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The Music Box was the first programme on TV that I saw my daughter really laugh at, aged 14 months in 1981, when the piano dragged Ollie at speed down the steps yet again. Probably also the first thing I laughed at too and at the moment the last in the latest of hundreds of times! Well, Laurel & Hardy shaped my and millions of others' senses of humour so I like to think hers was as well. Kids today who get the chance to see this and who can't get past the pre-digital black & white images to the gold that lies within are not only missing a treat but are probably also making an crucial life-choice too. All of the human condition is contained herein, therefore making it essential viewing also for extra-terrestrials!

They have to deliver a piano to an address - all kinds of catastrophes follow thick and fast. The gags are so perfectly written and executed, and are as utterly relentless as Stan & Ollie's drive to deliver the piano come Hell or pond-water. High-class slapstick disasters follow each other every minute of the 27 (un-remastered version), usually happening to Ollie - although Billy Gilbert's cosy little love-nest was looking a little dishevelled by the climax! The steps have been a Los Angeles tourist attraction for many years now, maybe the most fitting monument to L & H that there could be - if you like this little film that is!

All in all and probably predictably my favourite L & H outing, notwithstanding the similar brilliance of Sons Of The Desert, County Hospital, Thicker than Water, Busybodies, Below Zero etc etc etc.

L&H are without doubt the best comedy double act of all time regardless of media format. Its amazing that their best movies are now 70 years old and yet remain timeless in their humour and inventiveness.

I've had the pleasure of seeing most of their movies - shorts & full format - and all of them have their own individual quirky qualities that other comedians still can't fathom.

The Music Box won them a well-deserved Oscar and although it is an excellently choreographed movie I personally don't think its their very best.

However, my opinion doesn't matter because any L&H fan will regard this movie as their favourite. The story is so simple yet so inventive and full of kinetic & emotive energy.

Stan & Ollie have to deliver a Piano to a highly strung guy who can't stand pianos. But just to make life a little interesting the guy's home just happens to be perched on a hill with the longest flight of steps in history to whit S&O have to push & pull their awkward delivery.

Some of the gags we've seen many times before but it doesn't matter because the added sparkle derives from the human emotions & expressions delivered with such panache from Stan & the long suffering Ollie - the way he looks-to-camera in a pleading kind of way just drives me wild with laughter & sympathy.

I can't find a single fault with this movie short, except that it just flies by so quickly. How I wish today's contemporary comedy writers could spend a few hours in a dark room watching how the masters of comedy produce such wonderful scripts. It proves that there is no need to have cheap & vulgar language, innuendo & explicit violence to make any audience, young or old, laugh with mirth.

The Golden Age of comedy is dead, long live the Golden Age; long live Laurel & Hardy!!!

*****/*****

I've got to be honest and say that I haven't seen many Laurel and Hardy shorts, but when I do see one, I usually find myself laughing uncontrollably and this is definitely the best one I've seen. This short sees everyone's favourite bumbling workmen trying to haul a piano up a huge flight of stairs. Of course, everything goes to plan and they get the piano to the top of the stairs without any trouble whatsoever...ahem. Naturally, Laurel and Hardy encounter all manner of trouble during their plight, which leads to a number of hilarious situations. Laurel and Hardy works because the humour is so good-hearted and blends together with various different styles magnificently. Obviously, slapstick is the order of the day; but there's also more than enough dry wit and irony to keep everyone happy. There's a number of highly amusing sequences, too many to mention and I recommend simply watching the film. It's a must see anyway.

This is one of the great classics of comedy, with Laurel & Hardy at their very best. It has a wealth of good material, and also shows their ability to extract every possible laugh from a relatively simple situation. It also includes appearances by Billy Gilbert and Charlie Hall, two of their best supporting players.

Stan and Ollie are delivering an old-fashioned player piano (or music box) to a house at the top of a hill. They encounter one difficulty after another getting it up to the top, and when they do, their troubles are just beginning. They use the situation to set up a lot of creative gags, all delivered with excellent timing.

There isn't any description that could really do justice to this hilarious short film - if you enjoy classic comedy, you will want to see "The Music Box" for yourself, so that you can enjoy two masters of comedy at their best.

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.

Stan & Ollie are hired to deliver a piano - to a home at the top of a monumental series of steps. During this task of Sisyphus, they encounter every kind of hindrance, from a savage nursery maid to outright police brutality - which is only prologue to the chaos that awaits them when they get THE MUSIC BOX to the top...

This little classic is generally regarded as the Boys' best film, and, indeed, it won the 1932 Oscar for Best Short Subject, their only Academy Award. This is slapstick of a very high level, that born of the utmost frustration, and they make it all look so easy. If only one of their films could be saved for posterity, to show future generations what Laurel & Hardy were all about, this would be it.

Highlight (besides the stairs): the Boys' little dance to `The Arkansas Traveler'. That's Charlie Hall as the postman & the one and only Billy Gilbert as the apoplectic Professor Schwarzenhoffen.

Question: why oh why aren't Laurel and Hardy films shown on TV at sensible times any more here in the UK? When I was a lad, they were on at 6pm on BBC2 and I spent many happy evenings as a child laughing my head off at their comedy short films. Now, you're lucky to catch them on TV at all, and they always seem to be scheduled at some unearthly hour of the morning.

Anyway, scheduling rant over. If you're a Laurel and Hardy virgin, this is a great place to start. It won them an Oscar, and it's a hilarious piece of perfectly constructed comedy. They are bungling delivery men who have to deliver a piano to a house at the top of an enormous flight of steps. (The location does exist in real life, apparently, and it's one of my aims in life one day to visit those steps and walk up 'em!) Needless to say, the piano seems to spend more time sliding back down the steps than it does going up them.

It's almost certainly their best short, and is required viewing for anyone wanting to know why Laurel and Hardy are one of the greats of movie comedy.

Laurel & Hardy! Just the names alone brings to my mind the most talented comedy duo ever, bar none! And this, "The Music Box" is probably the finest of their work, though there are others that are very close! Too many to mention in fact.I've spent the last month or two having a Laurel and Hardy film season, and I watched around 35 of their films, and naturally I laughed many many times....theres nothing better to cheer you up. "The Music Box" itself stands out-it was the film that won them an oscar, wonderfully written, and marvellously filmed! Those steps would put most people off just to climb them on their own, but with a piano!!!Classic! If you haven't seen this movie, and there can't be many who haven't, see it as soon as you can, and when you want a good old fashioned laugh! 9.5/10

This is Laurel and Hardy's Oscar winning short film. It is their only short that ever won an Academy Award. I must admit that I liked it, but it is definitely not my favorite Laurel and Hardy short.

The short starts with explaining to us that Laurel and Hardy start their own business. After this we see a woman buying a piano that has to be delivered at her home. The Laurel & Hardy Moving Co. has to do that. The woman lives on a hill and the piano in a box must be carried up a stairs. On the way Laurel and Hardy have some trouble with a woman, a professor and of course a cop. The stairs itself causes some problems as well.

The parts on the stairs are pretty funny. The predictable gags work and make sure some of the unpredictable ones work even better. There is a lot of nice physical action, some special effects and a priceless kicking scene involving Laurel, but the short itself is a little too long. The musical number near the end makes up for that, but it can not make this short the masterpiece some people say it is.

Put simply, this is the funniest movie of all time. I cannot believe that there is anyone in the world who can watch this film and not be in hysterics by the last scene. Laurel and Hardy provided the template for all (and I mean all) comedy films that followed, and this was their absolute best.

'Foundered in 1931', Laurel and Hardy decide that they have to recalibrate their extensive business empire, so armed with $3-odd, they go into the horse and cart-powered piano-delivering business. Now this is not an instrument that's going to be easy to carry on your back - even if you are Ollie, and as they attempt to get one into it's new Walnut Avenue home we just know that if it arrives at all, it's going to be as much use to music as fire guards are to chocolate! Half way up a staircase that wouldn't have looked out of place in a grand Italian palazzo, an altercation with a children's nurse reduces them to square one and attracts the attention of a local policeman who again does his bit to ensure the instrument gets nowhere nearer it's destination. Then there's the proverbial nutty professor before a good dunking and, yes well you get the drift. It's entirely predicable, but the two give us a good laugh as their misfortunes accumulate and the pair become increasingly frustrated - especially when the postie gives them some news that could have saved them the bother; they rather stupidly change their plans and soon it's not just the piano that's at risk! There's a bit of dialogue towards the end, but for the most part this is all down to facial expressions, hat adjustments and slap-stick at it's best.

This L&H-short relies solely on a premise. Stan and Ollie have to deliver a piano to a house. To get there, they have to get up an incredibly long staircase before they can even get to the front door. But even when they've reached the house there is no end to the chaos. The greatness of this short lies in it's deliberate pacing and perfect timing. Many jokes you see coming miles ahead, but the timing of the punchline always catches you off-guard and leaves you roaring with laughter. The best gag involves Stan pulling up the piano using a sunscreen, a joke too brilliantly executed to spoil. Watch it, enjoy it, marvel at the legend of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

The Music Box opens with Mrs. Von Schwarzenhoffen (Gladys Gale) purchasing a piano for her husband Professor Theodore Von Schwarzenhoffen, M.D., A.D., D.D.S., F.L.D., F-F-F-and-F (Billy Gilbert), which will be delivered just in time for his birthday by Laurel and Hardy Transfer Company. That sentence alone should let one know what they're getting into with this kind of short film, but I digress. Laurel and Hardy, in this particular short, are movers, and partake in the challenge of lugging a gigantic crate to the top of the staircase where Schwarzenhoffen lives. The two struggle, heaving, and hoing until one of them is about to do the heaving themselves, battling hernia and frustration after numerous failed attempts at getting the piano to its rightful owner.

The Music Box doesn't so much rely on slapstick as it does comedic repetition, sort of employing the logic that if something silly is done long enough it will prove to be funny. The result winds up being a moderately funny short that gets a few laughs because of the situational comedy and the persistency of its heroes. However, at twenty-eight minutes, The Music Box is a one-note joke stretched out far too thin, with little humor prevailing past the eighteen minute mark. The frustration becomes as real as Laurel and Hardy's by that point after watching the piano crate fall back down the stairs twice in a matter of minutes.

Once again, the witty, verbal banter between the hapless duo prevails and proves more memorable in a long term sense that the slapstick routines of Laurel and Hardy that simply feel like they're hitting a checklist of all the obligatory motions, figuratively and literally. The Music Box is entertaining to a degree and features committed physical performances by its actors, but is far too slight to justify such an usually lengthy runtime.

Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Billy Gilbert, and Gladys Gale. Directed by: James Parrott.

Laurel and Hardy (or Dick und Doof as they were affectionately called in Germany) gave us many unforgettable films. As a rule the simpler the story the better. This short film is a master piece. There is not one scene in it that is not hilarious. And it is also quite deep when you think about. Even those of us who have never heard of Sisyphus will know the essence of the thing after watching this delightful little film.

Laurel & Hardy, the most accomplished comedy team in movie history, made this comedy classic in 1932 and the film was honored with an Oscaras the first short film. The story goes that Laurel & Hardy have a delivery service and one knows what is in store when even their horse gives them a wink and a nod and. a hard time. They unload the Piano a gift from a wife to her husband on his birthday. All sorts of tribulations go by especially a hilarious run in with an uptight Professor played brilliantly by Billy Gilbert. The film is sheer hilarity from start to fade out.

Babe Hardy died in the mid 50's and Stan Laurel refused all acting offers. Stanley Kramer wanted Laurel to appear in Spencer Tracy's It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Kramer sent over a blank check and asked Laurel to write his own scene. Laurel true to form returned the check and declined the offer.

Stan Laurel was awarded an Honorary Oscar but the Great Starasked Danny Kaye to accept the Oscar.

My uncle introduced me to Laurel and Hardy when I was just eight years old. He used to show The Music Box on his Super8 movie projector. I laughed then as a young child and today at 46 years of age I'm still laughing! Even those whose memory of L&H has faded over these many years still remember those steps! I call this movie "Laurel and Hardy vs The Steps!" Such a simple comic idea milked to perfection! Show this movie to a bunch of young kids and watch what happens! Even the most boisterous youngster will be glued to the screen for half an hour! Comedy like this is nonexistent today. Stan and Ollie were so good at what they did because they had a genuine sense of good humor and the fact that they were best buds in real life. RIP Guys, and thanks for so many wonderful years of laughs!

I confess, I don't find these guys to be funny. Its the humor of debasement and destruction and there are better, more clever ways to be amused. I suppose this is the best of what they did, though.

There is one amazing bit of humor here. Remember this is the precode period.

They encounter a pretty blond maid, taking a baby stroller out. She's a bitch, and gets kicked in the butt. The term used is the title of this comment, which has to be one of the richest and bluest comic lines ever written. And we thought these were physical comedians!

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy, a piano and a house right at the top of a flight of steps. Sounds like a recipe for success, and it is.

'The Music Box' sees our dysfunctional heroes as delivery men who have to take a large, heavy piano to the house of the von Schwarzenhoffens (the mad professor and the twittery wife, typically staple characters of comedy shorts). First they have to get it to the house (up a lot of steps!), then they have to get it inside, installed, and working.

A small supporting cast of tiny cameo roles includes Lilyan Irene as a giggly nursemaid, Billy Gilbert as the blustering Professor, and Charlie Hall as the smart Alec postie. The delight of 'The Music Box' is watching Laurel and Hardy themselves, consummate comedy performers, with their slapstick and their engaging personalities.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are "professional" movers. They deliver a piano up a hill of steps. They encounter Professor von Schwarzenhoffen (Billy Gilbert) who hates pianos.

This Laurel and Hardy short actually won an Oscar. Stanley is a bit mean in this one. I always like Stanley more when he's a clueless sweetheart. The steps are somewhat famous. I've seen them in different scenes over the years. Quite frankly, it's been almost a century of those steps. They've added rails and are now covered with foliage since then. Laurel and Hardy are fine physical comedians. They do fine work with this basic premise. I do have one question. Why did she buy him a piano when she knows he hates them? There are a couple of these annoying discrepancies that keep me from loving this.

The only Laurel & Hardy film to win an Oscar contains along with 'The Battleship Potemkin' easily the most outstanding sequence ever staged on a flight of steps. (If I ever get to visit Hollywood those steps would be my number one priority to have my picture taken, number two being the Bates mansion from 'Psycho'.)

A remake of a tantalisingly lost film of 1927 shot on the very same steps called 'Hat's Off!' up which the boys originally lugged a washing machine. Since they were now making a talkie it was typically inspired of Laurel to substitute a piano to exploit the new-found miracle of sound by making their emit a cacophony of jangles every time it is disturbed.

Pure joy. It even includes one of their dances.