Their Purple Moment

HAVING MADE SOME real progress after their almost accidental teaming as members of what was called THE HAL ROACH ALL-STARS, most of the now familiar L & H situational comedic routines had been established. THEIR PURPLE MOMENT does a lot in defining their eternal struggle with "the Wives."

IN A DRAMATIC SORT of departure from what they had been doing, Stan is called "Mr. Pincher" (for 'penny pincher' we presume); but Ollie retains his own name. This is a kind of throwback to pictures such as PUTTING PANTS ON PHILLIP and DO DETECTIVES THINK?, in which their own names appeared only in the credits.

THERE ARE DEGFINITE symptoms of a maturation of not the LAUREL & HARDY characters; but rather of the HAL ROACH style. The comedies became more and more slow-paced, methodically developed and much more "believable." The Title Cards, most ably written by Roach regular, H.M. Walker, were as witty and clever as ever. But there was none of the going for the laugh outside of the existing story on he scene; as was the practice over at Mack Sennett's KEYSTONE Studios.

THE TYPICAL INTERPLAY that the boys are brought into are typically L & H type of double-edged gag and tit for tat back and forth "Bow & Fiddle", back and forth developing and milking of each gag to its greatest potential. Reliance on Stan's dim-wittedness and Ollie's slow burn were not only appreciated by this point, but rather they were now anticipated.

THE ACTION IN the first three quarters of the picture builds and serves as exposition of both the storyline; as well as the boys themselves. Although they are always the same twosome, there is very little continuity of situations from one short to another.*

IF THERE WOULD be any area of criticism that we could be the ending; which atypically leaves things just a little flat.

BUT SCHULTZ THINKS that this is a minor shortcoming. And Schultz's compadre, this writer, whole heartedly agrees.

NOTE: * In all of their shorts, only the sound comedy two-reelers TIT FOR TAT and THEM THAR HILLS makes mention of the earlier of the two movies and references having met both Charlie Hall and Mae Bush as previous protagonists.

THEIR PURPLE MOMENT

Aspect ratio: 1.33:1

Sound format: Silent

(Black and white - Short film)

Two luckless nightclub revellers (Laurel and Hardy) are unable to pay their bill, provoking violent retribution from a hot-tempered waiter (Tiny Sandford).

Typical L&H scenario, less substantial than some of their best work from this period, but worth a look nonetheless. Stan takes center-stage this time round, caught up in a financial dilemma after holding back part of his wages to fund a night on the town, only to find out - too late! - that his aggrieved wife (Fay Holderness) has replaced his stash with worthless coupons. Some of the prolonged closeups of Laurel as he slowly becomes aware of the unfolding disaster reveal his genius for characterization and mime. 1920's morality is represented by Patsy O'Byrne, playing a hatchet-faced busy-body who takes great joy in alerting L&H's respective spouses (Holderness and Lyle Taho) to their husbands' bad behavior. The ending fizzles, but the movie still has much to recommend it. Directed by James Parrott.

Stan and Ollie decide to hold back a few bucks from their weekly paychecks so they can save up and have a night on the town (without their wives!)... When they finally embark on their secret evening of fun, they alight on two girls outside a restaurant who have been stood up. Convinced that they are flush; they offer to bankroll them and after a rather nice dinner discover that their secret evening has been anything but.... and that they have nothing to pay the bills with but coupons! It gets off to quite a good start, but the ending let's it down quite badly. Anita Garvin & Kay Deslys are good as the gals and the music has a few recognisable bars from "Baby Face' and "Ain't She Sweet"

Once again I seem to be in the minority: I think that Their Purple Moment sees Laurel and Hardy in fine form. It starts with Stan (playing Mr. Pincher) being waylaid by his battle-axe wife at the front door, the woman demanding the poor guy's wages. However, Mr. Pincher has been holding back a few dollars from each pay packet in preparation for a special night out with his pal Ollie.

Pretending to be going ten-pin bowling, the two men sneak off for a wild time at a boozy joint where they hook up with a couple of young women. The foursome tuck into big steaks and pints of beer while enjoying a dancing midget cabaret act, but when it comes to settling the bill, Mr. Pincher realises that his wife has found his hidden cash and replaced it with grocery coupons.

Laurel's facial expressions after he discovers that he has no money are hilarious, alternating between confusion to utter dismay; Hardy's face is also a treat when he sees that they are skint. Together, the pair try to leave the establishment without paying, but must avoid their wive (who have tracked them down) while also dodging angry staff.

In addition to the funny expressions, the dancing midgets, and the angry sped-up wives striding down the street, viewers are also treated to Laurel doing one of his fancy tricks (catapulting a spoon into a glass), and a messy finalé in the kitchen that sees lots of grub being hurled (others seem to find the ending something of a let down, but I love a good food fight!).

Admittedly, the originally planned ending involving Stan and Ollie pretending to be midgets to escape the club might have been even better, but this is still worth at least 7/10 in my book.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

After their previous 1928 efforts saw a step in the right direction and the two were starting to hit their stride while still evolving, 'Their Purple Moment' sees a couple of steps backwards and something of a disappointment. Certainly far from terrible and it is a long way from a misfire of theirs (up to this point '45 Minutes from Hollywood' was the only one to fit this distinction), but 'Their Purple Moment' is far from a gem. It is a shame because their previous 1928 efforts were so promising and the concept here was not a bad one.

Laurel and Hardy's work was never known to have particularly great stories, which tended to be the weakest element. 'Their Purple Moment' is no exception, on top of being flimsy it is also more predictable, hackneyed and repetitive than most with outcomes being easily foreseeable and some of the content being hit and miss as well as rather repetitive at times.

The pace sometimes could have been tighter. 'Their Purple Moment's' weak link is the ending, a real fizzler that is rushed, uninspired and somewhat tasteless.

On the other hand, Laurel and Hardy are more than very amusing, particularly Laurel, and they work well together. Three quarters of 'Their Purple Moment' does mostly amuse and has some fun and well timed moments and gags.

It's not dull, is competently directed, has a nice supporting cast and holds up quite well visually.

All in all, definitely worthwhile but not a Laurel and Hardy essential. 6/10 Bethany Cox