Berth Marks

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.

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.

I just recently got into collecting really old films in their original format--16mm--to be viewed on a projector. And I just won a print of this on eBay, to arrive in a few days.

I'm curious how the experience will differ watching it blown up on a large screen in my backyard... with the noise of the projector...and those real grey tones and unaltered sound.

As opposed to just watching a DVD of it.

Yeah, progress is great, but I have a feeling that watching it via film is gonna feel more like living a little bit of history. When it arrives and I finally view it, I'll give a review.

But I have a feeling that it's going to be magic.

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.

On a train to a musical performance, Stan and Ollie do what you might expect. The best part of "Berth Marks" is when they're in the compartment trying to go to bed. A notable piece of trivia about this short - their second talkie - is that it's the film debut of Paulette Goddard, Charlie Chaplin's wife from 1936-42 (and his co-star in "Modern Times" and "The Great Dictator").

It's not Laurel & Hardy's best movie, but still fun. There's now a movie about the comic duo, with Steve Coogan as Laurel and John C. Reilly as Hardy. I hope to see it. In the meantime, I recommend "Berth Marks". One can see how L&H influenced Gilligan and the Skipper.

Good one.