In einem Bett

This was the only Laurel and Hardy short film that Lewis R. Foster directed, who later wrote the acclaimed film, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON.

Foster did a terrific job, possibly one of the team's best early sound films, from 1929.

Big vaudeville "stars" Stan and Ollie board a train for Pottsville --and the rest is comedy history. This short is chock full with running gags, and excellent timing. To further complicate matters, the boys have to drag along a cello (part of their act, naturally), which proves to be one pain in the XYZ. They also encounter jealous husband Charlie Hall who starts a clothes ripping fight among passengers, believing someone (guess who?) was snooping on his wife.

The boys end the insane day climbing into a tight as a drum sleeping car berth, and painstakingly remove their clothes --that only Laurel and Hardy can do. This hilarious sketch is one of their best, re-created many years later in THE BIG NOISE (1944). Some say you can hear the crew faintly laughing in the background, its that funny.

By the way, the clothes-ripping frenzy continues... and continues...

Without too much surprise, this story was written by comedy master Leo McCarey, who also worked on their silent short films. A labor of love.

Get the dvd box set of the team's legendary short films, especially for this one. By the way, the METV remastered print is absolutely beautiful.

With their vaudeville careers slowly taking off, Messers Laurel and Hardy set off on a tour of small music halls. They arrange to meet at the train station with their instrument but find that the journey is not as comfortable or straightforward as they had first expected.

Laurel and Hardy's first short film with sound is clearly the start of a developing series of shorts. For the first few minutes there is almost no sound to speak of as they rely on their normal comedy style – it feels a little like they want to stay with what they know for a while. When the sound does kick in, it is very grainy and is given limited use for that reason. However, considering it is now over 70 years old this is understandable and it doesn't really affect the film too much.

The routines are pretty good and show a keen imagination – one running gap is left to run offscreen for five minutes before we are allowed to see it's extreme punchline! The routine in the train carriage berth has been reused to better effect by Laurel and Hardy but is still funny here. Both men are good and work well in the confines of the berth – Laurel has the better of the material here though.

Overall I enjoyed this short but must admit that the sheer age of the film did shine through in regards sound quality and even film stock at times. Regards though it was still funny although I missed the verbal wit that is part of their comedy in other shorts.

Berth Marks (1929)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Laurel and Hardy are a vaudeville team who are trying to catch a train so that they can reach their next gig. They barely catch the train but once on there they run into one problem after another with the biggest being trying to get up in their bed so that they can sleep.

BERTH MARKS was the duo's first sound film, although it was also shown in a silent version in theaters that hadn't yet upgraded their systems. For the most part this is a mildly amusing comedy but at the same time there's no question that it falls well short of classic Laurel and Hardy films. The biggest problem is the fact that there's really not too many laughs and the one joke pretty much takes up the majority of the running time. This joke has the boys trying to get into their bed but constantly failing for one reason or another. This here just isn't funny enough to warrant it taking up most of the running time.

I just recently got into collecting really old films in their original format--16mm--to be viewed on a projector. And I just won a print of this on eBay, to arrive in a few days.

I'm curious how the experience will differ watching it blown up on a large screen in my backyard... with the noise of the projector...and those real grey tones and unaltered sound.

As opposed to just watching a DVD of it.

Yeah, progress is great, but I have a feeling that watching it via film is gonna feel more like living a little bit of history. When it arrives and I finally view it, I'll give a review.

But I have a feeling that it's going to be magic.

Laurel and Hardy are back again in this talkie train adventure. The duo have a gig and they take the train, unknowingly create mayhem, try to get some sleep but encounter some trouble with wardrobe and when they're finally ready, they reach their destination only to forget the cello in the train. It's got the usual slapstick element and again Hardy does more of the talking while Laurel remains quiet. It's a simple little film of the typical Laurel and Hardy humour (for which they are loved). It's finely executed and provides several laugh out loud moments such as the bed scene or the sequence where the passengers start ripping each others clothes off and this starts multiplying (till the point where the conductor's clothes are tattered). Paulette Goddard and Baldwin Cooke provide great support. I love most of the things this wonderful comedy duo have done and 'Berth Marks' ranks among my favourites.