Busy Bodies

'Busy Bodies' is one of my favorite Laurel & Hardy shorts. In this one they work at a sawmill and you can imagine what can go wrong in a place like that.

With some great and very funny scenes, one with A closed window and another one that reminded me of Chaplin's 'Modern Times' (this movie was earlier), make this a great Laurel & Hardy short.

Have you ever wondered why the government formed OSHA to help promote and protect worker safety on the job? This short demonstrates why OSHA was needed. No. It had nothing to do with unions or workers organizing. It all had to do with Busy Bodies as Laurel and Hardy turn the carpentry shop upside down, backwards and inside out.

Safety violation 1. No smoking in the work place.

Safety violation 2. Improper use of glue and adhesives.

Safety violation 3. Tools used for purposes other than what they were made for.

Safety Violation 4. Opening and closing windows improperly.

Safety violation 5. Just being Laurel and Hardy.

Did I mention that Laurel and Hardy were innovative and on the cutting edge of technology. They were the first to put a disc player in their car. The only problem is: Where's the motor? Their on board phonograph is durable though.

Busy Bodies is a laugh fest and along with Help Mates and The Music Box is one of the best L&H shorts. For any L&H fan or for any fan of comedy, this is a must see.

While not as infamous as The Music Box, I feel certain that this must be one of Laurel and Hardy's best-remembered shorts. Lasting just under 20 minutes, it's arguably their most physical work, with an almost non-stop array of sight gags.

A benefit of a Laurel and Hardy season on television is it gives you insight into characteristics that you'd forgotten. For instance, I never remembered Stan as being a grass, but he's always stitching people up (Pardon Us, Pack Up Your Troubles, et al) and here he gets a man thrown out for smoking. Stan's fight with the same man is the most hilarious moment of the eleven films screened during a Christmas season, but then this one is packed with many laugh-out-loud moments. That a film that is over seventy five years old can still produce such amusement is astonishing, but the duo are extremely good at what they do, and here at the top of their game. I won't give away the rest, but suffice it to say that Ollie's struggle with a sink and their car's clash with a sawmill is two of the funniest things I've seen in ages.

A Laurel & Hardy short feature with a good variety of gags, "Busy Bodies" has the two raising havoc in a woodworking shop. The shop's tools, materials, and workers furnish good background material to the pair's own valiant but doomed attempts to make themselves useful. There is a wide range of comic material, from old standbys like Ollie getting conked in the head repeatedly by two men carrying a board across his path, to clever ideas like the "radio" in their car. There are also some very funny interactions with the shop's other workers.

This is a funny short comedy that all Laurel & Hardy fans will enjoy.

This is probably the only movie that makes me cry of laughing each time I see it and I have seen it hundreds of times! Laurel & Hardy are really getting it on in this one.The way that Hardy gets "tortured" is unbelievable but never over the top.Just watch the scene when Laurel slams the door against Hardy after which Hardy slams the door back and gets a huge bucket on his head and then again the door,hilarious! Of course there is also the usual "in the camera looking" by Hardy(the scene with the sigar!).Busy Bodies is for me their best short feature and equals their long masterpiece Way Out West (10/10). Laurel & Hardy are truely the Kings of slapstick comedy,if you haven't seen this one you haven't lived! 10/10