The Sawmill

Larry Semon was (at best) in the lower second rank of silent-movie comedians, more likely in the third rank. Buster Keaton, in his memoir co-written with Charles Samuels, commented that Semon tended to fill his comedies with all sorts of outrageous gags which had nothing to do with the plot or the characters. Consequently (said Keaton), audiences tended to laugh harder at Semon's shorts than at other comedians' work ... but afterwards they couldn't remember what they'd laughed at. It's hard to see how Keaton can have known this: did pollsters stop audiences on their way out of Semon screenings, and challenge them to synopsise what they'd just seen? But Keaton's observation was apparently made without malice, and certainly seems to be true.

I've sat through 'The Sawmill' twice without laughing at all, and I'm blowed if I can remember what it's about. Semon's in a sawmill, right enough, and he avoids the obvious gags such as tying the heroine to a log as it approaches the buzzsaw. But he doesn't do anything better than that, either. This is very much a run-of-the-mill Semon movie, and I'm not saying that to hang jokes on the word 'mill'.

As IMDb correctly notes, Semon expended a huge budget on this short comedy (and he spent only slightly smaller budgets on some of his others, such as 'The Counter Jumper'). Semon insisted on producing and budgeting his own films (with other people's money), but he was notoriously bad at budgeting and financing ... nearly as bad as Harry Langdon. Semon's eventual bankruptcy was undoubtedly a factor in his early death ... or disappearance, depending on which theory you believe. Anyway, you can definitely believe that 'The Sawmill' is worth a miss. I'll rate it, at absolute most, one point in 10. That sound you hear of sawing wood is the audience snoring.

This comedy short contains some fantastic stunt work. I wish I knew how many were done by the actors and which were done by the uncredited stunt performers, but while the film is filled with familiar gags and features an early appearance by Babe Hardy--better known as Oliver Hardy after his partnership with Stan Laurel--the real star of this film is some amazing stunt work. From massive falling trees barely missing the performers to high dive and one amazing double rope swing, these amazing stunts are worth watching just to enjoy for their own merit.

Overall, not a bad film, but just sit back and marvel at the work of stunt men (and perhaps stunt women) long before the days of CGI and all the safety procedures we have a century later.

I found this short, The Sawmill, on a Platinum DVD collection of Laurel and Hardy shorts. It stars Larry Semon as one of the workers. Oliver Hardy plays the foreman and chief tormentor of Semon who shares with him a rivalry for the owner's daughter's hand. Unlike the Laurel and Hardy classic Busy Bodies, not all gags take place in a sawmill, some also take place in the owner's house involving a dog and some dynamite. There are also gags involving logs, paint, falling off roofs, and water. All are perfectly executed. There's a cartoonish atmosphere that's infectious here and that would eventually serve Hardy's later partnership with Stan Laurel well. For fans of Laurel and Hardy, this is well worth seeking out!

The good L&H in a sawmill is the short film "Busy Bodies" (1933), worth watching.

The Sawmill, despite its big budget, seems no different from any of the other Larry Semon films. It is the same story as usual. As the title suggests it is set in a sawmill. Larry has fallen for the owners daughter and Oliver Hardy has done the same. Hardy appears in his usual role of, the crook who tries to get the girl using brute force. This film features the usual Semon stunts, such as falling off buildings (rarely self performed) and jumping huge gaps. This film is nothing great, but you really have to pity Semon, for the film appears to have had a great deal put into it (virtually everything gets destroyed at some point).