Le ore piccole

This early Laurel & Hardy comedy is something of an oddity, and although fans will want to see it at least once Early to Bed is not one of the team's more entertaining efforts. Moreover, for anyone who cares about Laurel & Hardy, that is, anyone who regards the characters they portray with fondness, this film could well be a disturbing, unpleasant experience. I'm a lifelong L&H fan and enjoy most of their output, but seeing the boys' friendship go sour in Early to Bed feels like watching helplessly while two old friends get into a vicious fistfight.

By the time this film was made the guys had developed the screen personae we all remember, complete with derbies and shabby-genteel suits. More to the point, their childlike personalities and relationship with each other were pretty well established, as we observe in the opening scene. Stan and Ollie sit on a park bench with a scruffy little dog called Buster; they may be homeless, but they aren't starving and their world is somehow in harmony. But when Ollie learns he has inherited a fortune, and magnanimously allows Stan to become his butler, things get seriously out of whack, for it quickly becomes obvious that prosperity does not bring out the best in Mr. Hardy.

For the next several scenes (which take place after Ollie has acquired a big house and filled it with possessions), we watch with growing dismay as Ollie, now a drunken playboy, torments his conscientious servant. Ollie locks Stan out of the house, bops him on the head and laughs, chases him, and pours water on him in his bed. Understandably, Stan becomes increasingly upset and exasperated with the new order of things, although he's expected to maintain decorum and address his tormentor as "Sir." These scenes are more pathetic than funny, and the (generally under-appreciated) acting skill of both men makes matters worse, for Ollie's gleeful sadism seems just as real as Stan's deepening sense of humiliation. It's only when Stan finally reaches the limit of his tolerance and retaliates that the film becomes more satisfying, for we all enjoy seeing a worm turn, and God knows Ollie deserves a comeuppance. Nevertheless, in the end this movie leaves a rather disagreeable aftertaste.

The best thing in Early to Bed is a sequence involving an ornate indoor fountain that graces the Hardy mansion, decorated with cherubs designed to resemble Ollie. The fountain becomes the climactic setting for Stan's revenge, and the boys' implied reconciliation. (The gag is a reworking of a sequence in a Mabel Normand comedy entitled Should Men Walk Home?, released a year earlier, with Oliver Hardy in a supporting role.) While this sequence is clever in its own right, the amusing egotism of the fountain's design also offers a neat satirical comment on the Nouveau Riche. The scene works well as a stand-alone excerpt in Robert Youngson's compilation The Further Perils of Laurel & Hardy. In the context of Early to Bed the fountain sequence is certainly the highlight, and the best reason to watch in the first place.

This was a strange Laurel and Hardy silent short subject. For one thing except for a dog there are no other cast members. No Jimmy Finlayson for reaction shots to their clowning.

Early To Bed also has Ollie almost turning into a bully. God knows his character gets thoroughly exasperated with Stan, but I never saw him bully Stan. As for Laurel. I've never seen him change so radically as he did except in A Chump At Oxford. When the worm turns it really turns.

One day these two with their dog are polishing a park bench with the seat of their pants when Ollie gets a letter saying he now has a fortune. Stan is concerned that there's no place for him, but Ollie offers him the position of butler and Stan takes it.

It's abundantly clear soon enough that all Ollie wants is a doormat or a punching bag. But Stan soon tires of being a doormat and when he does watch out.

This is a different Stan and Ollie, but I'm not sure I liked them this way.

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.

After their previous 1928 efforts saw a step in the right direction and the two were starting to hit their stride while still evolving, 'Early to Bed' like 'Their Purple Moment' sees a couple of steps backwards and something of a disappointment. Certainly far from terrible and it is a long way from a misfire of theirs (up to this point '45 Minutes from Hollywood' was the only one to fit this distinction), but 'Early to Bed' is far from a gem. It is a shame because their previous 1928 efforts were so promising and the concept here was not a bad one.

Laurel and Hardy's work was never known to have particularly great stories, which tended to be the weakest element. 'Early to Bed' is no exception, on top of being flimsy it is also along with 'Their Purple Moment' more predictable, hackneyed and repetitive than most with outcomes being easily foreseeable and some of the content being hit and miss.

The pace sometimes could have been tighter in the early stages and at times there is a darker element that doesn't really gel with everything else.

On the other hand, Laurel and Hardy are more than very amusing, particularly Laurel, and they work well together, also their role reversals are interesting. Three quarters of 'Early to Bed' does mostly amuse and has some fun and well timed moments and gags, especially when Laurel goes on the rampage.

It's not dull, is competently directed, the dog is an amusing character and holds up quite well visually.

All in all, definitely worthwhile but not a Laurel and Hardy essential. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This movie its humor is very childish, even for a Laurel & Hardy movie. Never have I seen Oliver Hardy act like a bigger baby before. Sure, it still gives the movie some good laughs but the humor is too simple and predictable to consider this an above average Laurel & Hardy silent comedy short.

Of course none of the Laurel & Hardy movies really have humor of a very high order when it comes to originality, predictability and subtlety but in normal cases this doesn't matter at all, since it's so extremely fine executed and timed. They however really went too far with this movie however. It's even more simple and predictable than we are accustomed to. Not sure what they tried to accomplish here. Perhaps they were targeting for a younger audience?

It's very sad to see acting Oliver Hardy as childish as he does in this movie. It gets to a level that it's almost too embarrassing to watch.

But still, the movie its slapstick is good. Although certainly predictable, it's still funny to watch all. Some of the sequences are really memorable but the rest of the movie and its story drags down the level of entertainment.

6/10

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Early to Bed (1928)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Hardy becomes rich overnight and offers his best friend Laurel a job as his butler. Money soon goes to Hardy's head and he come home picking on Laurel. This is a very unfunny film and certainly the worst I've seen from L&H. The two have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever, which really kills things. Most of the jokes come off annoying and not funny.

Sugar Daddies (1927)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A millionaire (James Finlayson) wakes up after a night of partying to discover that he's now married. The new bride and her crazy brother are now trying to blackmail him so he calls his attorney (Stan Laurel) to settle the matter. Not too many laughs here but the thing is fun nonetheless. Oliver Hardy plays the butler.