Tutto in ordine

This is classic Laurel and Hardy. The origin of Dumb and Dumber and an inspiration for generations of comedians and comedy writers, Laurel and Hardy were the masters of complicating easy tasks beyond the point of minor disaster. Often referred to as the fiddle and the bow, this comedy team started in the silent era with slapstick humor. Many of the comedies revolve around the destruction of cars, for which they found many ways to destroy. Upon the coming of the sound era, many silent stars lost work because of voice flaws (see Singin' In The Rain for a great example) or because they could only do visual slapstick comedy. Laurel and Hardy were able to transcend the silent era of slapstick and successfully incorporate witty dialogue in amongst their visual humor.

This two realer is classic as the Boys try and clean up after Ollie's wild party before his wife comes home. The ending of this short comedy has the funniest line of all time. As usual, Laurel and Hardy are their bumbling destructive selves, which of course leads to one laugh right on top of another. As Ollie says in the beginning while looking at himself in the mirror, "I have two words to describe you. Impossible."

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. 'Helpmates' for me is up there with their best and certainly among their funniest.

Can't really find anything wrong with it, was past caring this time as to whether the story was standard or not because it gets to the point and has a lot of energy throughout, on top of being riotously funny in its best moments. Whoever knew that attempting to clean up a house, something that can be fairly stressful, could be so entertaining?

From start to finish 'Helpmates' is great fun, never less than very amusing and the best moments, such as the ending, 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 as such but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive. A lot happens yet it doesn't ever feel rushed or over-stuffed. The ending is a sheer delight and it contains one of the best and most priceless lines of all Laurel and Hardy.

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

'Helpmates' 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 who take the honours here.

In summary, one of Laurel and Hardy's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox

"Helpmates" is one of a number of Laurel and Hardy short comedies based on the simple premise of seeing how much damage two men can do in one home in a short time without really trying. This time, Stan is 'helping' Ollie to clean up his house after a wild party, since Ollie's wife is due home soon. There is a lot of creative slapstick as they get into one mess after another. Most of the gags this time are fairly predictable, but are funny because they're done with good timing and the usual humorous mannerisms. Laurel and Hardy fans won't be disappointed by this one.

When the cat's away the mice will play. This is true when Mrs Hardy goes out of town and Ollie has a huge party that sees his house a mess and his cash lost on poker games. When a telegram arrives telling Ollie that his wife is due back at noon that day, Ollie turns to Stanley for help tidying the house – that was his first mistake.

Similar in style to many of their other shorts, this film sees the duo's attempts to fix/tidy the house actually results in more damage than existed in the first place. The set up with Ollie addressing himself (but seems like it's the audience) is a little strange but once the film moves into the whole cleaning up business it does get a lot better. Ollie goes flying over a hoover on several occasions and his suit frequent changes grow increasingly amusing. It goes without saying that the degree of mishap that Laurel causes increases throughout the film and the punchline, although not hilarious, is a good conclusion.

In terms of cast Laurel and Hardy pretty much carry this themselves. Payson makes a brief appearance as Mrs Hardy but her role is to be plain and aggressive rather than funny. That said, the film doesn't really need anyone else as the pair do good work. Hardy bears the brunt of the physical work but also does good `to camera' looks. Laurel does his usual shtick but I always think he does a lot of work `off the ball' to use a football term. Because Hardy more often is the focus of the punchline (ie the look or the fall) I always tend to notice him and forget the involvement of Laurel in the set up or enabling the film to move on – that was the case here.

Overall this is an enjoyable short that sees the tried and tested formula of `chores go wrong' used to good effect.

Stan & Ollie are HELPMATES, always ready to assist the other out of a jam. So, with his house a wreck after a wild party and his shrew-of-a-wife returning from her Chicago trip in a few hours, Ollie asks Stan to help him clean-up. Perhaps that wasn't the wisest choice...

A funny little film, with lots of slapstick humor. Once again, one can't help wondering how Ollie could take so many bonks on the head without it damaging him.