Early to Bed

This is an early Laurel & Hardy vehicle of curiosity value because it is quite clear that the boys are in the very early stages of their joint career, and their basic characters and relationship have yet to be cemented. It's Ollie Hardy who is the annoying child of the two in this silent short - although, unlike Laurel in later films, Ollie goes out of his way to be deliberately annoying to Stan, whom he has employed as a butler after he inherits a fortune from his uncle.

Although it's strange to see their roles essentially reversed, the film does have some funny moments. Roach clearly had enough faith in the boys' ability to work together with solid results to cast them here with no supporting actors (other than a dog called Buster) and this at least pays off, even if they haven't yet got the relationship right. For this reason, if nothing else, the film serves as an interesting footnote in the development of Laurel & Hardy as we know and love them.

While not being familiar with this 1928 short silent film "Early to Bed" from director Emmett J. Flynn, I needed no persuasion to watch it here in 2025, making it my very first time to do so. Why? Well, solely because this was a Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy movie.

H. M. Walker put together a nice script and storyline, which definitely showcased an archetypical comedy with the comedy duo. It was an enjoyable story and I had some good laughs, especially at the fountain scene.

Needless to say that the acting performances in "Early to Bed" were good. And you only have Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy starring in this 1928 movie.

If you enjoy the comedy of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, then you will definitely like "Early to Bed".

My rating of director Emmett J. Flynn's 1928 "Early to Bed" lands on a five out of ten stars.

This early Laurel & Hardy comedy is something of an oddity, and although fans will want to see it at least once Early to Bed is not one of the team's more entertaining efforts. Moreover, for anyone who cares about Laurel & Hardy, that is, anyone who regards the characters they portray with fondness, this film could well be a disturbing, unpleasant experience. I'm a lifelong L&H fan and enjoy most of their output, but seeing the boys' friendship go sour in Early to Bed feels like watching helplessly while two old friends get into a vicious fistfight.

By the time this film was made the guys had developed the screen personae we all remember, complete with derbies and shabby-genteel suits. More to the point, their childlike personalities and relationship with each other were pretty well established, as we observe in the opening scene. Stan and Ollie sit on a park bench with a scruffy little dog called Buster; they may be homeless, but they aren't starving and their world is somehow in harmony. But when Ollie learns he has inherited a fortune, and magnanimously allows Stan to become his butler, things get seriously out of whack, for it quickly becomes obvious that prosperity does not bring out the best in Mr. Hardy.

For the next several scenes (which take place after Ollie has acquired a big house and filled it with possessions), we watch with growing dismay as Ollie, now a drunken playboy, torments his conscientious servant. Ollie locks Stan out of the house, bops him on the head and laughs, chases him, and pours water on him in his bed. Understandably, Stan becomes increasingly upset and exasperated with the new order of things, although he's expected to maintain decorum and address his tormentor as "Sir." These scenes are more pathetic than funny, and the (generally under-appreciated) acting skill of both men makes matters worse, for Ollie's gleeful sadism seems just as real as Stan's deepening sense of humiliation. It's only when Stan finally reaches the limit of his tolerance and retaliates that the film becomes more satisfying, for we all enjoy seeing a worm turn, and God knows Ollie deserves a comeuppance. Nevertheless, in the end this movie leaves a rather disagreeable aftertaste.

The best thing in Early to Bed is a sequence involving an ornate indoor fountain that graces the Hardy mansion, decorated with cherubs designed to resemble Ollie. The fountain becomes the climactic setting for Stan's revenge, and the boys' implied reconciliation. (The gag is a reworking of a sequence in a Mabel Normand comedy entitled Should Men Walk Home?, released a year earlier, with Oliver Hardy in a supporting role.) While this sequence is clever in its own right, the amusing egotism of the fountain's design also offers a neat satirical comment on the Nouveau Riche. The scene works well as a stand-alone excerpt in Robert Youngson's compilation The Further Perils of Laurel & Hardy. In the context of Early to Bed the fountain sequence is certainly the highlight, and the best reason to watch in the first place.

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, 'Early to Bed' like '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 'Early to Bed' 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. 'Early to Bed' is no exception, on top of being flimsy it is also along with 'Their Purple Moment' more predictable, hackneyed and repetitive than most with outcomes being easily foreseeable and some of the content being hit and miss.

The pace sometimes could have been tighter in the early stages and at times there is a darker element that doesn't really gel with everything else.

On the other hand, Laurel and Hardy are more than very amusing, particularly Laurel, and they work well together, also their role reversals are interesting. Three quarters of 'Early to Bed' does mostly amuse and has some fun and well timed moments and gags, especially when Laurel goes on the rampage.

It's not dull, is competently directed, the dog is an amusing character and holds up quite well visually.

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

As a curiosity, EARLY TO BED is one of the oddest films of Laurel and Hardy. It is not one of the funniest of the boys' films - with good reason. Hardy has to be chief victim of the two because he is so pretentious, and he has to be victim by the actions of his close friend Laurel (who does not know his actions are going to hurt Hardy). But Stan rarely, if ever, purposely attacks Hardy - unless he is bullied by Hardy beyond endurance. In some of their shorts he does rebel and lash back at Hardy. But it usually is very brief in duration.

The general view of Oliver Hardy is that he is just as dumb as Stan Laurel but pretentious. That's true, but if either of them happen to have any social position (except in A CHUMP AT OXFORD, where Stan turns out to be a brainy Oxford student and nobleman) it is Hardy. He is a successful businessman turned reform candidate for Mayor in one short, and an apparently wealthy stock speculator turned bridegroom in a second film. In a third film he masquerades as a wealthy hunter and home owner with Stan as the upstairs maid. This is tied to his physical presence and southern courtly behavior. But in all these shorts (except the one where Ollie is an impostor) Stan is a business associate or friend of Ollie's. It is only in EARLY TO BED that we see the actual effect of Ollie getting rich and how it changes his relationship with Stan.

For when he gets rich Ollie gets mean. He enjoys the good life (including a wardrobe that is far more like that of a man about town than the typical derby and wrinkled suit that Ollie wears). He is something of an art collector. And he can only see his pal Stan as a servant. Stan accepts the offer to be Ollie's servant, but probably figured that Ollie would treat him as a pal and close associate. Instead Ollie plays practical jokes, like ringing the doorbell, hiding, while Stan goes outside to see who rang, and then locking Stan out.

Stan puts up with this and more painful and annoying jokes, until he finally gets tired and tells Ollie he's quitting. Ollie refuses to let him (he considers Stan his possession too), and Stan accidentally knocks over one of Ollie's art treasures. It horrifies Ollie, and Stan starts purposely destroying items in Ollie's house. He also chases Hardy, who hides (as has pointed out) in an ornate fountain that has cherubs with Hardy's head sprouting water. Ollie tries to keep up a stream of water, but can't after awhile. Stan than hits him on the head to see if the head is jammed or not. And Hardy releases more water from his mouth!

It is, as most of the comments here say, a rather odd film. It has some moments of humor, but the central business of the story is so contrary to what we expect from Stan and Ollie that it leaves a bitter taste in our mouths. As most say on this thread, see the film for completeness, but you don't have to see it again afterward.