Laurel et Hardy en wagon-lit

Several published works on Laurel And Hardy seem to rate this as one of the boys' poorest shorts. How dare they! This is extremely funny - if not quite top drawer - Stan and Ollie. An early talkie, half the film is simply our two heroes trying to get undressed in the upper berth of a sleeper train, getting entangled in each others trousers, night-shirts etc. The boys have also inadvertently set the rest of the passengers against each other, via a method I won't spoil by revealing. It's simplicity itself, yet it works wonderfully well. When most comedies of the twenties and thirties have long been forgotten, the films of these two lovable characters continue to delight.

The real secret is surely in their universal humanity; there's a little bit of Stan and Ollie in all of us.

With their vaudeville careers slowly taking off, Messers Laurel and Hardy set off on a tour of small music halls. They arrange to meet at the train station with their instrument but find that the journey is not as comfortable or straightforward as they had first expected.

Laurel and Hardy's first short film with sound is clearly the start of a developing series of shorts. For the first few minutes there is almost no sound to speak of as they rely on their normal comedy style – it feels a little like they want to stay with what they know for a while. When the sound does kick in, it is very grainy and is given limited use for that reason. However, considering it is now over 70 years old this is understandable and it doesn't really affect the film too much.

The routines are pretty good and show a keen imagination – one running gap is left to run offscreen for five minutes before we are allowed to see it's extreme punchline! The routine in the train carriage berth has been reused to better effect by Laurel and Hardy but is still funny here. Both men are good and work well in the confines of the berth – Laurel has the better of the material here though.

Overall I enjoyed this short but must admit that the sheer age of the film did shine through in regards sound quality and even film stock at times. Regards though it was still funny although I missed the verbal wit that is part of their comedy in other shorts.

This first talking movie from Laurel & Hardy is a surprising good one. It has the typical Laurel & Hardy humor in it, for which they are so famous and loved over the world. This is one of their most typical shorts. It's simple and it's almost non-stop filled with slapstick moments. Laurel & Hardy at their purest and finest.

The movie begins standard but from the moment when the two boys enter the train the movie becomes an almost fun and non-stop laugh-fest. The movie its humor is very simple and also predictable but executed brilliantly by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Especially the scene in which the two boys try to get in bed, which last at least 5 minutes, is one to remember and Laurel & Hardy hilarity at its best and purest form. Although the movie its humor and moments are rather stretched out, the movie never really becomes tiresome to watch.

More than in other early Laurel & Hardy comedy shorts, the supporting cast also plays an important part when it comes to the humor. The movie is filled with comical moments, that don't even feature the two boys in it. Among the supporting cast is Laurel & Hardy regular Baldwin Cooke and movie icon Paulette Goddard. Talk about movie history!

This movie is definitely better than Laurel & Hardy's other work from the '20's. It's humor and characters already have the shape and form as their later and best work from the early '30's.

8/10

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Berth Marks (1929)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Laurel and Hardy are a vaudeville team who are trying to catch a train so that they can reach their next gig. They barely catch the train but once on there they run into one problem after another with the biggest being trying to get up in their bed so that they can sleep.

BERTH MARKS was the duo's first sound film, although it was also shown in a silent version in theaters that hadn't yet upgraded their systems. For the most part this is a mildly amusing comedy but at the same time there's no question that it falls well short of classic Laurel and Hardy films. The biggest problem is the fact that there's really not too many laughs and the one joke pretty much takes up the majority of the running time. This joke has the boys trying to get into their bed but constantly failing for one reason or another. This here just isn't funny enough to warrant it taking up most of the running time.

Laurel and Hardy are back again in this talkie train adventure. The duo have a gig and they take the train, unknowingly create mayhem, try to get some sleep but encounter some trouble with wardrobe and when they're finally ready, they reach their destination only to forget the cello in the train. It's got the usual slapstick element and again Hardy does more of the talking while Laurel remains quiet. It's a simple little film of the typical Laurel and Hardy humour (for which they are loved). It's finely executed and provides several laugh out loud moments such as the bed scene or the sequence where the passengers start ripping each others clothes off and this starts multiplying (till the point where the conductor's clothes are tattered). Paulette Goddard and Baldwin Cooke provide great support. I love most of the things this wonderful comedy duo have done and 'Berth Marks' ranks among my favourites.