Topic: Dirty Work (1933) - Laurel and Hardy

[metaldams]

http://www.laurelandhardycentral.com/dirtwork.html
http://www.lordheath.com/menu1_231.html

      Another short where the boys get into manual labor and really screw things up.  Would we want it any other way?  The catch is we get a mad scientist motif thrown in, played wonderfully over the top by Lucien Littlefield.  Some fans don't dig this, but I do.  This was made right in the middle of the first great sound horror cycle, what I feel to be the greatest era of horror movies from 1931 - 1936.  Surely, audiences of the day would know the somewhat over the top portrayals of the red herrings in DOCTOR X, Bela Lugosi in CHANDU THE MAGICIAN, Boris Karloff in MASK OF FU MANCHU, and most famously Colin Clive in FRANKENSTEIN.  Well, Littlefield is more over the top than any of them, comically so, to the point where he is literally pointing in Stan and Ollie's face while laughing at them.  The youth potion thing is entertaining hokum, and while the ending of (spoiler alert) Ollie turning into a chimp makes no sense, it's funny just the same.

      For comic destruction, the boys are roof cleaners this time, so we get plenty of shots of Ollie falling off a roof, down chimneys, and tons of black soot and smoke flying everywhere, covering the room, Stan, and Ollie completely.  It's really fun to watch and my favorites parts are Ollie's fall through the glass house.  After all that, all Ollie can do is calmly ask Stan to let him in the front door!  Wonderful camera editing as they switch the facial shots of Stan up high and Ollie down low as they switch off lines, showing their vastly different predicaments.  Also, any close up of Stan barely registering emotion after his partner takes such a huge fall hysterically shows out of touch with reality he really is.  The entire domino effect of destruction when Ollie falls down the chimney is another highlight, and the rhythm of the bricks falling on Ollie's head in the aftermath is priceless, they milk that gag for about a minute and it works so well.

      Another fine short.  I was checking out what's ahead and it only looks like there are six shorts left plus a bunch of features.  Next Laurel and Hardy review is SONS OF THE DESERT! 

[Umbrella Sam]

I have to wonder if this short is overlooked for the simple fact that it was released between two of Laurel and Hardy’s most popular films, BUSY BODIES and SONS OF THE DESERT? In my opinion, this short still ranks up there with some of the best Laurel and Hardy comedies.

The mad scientist part doesn’t feel as well incorporated storywise as in their silent film, HABEAS CORPEUS, but the rest is so good that it doesn’t matter. It is interesting to see a short where, even though Laurel and Hardy are still working together, for a good chunk of it, they’re not even in the same room. Seeing the cutting between the shots of Laurel inside and Hardy on the roof is a pretty clever idea and still works thanks to their individual timing.

Lucien Littlefield is a good choice for the scientist, even if he doesn’t have a whole lot of screen time, and the actor playing the butler does well enough with the few lines that he’s given too. Like BUSY BODIES, though, this is mostly Laurel and Hardy’s show, and it’s got all the kinds of gags that we love seeing: Hardy falling off the roof, getting hit in the head by bricks, fighting between Laurel and Hardy with the sweeper. I feel like this short deserves more attention than lots of fans give it.

10 out of 10

[metaldams]

Can't believe I didn't draw the parallel, but Lucien Littlefield plays a kind of mad doctor/hypnotist role himself in THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927).  Would not be a bit shocked if that helped inspire his casting here.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

The Laurel and Hardy shorts were on in Boston before the stooges hit, I am sure.  I remember watching them at age four or five, because I remember the house we were living in.  ( I also remember my first glimpse of the stooges, same house, because I immediately recognized them from the Loony Tune Hollywood Steps Out.  I said to myself, oh, those guys.  I'm guessing this was late 1959.  I would have been six.  I also think I've mentioned this before. )  In any case,  I clearly remember watching Dirty Work, because Ollie turning into a chimp scared the living hell out of five-year-old me.  I never could watch that one after the first time.

[HomokHarcos]

This is another Laurel and Hardy film that is close to The Three Stooges in style, and that is a good thing. They had faced an evil scientist before, but the over-the-top sound makes this one better. Ollie falling off the roof was great. Also, Ollie turning a chimp reminds me of when Moe turned into a gorilla during the ending. Both times it comes from finding an antidote to aging and it goes wrong. I'll keep that in mind in case anybody announces in one real life.

[Dr. Mabuse]

"Somewhere, an electric chair is waiting."

I have a nostalgic affection for "Dirty Work" because it was the first Laurel and Hardy 8mm short I purchased from the Blackhawk Films collection.  Needless to say, I have watched this vintage two-reeler numerous times (silent and sound). "Dirty Work" remains a classic on the level of "The Music Box," "Helpmates" and "Busy Bodies."  The brilliant sight gags are matched by an offbeat foray into science fiction and chimney sweeping (an occupation that somehow evaded other film comedians). As a result, "Dirty Work" has a uniqueness that cannot be found anywhere else in Stan and Ollie's body of work.

10/10

[NoahYoung]

My first viewing of this, too, was a print from Blackhawk, in Super 8 sound -- bought in 1979. (I no longer have it, as I have upgraded to a superb Film Classics 16mm print).

People as old as me (well, not that old -- i grew up in the 70s), would not consider this one overlooked, as it was a very popular title in the Blackhawk catalog back in the day. This was one of a handful of sound shorts that they also released for awhile at 18fps (rather than 24fps) in sound as an experiment, to save film by removing frames! I don't think the experiment was successful, however, since the 18fps version quickly disappeared from the catalog. (As another aside, Blackhawk replaced all the main titles, eliminating the bubbling testubes. If you hadn't seen it before, as I hadn't, you wondered what the bubbling noise was. I thought I received a defective print!)

My only quibble, and this is extremely minor, is the lack of a LeRoy Shield music track. This probably would not be as noticeable with a large cooperative audience who enjoys the boys, but I find when watching this alone (which is 99.99% of the time), that the tempo is a hair off because of it. One of my back burner projects is to add background music to it by using my 2 Beau Hunks CDs. If I ever do it, I would obtain another Super 8 print and put the music on the balance track of the film. (Can't do that with 16mm optical sound.)

[metaldams]

My first viewing of this, too, was a print from Blackhawk, in Super 8 sound -- bought in 1979. (I no longer have it, as I have upgraded to a superb Film Classics 16mm print).

People as old as me (well, not that old -- i grew up in the 70s), would not consider this one overlooked, as it was a very popular title in the Blackhawk catalog back in the day. This was one of a handful of sound shorts that they also released for awhile at 18fps (rather than 24fps) in sound as an experiment, to save film by removing frames! I don't think the experiment was successful, however, since the 18fps version quickly disappeared from the catalog. (As another aside, Blackhawk replaced all the main titles, eliminating the bubbling testubes. If you hadn't seen it before, as I hadn't, you wondered what the bubbling noise was. I thought I received a defective print!)

My only quibble, and this is extremely minor, is the lack of a LeRoy Shield music track. This probably would not be as noticeable with a large cooperative audience who enjoys the boys, but I find when watching this alone (which is 99.99% of the time), that the tempo is a hair off because of it. One of my back burner projects is to add background music to it by using my 2 Beau Hunks CDs. If I ever do it, I would obtain another Super 8 print and put the music on the balance track of the film. (Can't do that with 16mm optical sound.)

I got to ask, at 18FPS, did that have an effect on the voices?  I was under the impression 24 FPS became the standard because that’s where voices sounded natural.

[NoahYoung]

The print I had was 24fps. For 18fps, what they did was remove frames, so when played at 18fps, it would run the normal 20 minutes. Since 24/18 = 4/3,  they would have removed 1 out of every 4 frames. In Super 8, 400 feet is 20 minutes at 24fps, so at 18fps, it would be 300 feet. Don't remember the exact prices, but it should have cost 25% less. I do know they were charging around $40 in the mid to late 70s for L&H 2-reelers (19 - 22 minutes.)

Most people shooting their own sound films back then in Super 8 usually used 18fps -- that's why just about every projector had at least 2 speed settings: 18 fps and 24fps.

In short, the voices obviously were not slowed down, and recording the sound at 18fps apparently didn't affect the quality. Except for airline prints, which used optical sound the same as for 16mm and 35mm, Super 8 and Standard 8mm used a magnetic stripe (tape). I don't know how that compares to what speed tape cassettes were played at. I don't know how the quality of optical sound would be at 18fps. I do have a solo Super 8 magnetic sound Stan Laurel short with a music track, with a note that says to play it at 18fps, and the music sounds fine.

I once read, from someone who had DIRTY WORK at 18fps, say that both the picture and sound were still smooth. I believe Blackhawk did this for BUSY BODIES, too. They said they picked the most popular titles; that's why in my mind DIRTY WORK was always popular. I still have all the old catalogs I received -- but it's actually easier to look online now, since the Hugh Hefner website (believe it or not) has many of them scanned, going way back to the early 60s, and maybe some from the 50s as well.

Edit:
See page 87:
https://web.opendrive.com/api/v1/download/file.json/Ml8xNTEyMTc5NDNf?inline=1
I can only find DIRTY WORK listed for 18fps. I never remembered BUSY BODIES being released that way but someone claimed they had one. And they only discounted the price by 15%: $34 vs. $40.

The first sound movies had sound recorded on disc, with the turntable synced to the projector. That's when they decided on 24fps -- so the frame rate had nothing to do with the quality of the sound. That's why they were later able to convert the sound from the discs into optical sound, and still project at 24fps. Several of the first L&H shorts were recorded on disc, and later printed with optical tracks. The downside is they had to remove some of the picture on the film to leave room for the optical track. The latest L&H restorations, I believe, use the full frame aperture with the recorded sound for those early shorts-- something not done back in the day when printed with optical sound.

[metaldams]

Thanks for the explanation.  I always thought 24 FPS was to synch with natural sound, but instead it was the discs they used in the early days.  That makes sense.  I do know those first two talking Langdon shorts have missing sound discs and I believe a few 1929 Charley Chase’s as well. 

[NoahYoung]

I found this, which explains a bit more about how they settled on 24fps. Who knows how accurate this is?

https://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/topic/24427-24fps-where-does-it-come-from/

The only fact we really can prove is that the first sound was on disc.

TCM showed the Langdon Roach shorts 10+ years ago. I thought they showed all of them, but I might be mistaken.
They were the worst shorts I had ever seen. They made the first year of Our Gang talkies look like masterpieces.
Even THE SHRIMP, the most highly regarded, I found lacking.

I do enjoy Langon's silent shorts. I have never seen any of his later talkie shorts.

They have found at least one of the Chase discs in the last 20 or so years -- one I know of is THE SNAPPY SNEEZER, but I have not seen it.

The discs for UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE were found in 1979, and Blackhawk had the honor of being the first to release it with sound in probably 50 years. Previously, they only offered a silent version. I am not sure if it was the original silent version released to theaters not equipped for sound, or if Blackhawk made their own title cards. I was tempted to buy one recently, very cheaply, on eBay, but I passed. I do have the sound version on Super 8.

[metaldams]

I like the Langdon Roach films for the most part, but I can understand they’re not to everyone’s taste.  There is a scene in THE HEAD GUY where there is an uninterrupted close up of Langdon where he goes through this vast array of conflicting emotions.  It lasts literally three or four minutes.  It’s either the greatest thing since sliced bread for complete converts like me and torture for the rest of the population.

There was a DVD set released of all 8 Langdon shorts a few years back and the first two shorts, HOTTER THAN HOT and SKY BOY, are presented silent with subtitles for the dialogue.  Definitely missing the soundtracks.

[NoahYoung]

Those 2 probably weren't shown on TCM then, as I don't remember any of them being silent. I think I remember that 4 minute scene you talk about, which I found horrible. I don't remember much else except THE SHRIMP, which I watched twice, hoping it would grow on me. I had wanted to see it since I was a kid because Blackhawk released it, and said they had gone through all his early Roach talkies and that this was the only one worth releasing. They raved about how everyone who saw it at Blackhawk howled with laughter.
I have only seen it listed on eBay once, but I lost the auction. I believe that was before I saw it on TCM. Film Preservation Associates (run by David Shepard, who bought the Blackhawk Films library), I think had it for sale in 16mm until they went out of business around 2006 or 2007. I think it cost around $200, as did the L&H 2 reelers he offered. BTW, the Blackhawk Films trademark is now owned by Lobtser Films, who uses the logo on DVD and Blu-Ray releases -- including the Keaton and Chaplin releases.

[HomokHarcos]

If we're lucky those sound discs will for Harry Langdon's first talkies will show up. For years the second Our Gang talkie Raildroadin' disc was lost but eventually found. I don't know what the case with the early Charley Chase talkies from 1929 is but they were not released on DVD.

[NoahYoung]

Yes, and Blackhawk released RAILROADIN'  when the discs were found. I have a print.

From the WORLD OF CHARLEY CHASE website:

THE BIG SQUAWK (1929) [sound discs extant]
LEAPING LOVE (1929) [sound discs extant]
SNAPPY SNEEZER (1929) [sound discs extant]
CRAZY FEET (1929) [sound discs extant]
STEPPING OUT (1929) [sound discs lost]
GREAT GOBS! (1929) [sound discs lost]

http://charleychase.50webs.com/extantfilms.htm