Putting Pants on Philip

This is one of L&H's shorts most frequently cited as the first "real" L&H teaming and perhaps one of their best silent features. J. Piedmont Mumblethunder (Ollie) is a millionaire who has come to the docks to greet his nephew Philip, whom he's never seen. At first Ollie is laughing it up with everyone when this strange little man unboards and draws a great deal of attention to himself by the way he's behaving during his medical exam, but is quite humiliated when it turns out that this is the fellow he's supposed to be greeting. He has been told that Philip is a good boy, but he has one weakness--women. Mumblethunder and Philip set off to go home, but their journey there is continually interrupted by Philip breaking into a little dance every time he sees a woman, then chasing after the woman. Huge crowds gather each time this happens, not so much because he's chasing skirts, but because Philip himself is also wearing a skirt (a kilt). Finally Mumblethunder manages to drag Philip into a tailor's shop to be measured for a proper pair of pants, but Philip escapes from there as well to chase more skirts. There are lots of laughs all around. It's also nice to see a short like this because the boys aren't exactly the characters we know and love. Ollie is pretty much his usual character, but it's such a joy to see Stan acting so differently from his usual man-child character. It shows he wasn't a one-trick pony and excelled in other types of roles when he got the chance. With a run time of 19 minutes its short and sweet, providing classic one liners which still have me in stitches.

I'll not question the authoritative voice of Stan Laurel who says he considers this the first official Laurel and Hardy film. They were both separate players signed to Hal Roach contracts when Roach decided to team them. The idea was genius, but the separate contracts would cause some problems for the team and for Roach about a dozen years later.

But for now Putting The Pants On Philip has a bit of an unusual situation for the guys. Hardy is an older middle aged man and Laurel his nephew come over from Scotland. Being a true Scot Stan wears proudly the tartan kilts of his clan and he has a libido in this that Harpo Marx would envy. Keep him away chasing girls says his mother to her brother Ollie.

But a Scot in kilts is catnip to those flapper girls of the 20s and Ollie sees his duty, he has to get the nephew into pants so he won't be so conspicuous.

Most of the humor revolves around the mystery of whether the Scot wears undergarments with his kilt. In Laurel's case he does and he doesn't.

The last bit was something I think Stan might have heard about involving that famous story of Sir Walter Raleigh and his cape. Ollie climaxes the film with an unexpected surprise there. One of the great sight gags that so typified Stan and Ollie's work.

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.

Although the slight premise limits what it can do, this earlier Laurel and Hardy comedy has some very funny moments. The whole feature depends on just a couple of very simple comedy ideas, but Stan and Ollie are able to get good laughs out of lesser material than that. The goofy nature of the material would probably have led to a flop with most other performers, so this feature really depends on its stars to make it work.

Laurel plays a young Scot coming to the USA, wearing a kilt and bringing an overly enthusiastic eye for women, while Hardy plays his unfortunate uncle who has to keep an eye on him. Laurel successfully fits his style in with the premise, blending his familiar screen persona with that of a red-blooded Scot. Hardy has to play the straight man for much of the movie, but his expressions in the part work well, and he also gets a couple of chances to take the spotlight for himself.

The comedy writing in this one is, honestly, not that great. After a while, it just keeps coming back to the same couple of gags, and only the lively presence and fine comic timing of the two stars makes it work. But it still offers some good laughs that make it worth seeing.

Stan Laurel regarded PUTTING PANTS ON PHILIP as the first ‘true' L&H film. THE SECOND HUNDRED YEARS was the first 'official' L&H film, but this was the one where Stan completely resigned himself not only to performing (he had signed on with the Hal Roach Studios as a director and 'gag-man', before certain situations - among them Oliver Hardy's accident with a leg of lamb leading to Stan having to replace him; and the extra money that performing would provide for himself and his new wife, Lois - brought about his historic return to performing, as well as writing, directing, editing and involvement in other areas of production), but also realised the fact that he was part of a team that worked well together. This, therefore, is an historic and very important film in the history of comedy.

It is also a surprisingly funny little silent film; rather different from what Laurel & Hardy would become known for and from what they are more immediately associated with today. The characters of 'Stan & Ollie do not appear - Scottish Stan Laurel plays the nephew of Oliver Hardy, a respectable man about town who is reluctant to be seen with this strange-looking fellow with a kilt and the habit of chasing pretty girls. There are some very funny moments in this well-made, charming little movie, and the performances of these two Kings of Comedy are spot-on - watch Stan's little 'scissor-kick' and smile that says, "Well waddaya know?" when he sees girls, or the hair-ruffling scene at the airport, for instance. Hilarious.

Watch this film if you can, with backing music from The Beau Hunks Orchestra (available on the VVL video releases) which enhances the 1920s feel and is very, very pleasant to listen to. It's a brilliant and underrated little film, which is why I said it was 'surprisingly' funny.