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THEIR PURPLE MOMENT

Aspect ratio: 1.33:1

Sound format: Silent

(Black and white - Short film)

Two luckless nightclub revellers (Laurel and Hardy) are unable to pay their bill, provoking violent retribution from a hot-tempered waiter (Tiny Sandford).

Typical L&H scenario, less substantial than some of their best work from this period, but worth a look nonetheless. Stan takes center-stage this time round, caught up in a financial dilemma after holding back part of his wages to fund a night on the town, only to find out - too late! - that his aggrieved wife (Fay Holderness) has replaced his stash with worthless coupons. Some of the prolonged closeups of Laurel as he slowly becomes aware of the unfolding disaster reveal his genius for characterization and mime. 1920's morality is represented by Patsy O'Byrne, playing a hatchet-faced busy-body who takes great joy in alerting L&H's respective spouses (Holderness and Lyle Taho) to their husbands' bad behavior. The ending fizzles, but the movie still has much to recommend it. Directed by James Parrott.

This is another of Laurel & Hardy's early shorts that I watched on Hulu as linked from IMDb. This seems to be the first time they have wives that boss them around so they have to sneak around in order to have some fun like later on in films like Be Big or Sons of the Desert. In this one, Stan & Ollie go to a restaurant after a couple of men run out on their dates so the boys volunteer to help pay for the women (Kay Deslys, Anita Garvin) left behind. But both men find out their wives took their money without them knowing. And the gossiping woman, seeing them all there, goes back to tell the spouses what's what. I'll stop there and just say that not much funny happens until the food fight that ends the picture. It replaced an earlier sequence that involved Stan & Ollie dressing as women that was filmed but I'm guessing that's now lost. There's a still from that scene in Randy Skrevedt's book "Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies". On that point, Their Purple Moment is at least worth a look.

Once again I seem to be in the minority: I think that Their Purple Moment sees Laurel and Hardy in fine form. It starts with Stan (playing Mr. Pincher) being waylaid by his battle-axe wife at the front door, the woman demanding the poor guy's wages. However, Mr. Pincher has been holding back a few dollars from each pay packet in preparation for a special night out with his pal Ollie.

Pretending to be going ten-pin bowling, the two men sneak off for a wild time at a boozy joint where they hook up with a couple of young women. The foursome tuck into big steaks and pints of beer while enjoying a dancing midget cabaret act, but when it comes to settling the bill, Mr. Pincher realises that his wife has found his hidden cash and replaced it with grocery coupons.

Laurel's facial expressions after he discovers that he has no money are hilarious, alternating between confusion to utter dismay; Hardy's face is also a treat when he sees that they are skint. Together, the pair try to leave the establishment without paying, but must avoid their wive (who have tracked them down) while also dodging angry staff.

In addition to the funny expressions, the dancing midgets, and the angry sped-up wives striding down the street, viewers are also treated to Laurel doing one of his fancy tricks (catapulting a spoon into a glass), and a messy finalé in the kitchen that sees lots of grub being hurled (others seem to find the ending something of a let down, but I love a good food fight!).

Admittedly, the originally planned ending involving Stan and Ollie pretending to be midgets to escape the club might have been even better, but this is still worth at least 7/10 in my book.

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, '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 'Their Purple Moment' 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. 'Their Purple Moment' is no exception, on top of being flimsy it is also more predictable, hackneyed and repetitive than most with outcomes being easily foreseeable and some of the content being hit and miss as well as rather repetitive at times.

The pace sometimes could have been tighter. 'Their Purple Moment's' weak link is the ending, a real fizzler that is rushed, uninspired and somewhat tasteless.

On the other hand, Laurel and Hardy are more than very amusing, particularly Laurel, and they work well together. Three quarters of 'Their Purple Moment' does mostly amuse and has some fun and well timed moments and gags.

It's not dull, is competently directed, has a nice supporting cast and holds up quite well visually.

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

While I had actually never heard about this 1928 short silent film titled "Their Purple Moment", I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch it, as it was a Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy movie after all.

Writers H. M. Walker and Stan Laurel put together a nice script and straightforward storyline. It was pretty much an archetypical Laurel and Hardy movie, for better or worse.

The acting performances in the movie were good, and you know what you are getting from the comedy duo of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The only familiar faces on the cast list were Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, not a surprise really, as I have not been overly much watching movies this old.

Enjoyable and funny, "Their Purple Moment" is definitely one for the fans of Laurel and Hardy.

My rating of directors James Parrott and Fred Guiol's 1928 "Their Purple Moment" lands on a five out of ten stars.