Il tocco finale

"The Finishing Touch" is a mostly at one location set movie. Because of this the movie hasn't got to concentrate on the story but can concentrate on the slapstick moments and humor instead.

This time the boys are building an house. But of course everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. And instead of constructors they are are more slowly turning into demolition men.

This is a silent movie, so the movie entirely focuses and relies on its slapstick moments, rather than the dialog or storyline. So fans of simple slapstick humor will find plenty to enjoy in this Laurel & Hardy short.

I for one, however do not regard this movie as a totally successful one. Not all of the comical moments work out hilarious, at least not in the way they could have had and because of that the movie is entirely set on one location, the humor is just too much of the same at times.

Does have its moments but definitely not the best- and one of the more forgettable Laurel & Hardy silent shorts.

7/10

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THE FINISHING TOUCH, a silent short featuring Laurel & Hardy and shot in 1928, features one of my favourite gags ever put on film: Ollie insists on carrying a handful of nails in his mouth, with predictable results. Yes, it's entirely silly and doesn't even get close to realistic, but nevertheless the execution and acting on the part of Hardy make this one of the funniest things I've seen.

Elsewhere, THE FINISHING TOUCH is a very good effort from the twosome. As in all of their best plots, they play a couple of workmen, here trying to build a 'dream home'; what transpires will surprise nobody. The gags are laboured, occasionally forced, and of the most basic slapstick, and yet they work, and work, and work. The only downside is that this is a silent, so it misses all of the crashing sound effects that would have added immeasurably to the experience.

There is little I can add to the comments offered by the other posters. However, when viewing this film I do see Stan and Babe working on becoming the masterful Babes in the Woods characters we have come to know them. Their timing and interaction is never less than astounding and their fearlessly effective telegraphing of a gag reveals a mastery of their craft that I would argue no other comics have. There was one event that startled me about this film and helped me to appreciate it more. I have been informed by a reliable source that this film is used as a training film at the United States Department of Labor!!!!!!!!!!! What is it used to train people about? The common mistakes that ordinary people make in construction sites or similar situations that place themselves in danger. When film scholars label Stan and Babe as the perfect masters of Reducio ad Absurdum comedy, as they do, perhaps the use this early Stan and Babe effort found itself put to helps prove the point.

Less than a year after they were teamed the boys had already hit their stride with this little gem. The emphasis here is particularly on slapstick as a succession of hilarious sight gags eventually culminate in the inevitable orgy of destruction.

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.

While not classic Laurel and Hardy, later films, short and feature, had stronger chemistry when fully formed and used their considerable talents better, 'The Finishing Touch' is a lot of fun. Before, Laurel was much funnier and more interesting while Hardy in most of the previous outings had too little to do. 'The Finishing Touch', along with 'Leave Em Laughing', is one of their first very good efforts, to me it's easily one of their best at this point of their careers and one of the first to feel like a Laurel and Hardy short rather than a short featuring them.

'The Finishing Touch' does take a little too long to get going perhaps.

Also found that the ending was on the slightly clumsy side.

Laurel however is very funny, and sometimes hilarious. It is wonderful seeing Hardy having more to do and he is on Laurel's level and actually even funnier. The chemistry is certainly much more here than in previous outings of theirs, namely because there's more of them together and it was starting to feel like a partnership. Support is nice, particularly from Dorothy Coburn.

A good deal of the humour is well timed, hugely energetic and very funny if not always hilarious, with everything going at a lively pace and there is a lot of charm and good nature to keep one going. 'The Finishing Touch' looks quite good still.

In summary, a lot of fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox