Navy Blue Days

Plot In a Nutshell: A sailor (Stan Laurel) finds trouble when he courts a local girl with an unforgiving boyfriend.

Why I rated it a '7': This short had me amused through much of its run time. It's really three different skits put into one film. The first involves a naval officer receiving a dinner invitation and he's encouraged to bring a friend. Stan tries repeatedly (but unsuccessfully) to be the 'friend' the officer takes along. Eventually he just decides to follow the officer to the dinner and that leads to skit #2. Here the two men compete for the attention and affection of the woman who sent the invitation, and that continues until the boyfriend comes home, leading to skit #3...

The officer, seeing the boyfriend outside the window, leaves. But Stan doesn't see him and continues courting the woman, drawing the ire of the boyfriend. What follows is an extended chase sequence where Stan tries to evade the boyfriend, but as they run through town, more and more locals join the chase. If you've ever seen one of those Benny Hill skits where a bunch of people are chasing Hill across a landscape in sped-up motion, the climax of Navy Blue Days will bring back fond memories!

7/10. Nothing amazing here, but funny enough to be a decent 20-minute time filler. Would I watch again (Y/N)?: Yup.