Sottozero

BELOW ZERO

Aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white - Short film)

A pair of bumbling street musicians (Laurel and Hardy) find a wallet in the snow, leading to a series of comic complications.

James Parrott's wonderful comedy short opens with L&H playing 'In the Good Old Summertime' to unappreciative passers-by during a heavy snow storm, only to discover they've been performing on the most unprofitable street in the city (I won't spoil the gag by revealing it here)! H.M. Walker's inspired screenplay piles disaster upon disaster for our hapless heroes, culminating in a restaurant encounter with outraged cop Frank Holliday and no-nonsense restaurateur Tiny Sandford. Like so many of these early shorts, the movie amounts to a loose assortment of comic incidents rather than a cohesive narrative, but it works like a charm. Highlights include L&H's encounter with hatchet-faced Blanche Payson, who responds with violent abandon to an errant snowball, and a surreal ending which closes proceedings on a slightly cryptic note (modern viewers will have their own idea what Stan whispers into Ollie's ear during the closing moments!). Photographed with vivid intensity by future filmmaker George Stevens, BELOW ZERO is one of the highlights of L&H's illustrious career.

Strange early L&H-Talkie. The first half is almost completely silent and the second part is filled with many surrealistic gags.

Laurel & Hardy are street-musicians in the winter of 1929. They don't have any success, perhaps because of the kinda unfitting song they play, "In The Good Old Summertime" or the place they've chosen to perform at, the deaf and dumb-institute. Their luck seems to change when they find a wallet, but a suspicious looking guy obeys them and chases them down the street until a cop holds him up. Thankful, L&H spend him a lunch at a nearby restaurant. When it comes to paying, they find a photo of the cop in the wallet. The cop sees it too, misunderstands the situation, thinking L&H had stolen the wallet from him. He pays his check with his money and L&H are left to the wrath of the waiter.

A strange film, but one of my favourites L&H-shorts.

"Below Zero" helped to establish Stan and Ollie in talkie films and this comedy short contains some very good scenes of slapstick. We also bear witness to the loyalty and true friendship that exists between the two. The setting is that of a harsh winter. Stan and Ollie are two street musicians and earnings are nearly non- existent. They soon realise this after they discover they have been performing outside a home for the deaf and blind! Later on, they befriend a policeman and invite him to be their honoured guest for lunch. Oh dear...... I could feel the comic tension ascending as the fate of the boys is sealed, thanks to obtaining money that wasn't theirs! Plenty to enjoy here.

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. Didn't find 'Below Zero' as one of their best and a bit disappointing compared to their late 1928 and the best of their 1929 efforts, which were among their best and funniest early work. It is still very good and has much of what makes Laurel and Hardy's work as appealing as it is.

The story is extremely slight and the first part takes a little bit too time to get going and is a little formulaic.

When 'Below Zero' does get going, which it does do quite quickly, it is great fun, not always hilarious but never less than very amusing, the best 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 but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive.

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 'Below Zero' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'Below Zero' 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's show all the way.

Overall, very good. Not essential or classic Laurel and Hardy, but a very good representation of them. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Amusing short comedy with Laurel and Hardy as two street musicians in the cold winter of 1929.

While they don't deserve much entertaining the people on the streets their luck changes when Laurel finds himself a filled wallet. They're almost robbed but a cop comes to their rescue. To thank him, they take him to dinner.

When the check is due though they find out that the wallet they found is actually the cop's, so in the end they're thrown out of the place.

Amusing short from this funny couple, though a bit slow at times, in particular in the first part. 6/10.