The Midnight Patrol

After decades of watching this classic, I still can't figure out what the chief of police is doing with a "barrel" of sauerkraut in his basement --which Laurel and Hardy promptly fall into!

This short is OUTRAGEOUS, and has some history behind it. Here, the boys are rookie cops who answer a variety of calls on their first night. This comedy is peppered with some of the best stock players who worked with Laurel and Hardy, including Tiny Sanford and James Morton as cops and Charlie Hall as a guy who tries to steal the rear tire off the boy's police car! Stan Laurel made it a point to include actors who appeared with him back on the London stage.

Case in point is Frank Terry, who plays the wily safecracker who argues with Stan as which day is best for "him" to appear in court? In case you didn't know, the man with the deep, deep voice on the police radio is Frank Brownlee. Brownlee became famous --or at least his voice did --when he auditioned and won parts in Walt Disney cartoons. He moved to Warner Brothers and did many voices for Bugs Bunny cartoons and the like, however.... he NEVER got credit because there was a clause in Mel Blanc's contract to only give HIM credit. Lloyd French directed this short who also went to Warner Brothers and headed hundreds of popular big band musical and comedy shorts.

Get the Laurel and Hardy dvd short subject box set. Some have been produced in the UK, so beware as they will not play on American made dvd players. Check the details.

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.

Novice cops Stan & Ollie are THE MIDNIGHT PATROL, guardians of the night. Their complete incompetence dealing with crime, however, soon leaves a trail of chaos & destruction.

A funny little film, although ending it with two murders is a bit much. Highlight: Ollie in the fishpond. That's Frank Brownlee as the Chief, Walter Plinge as the gentlemanly crook and Charlie Hall as one of the tire thieves.

New cops Laurel and Hardy bungle their way into arrest the Chief of Police in his own home.

Of course, that's not the only thing they bungle. They get into an argument with safecracker Frank Terry, with not a clue as to what is going on. That's one of the pleasures of Laurel & Hardy -- I almost wrote 'cartoons; -- shorts: their ability to keep going with no idea of what is going on.

It's not one of the best of the Boys' shorts. Well, they can't all be masterpieces. his one is only very funny.

We've seen Laurel and Hardy as bums, unionized workers, manual laborers, Christmas tree sales man, and men soon to be married, but never before have we seen them as police officers (that work was presumably left to the Keystone Cops). The Midnight Patrol shows Laurel and Hardy as two late night police officers, who are informed of a burglary at a nearby mansion. After being completely oblivious to another thief attempting to crack a safe at a local store until he tries to steal the boys' car, Laurel and Hardy arrive at the aforementioned mansion and need to find a way inside. The boys attempt to use a solid stone bench as a battering ram to break the door down, which results in one of the funniest Laurel and Hardy stunts in any of their shorts, as they cause complete destruction to property and end up in a barrel of sauerkraut (don't ask) before being scolded by their superiors in the harshest, most evil way.

The Midnight Patrol is a much more downtrodden, morbid short by the boys, dark and noir-ish in lighting and tone, only complimenting the early 1930's time period. Laurel and Hardy are intensely watchable here, but the humor is traded for a much more casual approach to a narrative that isn't always funny nor interesting, and, frankly, sometimes boring. However, the frightening and unexpected ending and the setup here are unique enough for Laurel and Hardy standards that The Midnight Patrol merits a watch in some respect.

Starring: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Directed by: Lloyd French.

Laurel and Hardy are police officers. They must get a burglar although we know that the man they are looking for is no real burglar. He just wasn't able to enter his own house.

With some very funny moments for Laurel and some pretty nice verbal jokes as well this short is entertaining enough although I have seen better from Laurel and Hardy. The story itself has some nice surprises.