be wearing a little thong which fails to conceal whatever tattoo it is they got just above. Like I said, a fascinating window into another world. Oh, have to mention the bicyclist saying, "Naughty, naughty" and then falling into the pond. Funny stuff!
The soda fountain scene, classic stuff! Done much better here with sound than in the silent SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME? This scene needs actual voices and vocal inflections, not title cards, to work. Stan Laurel, for the first time, seems comfortable in a dialogue situation and I was laughing loudly at his innocent, sheepish way of ordering a soda when he wasn't supposed to. The talks and slapstick scenarios with Ollie in this scene are top notch. By the way, Abbott and Costello did this same routine a few times much later on (one example linked above), notice the difference. With Stan and Ollie, the slapstick is relatively gentle and they oversell, which makes a funny comic effect. With Bud and Lou, there is no overselling, Bud, for lack of better term to do it justice, slaps the shit out of Lou. Lou takes it like a trooper, and for the record, I appreciate both interpretations. Still, Laurel and Hardy, for a slapstick comedy team, have a much gentler, friendlier approach than The Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello which definitely makes for a unique dynamic. Also worth mentioning are the wonderful reactions of Jim Finlayson in this scene, no doubt giving birth to Homer Simpson with his gentle "Doh!"
The row boat scene, first off, when they go around in circles trying to row the thing, that's exactly what happens when I row a boat. Like in BERTH MARKS, pure physical comedy scenes aren't yet mastered with the limitations of camera early on in sound, but there is an improvement. A vast one, actually. When it's just Stan, Ollie, and the always wonderful Charlie Hall, things are great. Love the way Ollie sells the pillow shot, again, a great example of him overselling a little hit, which I find hysterical. However, once too many people get involved in the fracas, the camera becomes overcrowded and not much happens. Unlike BERTH MARKS, this does not last for five minutes, thankfully.
A big improvement, and the next few get even better! 9/10
