Mr. H Is Late

A homage to Laurel and Hardy's Music Box. This was a wonderful trip down memory lane for me with so many familiar comedy faces that I grew up with in the 70's. Short appearances by the likes of Spike Milligan, Charlie Drake and Jimmy Edwards all add to the comedy genius of Eric Sykes. There is very little dialogue as we are catapulted back to the silent comedy era and a plethora of sight gags, the majority of which hit the spot. It's a simple premise with the band of undertakers manoeuvring a coffin down a high rise block of flats. The wobbly sets all add to the simple idea. If you are after sophisticated comedy you've come to the wrong place. Many laugh out loud moments and I happily smiled throughout the whole running time.

I saw this on a tape with another Eric Sykes short entitled "It's Your Move". That one was a dud from 1969. This 1988 TV short seemed sharper and had edgier humor.

Like many other Eric Sykes' projects, there is minimal dialogue in "Mr. H Is Late". It's often frustrating and it takes away an entire element with which to draw humor from. With a running time of under thirty minutes, however, there are enough silly situations going on to provide a fair serving of laughs.

A gentleman has died and a group of pallbearers are apparently carrying him around in a coffin. Of course, things don't go according to their plans and the coffin goes through quite an adventure on its way to the church for the funeral service. It contains both mildly saucy and macabre moments but it's all rather harmless fun.

Being from the UK, you know the humor is going to be a bit understated and dry. It doesn't compare to the belly laughs generated by some of the cynical and sarcastic American comedies which have been made. Overall, though, "Mr. H Is Late" has a certain undeniable British charm. 4/10