Helpmates

This is one hilarious Laurel & Hardy comedy short.

The story is, as always, deliciously simple. Oliver Hardy just had a wild party in his house the other night. The next morning he hears by telegram that his 'lovely' wife shall return from Chicago were she has been with her mother the last couple of days. Of course the house is a total wreck so in all his panic, Oliver calls his good friend Stanley to help to clean the mess up before Oliver's wife gets home. But of course instead of cleaning up, the boys make an even bigger mess.

This is basically the only joke of the movie; the two boys cleaning the mess up. It provides some absolutely hilarious and well executed slapstick sequences. The slapstick moments are amazingly stupid and unlikely but because of that also extremely hilarious. This movie is really filled with great slapstick moments, so fans of slapstick comedy will be absolutely delighted while watching this movie.

This is how I want a Laurel & Hardy movie to be; simple, stupid and filled with well executed slapstick humor.

9/10

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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.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. 'Helpmates' for me is up there with their best and certainly among their funniest.

Can't really find anything wrong with it, was past caring this time as to whether the story was standard or not because it gets to the point and has a lot of energy throughout, on top of being riotously funny in its best moments. Whoever knew that attempting to clean up a house, something that can be fairly stressful, could be so entertaining?

From start to finish 'Helpmates' is great fun, never less than very amusing and the best moments, such as the ending, being classic hilarity. It is never too silly, there is a wackiness that never loses its energy and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be new as such but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive. A lot happens yet it doesn't ever feel rushed or over-stuffed. The ending is a sheer delight and it contains one of the best and most priceless lines of all Laurel and Hardy.

Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'Helpmates' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'Helpmates' looks good visually, is full of energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. The supporting players are solid, but it's Laurel and Hardy who take the honours here.

In summary, one of Laurel and Hardy's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Finally, at long last, I have stumbled upon a Laurel and Hardy short that perfectly balances slapstick comedy and verbal banter to create a short that is a winning combination of the both, without being too reliant on the former. Helpmates concerns Hardy, who awakens after an evidently-raucous party took place in his apartment, with everything in total disarray and his wife coming home that very day. Hardy - after giving himself quite the hilarious lecture in the mirror - does all he can when he wakes up with a hangover and without a clue; he phones Laurel, who rushes over (after playing the most believable rendition of stupid and witless) to help his longtime pal clean up before the arrival of his wife.

Helpmates is the classic comedy short that derives its humor from the thesis question "just how much can go wrong for these two well-meaning individuals?" So much destruction and chaos is caused by trying to remedy the situation than was in the process of not even caring about the situation or the well-being of the house during the unseen party, it seems. Windows are broken, people are injured, and a cacophony of madness ensues for the boys as they try to do the right thing but end up doing everything completely and totally wrong.

Helpmates delicately balances the insanity with the narratively witty, setting up the short in a "one thing leads to another" manner rather than just having a plethora of ridiculousness cobbled together with no rhyme or reason. There's a structurally insanity to Helpmates that makes it so fun, and the age-old idea of destroying something even more when you're trying to fix it almost never gets old. This is one of the most fun Laurel and Hardy shorts I know, even more so considering it was a recipe for slapstick monotony.

Starring: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Directed by: James Parrott.

When the cat's away the mice will play. This is true when Mrs Hardy goes out of town and Ollie has a huge party that sees his house a mess and his cash lost on poker games. When a telegram arrives telling Ollie that his wife is due back at noon that day, Ollie turns to Stanley for help tidying the house – that was his first mistake.

Similar in style to many of their other shorts, this film sees the duo's attempts to fix/tidy the house actually results in more damage than existed in the first place. The set up with Ollie addressing himself (but seems like it's the audience) is a little strange but once the film moves into the whole cleaning up business it does get a lot better. Ollie goes flying over a hoover on several occasions and his suit frequent changes grow increasingly amusing. It goes without saying that the degree of mishap that Laurel causes increases throughout the film and the punchline, although not hilarious, is a good conclusion.

In terms of cast Laurel and Hardy pretty much carry this themselves. Payson makes a brief appearance as Mrs Hardy but her role is to be plain and aggressive rather than funny. That said, the film doesn't really need anyone else as the pair do good work. Hardy bears the brunt of the physical work but also does good `to camera' looks. Laurel does his usual shtick but I always think he does a lot of work `off the ball' to use a football term. Because Hardy more often is the focus of the punchline (ie the look or the fall) I always tend to notice him and forget the involvement of Laurel in the set up or enabling the film to move on – that was the case here.

Overall this is an enjoyable short that sees the tried and tested formula of `chores go wrong' used to good effect.

Helpmates has laughs from beginning to end, replete with the slapstick and wordplay that are the trademarks of the greatest film comedy team ever. It's twenty minutes of delight and each gag builds on the one before and sets up the next, a crazy crescendo in a symphony of sublime silliness. The comic Lou Costello was once asked who he thought was the greatest comedy team of all time and he unhesitatingly named Laurel and Hardy. Helpmates is worth many watches. This 1932 short nearly equals their Oscar winning short, The Music Box. See it. Then visit the Boys again and again. Laurel and Hardy - except for their mishandling by Fox in the 1940s -- are, as the great Steve Allen once said - ALWAYS funny.