The Finishing Touch

THE FINISHING TOUCH, a silent short featuring Laurel & Hardy and shot in 1928, features one of my favourite gags ever put on film: Ollie insists on carrying a handful of nails in his mouth, with predictable results. Yes, it's entirely silly and doesn't even get close to realistic, but nevertheless the execution and acting on the part of Hardy make this one of the funniest things I've seen.

Elsewhere, THE FINISHING TOUCH is a very good effort from the twosome. As in all of their best plots, they play a couple of workmen, here trying to build a 'dream home'; what transpires will surprise nobody. The gags are laboured, occasionally forced, and of the most basic slapstick, and yet they work, and work, and work. The only downside is that this is a silent, so it misses all of the crashing sound effects that would have added immeasurably to the experience.

Less than a year after they were teamed the boys had already hit their stride with this little gem. The emphasis here is particularly on slapstick as a succession of hilarious sight gags eventually culminate in the inevitable orgy of destruction.

This has got to be one of Laurel & Hardy's funniest silent comedies. They play a pair of labourers hired by a desperate builder to fit windows to a house. This would be difficult enough for the boys, but an added complication is the fact that the house is directly opposite a hospital, meaning that they must try to carry out their duties in near silence.

There are some beautiful sight gags in this one: Stan looking around in bewilderment for a pail he has inadvertently hooked onto the end of his shovel, Stan (again) carrying both ends of an improbably large plank, and Stan (yet again) attempting to saw a plank with a wobbly saw. It's real schoolboy stuff, I know, but it still had me howling with laughter. Edgar Kennedy, master of the slow-burn, plays the hapless cop whose attempts to ensure the boys keep quiet prove futile. The name of the nurse who thinks nothing of using a few well-aimed punches in order to keep the peace escapes me, but she's pretty cute. Be sure to see this one if you get the chance.

THE FINISHING TOUCH is a film typical of classic Laurel and Hardy films. There are many aspects of it that are seen in their other films. For instance, they boys are building a house and is very reminiscent of a few of their films such as BUSY BODIES and DIRTY WORK--all films where the team are trying to build or fix things and end up destroying everything around them. Additionally, at the end of the film, there is a big fight scene that sure brings to mind their BIG BUSINESS, TWO TARS and THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY. Now all this familiarity isn't bad--especially when the films are as enjoyable and fun as all the ones I just listed.

Stan and Ollie are contracted to do the finishing work on a new house. However, since they are idiots, the tend to mostly break everything and hurt themselves in the process. In addition to Ollie getting the worst of many of these accidents, an innocent cop (Edgar Kennedy) gets banged around pretty badly as well--even though he was just an innocent bystander--a particularly even-tempered one at that. The film ends with the home being pretty much like you'd expect if Stan and Ollie had built it and there are many wonderful stunts at the end of the film.

Overall, it's a lot of fun and is one of the better silent shorts the team made.

By the way, watch the dump truck scene near the beginning. The truck dumps a load but only moments later the load magically vanishes due to poor editing and continuity. It doesn't ruin the film at all but I am surprised they didn't fix this mistake.

"The Finishing Touch" is a mostly at one location set movie. Because of this the movie hasn't got to concentrate on the story but can concentrate on the slapstick moments and humor instead.

This time the boys are building an house. But of course everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. And instead of constructors they are are more slowly turning into demolition men.

This is a silent movie, so the movie entirely focuses and relies on its slapstick moments, rather than the dialog or storyline. So fans of simple slapstick humor will find plenty to enjoy in this Laurel & Hardy short.

I for one, however do not regard this movie as a totally successful one. Not all of the comical moments work out hilarious, at least not in the way they could have had and because of that the movie is entirely set on one location, the humor is just too much of the same at times.

Does have its moments but definitely not the best- and one of the more forgettable Laurel & Hardy silent shorts.

7/10

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