The Music Box

I've got to be honest and say that I haven't seen many Laurel and Hardy shorts, but when I do see one, I usually find myself laughing uncontrollably and this is definitely the best one I've seen. This short sees everyone's favourite bumbling workmen trying to haul a piano up a huge flight of stairs. Of course, everything goes to plan and they get the piano to the top of the stairs without any trouble whatsoever...ahem. Naturally, Laurel and Hardy encounter all manner of trouble during their plight, which leads to a number of hilarious situations. Laurel and Hardy works because the humour is so good-hearted and blends together with various different styles magnificently. Obviously, slapstick is the order of the day; but there's also more than enough dry wit and irony to keep everyone happy. There's a number of highly amusing sequences, too many to mention and I recommend simply watching the film. It's a must see anyway.

This is one of the great classics of comedy, with Laurel & Hardy at their very best. It has a wealth of good material, and also shows their ability to extract every possible laugh from a relatively simple situation. It also includes appearances by Billy Gilbert and Charlie Hall, two of their best supporting players.

Stan and Ollie are delivering an old-fashioned player piano (or music box) to a house at the top of a hill. They encounter one difficulty after another getting it up to the top, and when they do, their troubles are just beginning. They use the situation to set up a lot of creative gags, all delivered with excellent timing.

There isn't any description that could really do justice to this hilarious short film - if you enjoy classic comedy, you will want to see "The Music Box" for yourself, so that you can enjoy two masters of comedy at their best.

Put simply, this is the funniest movie of all time. I cannot believe that there is anyone in the world who can watch this film and not be in hysterics by the last scene. Laurel and Hardy provided the template for all (and I mean all) comedy films that followed, and this was their absolute best.

Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy, a piano and a house right at the top of a flight of steps. Sounds like a recipe for success, and it is.

'The Music Box' sees our dysfunctional heroes as delivery men who have to take a large, heavy piano to the house of the von Schwarzenhoffens (the mad professor and the twittery wife, typically staple characters of comedy shorts). First they have to get it to the house (up a lot of steps!), then they have to get it inside, installed, and working.

A small supporting cast of tiny cameo roles includes Lilyan Irene as a giggly nursemaid, Billy Gilbert as the blustering Professor, and Charlie Hall as the smart Alec postie. The delight of 'The Music Box' is watching Laurel and Hardy themselves, consummate comedy performers, with their slapstick and their engaging personalities.

Question: why oh why aren't Laurel and Hardy films shown on TV at sensible times any more here in the UK? When I was a lad, they were on at 6pm on BBC2 and I spent many happy evenings as a child laughing my head off at their comedy short films. Now, you're lucky to catch them on TV at all, and they always seem to be scheduled at some unearthly hour of the morning.

Anyway, scheduling rant over. If you're a Laurel and Hardy virgin, this is a great place to start. It won them an Oscar, and it's a hilarious piece of perfectly constructed comedy. They are bungling delivery men who have to deliver a piano to a house at the top of an enormous flight of steps. (The location does exist in real life, apparently, and it's one of my aims in life one day to visit those steps and walk up 'em!) Needless to say, the piano seems to spend more time sliding back down the steps than it does going up them.

It's almost certainly their best short, and is required viewing for anyone wanting to know why Laurel and Hardy are one of the greats of movie comedy.