Me and My Pal

What kind of present would Stanley buy to Ollie, who will soon get married? He would probably buy something very important, like a jig-saw puzzle. The puzzle would be a great present, because if Ollie is married he and Stan could not go out anymore. They could still try to solve that puzzle. Good thinking, Stan!

In this film not much is happening, because that stupid present takes all interest from everything else. Much fun is then due to that absurd situation and therefore this film should be seen as a warning of the complete waste of time that a jig-saw puzzle induces. Laurel and Hardy have done much better films than this but even this simple story shows how proficient they were. This is still a good film, because they manage to keep it simple and not overdo anything.

Oliver Hardy is about to marry in to the family of a rich oil magnate so right away you know things won't be going to plan. Ollie is part of a double act whose humour comes out of his bullying of Stan Laurel so right away you know whose side to take and this short is no different . Let's be honest and say without the slightest feeling of guilt we love it when the bully's life lies in tatters

One thing I have noticed about the L&H shorts is that despite having a short running time - that's why they're called shorts after all- there's often a feeling of two different stories joined together, You might actually be astounded then when I was once briefly sitting in on an indie film company in Edinburgh up and coming short film makers would make the same mistake. It's probably not a fault of short film making but because of the nature of short film making it's far more noticeable than a 90 page screenplay. Here in this 1933 contribution everything is streamlined and simple and is all the better for it. It's also interesting as a window when jigsaws' and listening to the radio were classed as entertainment

Ollie is in the midst of being married, which will then lead to a big promotion when Stanley brings over this puzzle. The puzzle occupies everybody's time, thus the cause for all the laughs in this fun short with the puzzle becoming an object that is revered by all who come in contact with it. Wonderful sequence with 6 people hovering over the puzzle at one time, like children. Needless to say, Ollie didn't get married, but the film did end with Stan finding the missing piece to the puzzle.

This short shows Laurel & Hardy at their best. Very little slapstick, as the comedy itself is played to the hilt. It's the essence of the running gag, the joke that keeps coming back, and back, and back, each time in a different way and funnier than before. The storyline is simple, and elegant - a common human obsession - getting addicted to a jigsaw puzzle - is first played rather normally, than slowly but inescapably grows and grows. This is like a Seinfeld episode before there was a Seinfeld.

It really shows their genius to create something like this, with a minimum of props and a direct storyline that doesn't get sidetracked, and all the byplay, including the wedding, eventually fits together like a jigsaw puzzle itself. Soon all the characters are involved in the puzzle, in one way or another, and it sucks them in like a giant vortex.

Obviously, this is one of my favorite shorts and is a good one to introduce someone to Laurel & Hardy.

Oliver Hardy is due to marry the daughter of Sir Cucumber, a rich oil baron, and hence become an oil magnate himself. His best man, Stan Laurel, brings over a gift before they leave for the wedding ceremony – a big jigsaw puzzle. However the puzzle proves to be fiendishly addictive and the pair are delayed by the attention it draws.

This Laurel & Hardy short starts with an overlong set up (albeit amusingly delivered over the radio) but soon gets down to the central gag – the fact that none of the protagonists can drag themselves away from the jigsaw long enough to do what they have to do. It is funny the first few times but it is less funny as it goes along. Only the idea of an increasing crowd of people gathered around the jigsaw makes it amusing.

The punchline of the whole short is really added at the last minute and I think they must have been stuck for a strong finish and so settled for this. Hardy is good with his usual looks of frustration towards the audience while Laurel is as confused as ever. They work together well. Finlayson is a disappointment as he doesn't do what he is best at (his slow burn double take) although it is interesting to hear him say `d'oh' as he was indeed the inspiration for one Homer Simpson's trademark. The rest of the support cast do little but I always find Finlayson to be excellent value in these shorts so felt a little let down.

Overall this is a simple short that is not the best the pair have done but is amusing none the less. However I must be honest and say that they have done better and funnier.