Putting Pants on Philip

Made before Laurel and Hardy became a solid team with the characteristics we know and love, Putting Pants on Phillip is a one-trick pony, but the Boys play it for all, maybe more, than it's worth. Shirt chasing Laurel must be taken out of his own skirt, or properly his kilt, to fit into American society. Of course, Laurel resists, and Hardy is adamant, and along the way we get our share of lantern grins, camera looks, cries, and maybe the first time Oliver Hardy meets the six foot puddle. There's a great reaction shot after Laurel inadvertently loses his drawers before walking over an air grate; a quick cut shows the women in the crowd fainting at the sight of the pants-less Laurel. After his inseam measurement is taken, a half disrobed and completely disheveled Laurel appears, as broken as any Griffith heroine.

The first "official" Laurel and Hardy movie is not like the ones with which we're more familiar. In this case, Laurel is a man from Scotland and Hardy is his uncle greeting him in the US. To be certain, Stan wears a kilt and tam, while Hardy wears a porkpie hat (like Buster Keaton wore). A couple of the scenes in "Putting Pants on Philip" were probably risqué for the time (a couple of them predict Marilyn Monroe's most famous stunt).

Basically, Stan and Ollie were just beginning as a team, so they hadn't yet figured out a style. Nevertheless, the end gag is funny enough. Mostly worth seeing as a historical note.

I really can't fault this movie too much for being a rather sub-par Laurel and Hardy short. After all, the team still wasn't exactly a team. Despite starring in quite a few films together in 1927, they were still a brand new pairing and the chemistry we all have come to expect still hadn't developed completely. In light of this, it's not surprising then that Ollie and Stan are playing such unusual roles.

In this case, they are NOT friends nor do they know each other when the film begins--a highly unusual situation for any of their films. Plus, Ollie appears to be a successful man--a big departure from his usual role and Stanley a nephew visiting from Scotland. Talk about a different Laurel and Hardy plot!! The rest of the film concerns the hilarity (?) that occurs when Ollie takes his kilted nephew through the city. Again and again, huge crowds gather to laugh at the sight of a guy in a kilt. While as an American I do find the idea of a man in essentially a skirt funny, it certainly was not as funny as the film tried to make it seem and was certainly not enough to sustain an entire comedy short! Now there were some funny moments here and there, but laughing at a kilt and laughing as Stanley chased women (much like Harpo Marx in later films) just isn't that thrilling. As a result of this and the bizarre chemistry, I think this one earns a 6. For devoted fans of the team like myself, it's a must--for most others its a film best not seen until you see their better films, as this one might give you the mistaken impression that their films weren't that funny.

This is a very well-crafted short, but I've always been mystified as to why anyone, much less Stan Laurel, would consider this to be the first true Laurel & Hardy film. The first film they appeared in was a comedy starring Laurel with Hardy in support, "The Lucky Dog" from 1921. The second film they made together at the Hal Roach studio, "Duck Soup" (not to be confused with the Marx Brothers film of the same name, nor the Edgar Kennedy short), actually has humor more typical of their mature work.

If you can get past the unusual characterizations in "Philip" (Stan is a kilted, woman-crazy Scot and Hardy is his American uncle, fearful of being embarrassed lest someone find out he's related to this eccentric young man), the film offers some solid laughs. It's beautifully paced and edited; do try to see this in a theater with an audience, where it really comes to life.

The credited director is Clyde Bruckman, known best as a gag writer for Buster Keaton (and later Harold Lloyd, and still later, The Three Stooges). He only made 20 films as a director, but they include Keaton's "The General," Laurel & Hardy's "The Battle of the Century," Harold Lloyd's "Movie Crazy" and W.C. Fields' "The Man on the Flying Trapeze," each of these titles being among the best films their respective stars ever made. Producer Hal Roach was particularly fond of "Putting Pants on Philip," incidentally.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

'Putting Pants on Phillip' is nowhere near classic Laurel and Hardy, later films, short and feature, had stronger chemistry when fully formed and used their considerable talents better. At this point, Laurel was much funnier and more interesting while Hardy in most of the previous outings had too little to do. 'Putting Pants on Phillip' is still worth watching and is an improvement on some of their previous short films, to me it's easily one of their best at this point of their careers and one of the first to feel like a Laurel and Hardy short rather than a short featuring them.

Personally would have liked more sly wit that made their later entries better, though the slapstick does entertain and is timed well if a bit too far on the simplicity.

The story is a bit busy at times and both slight and formulaic.

Laurel however is very funny, and sometimes hilarious. Hardy is at least not wasted, and he does give one of his funniest and most interesting appearances of his pairings with Laurel up to this point and has much more to do in comparison to their previous outings. The chemistry is certainly much more here than in previous outings of theirs, namely because there's more of them together, if still evolving. Support is nice.

A good deal of the humour is well timed, hugely energetic and very funny, with everything going at a lively pace, and there is a lot of charm and good nature to keep one going, as well as a surprising bizarre one that doesn't feel too much. 'Putting Pants on Phillip' looks quite good still.

To conclude, decent and far from pants. 7/10 Bethany Cox