Marujos Trapalhões

When I was young my stepfather borrowed - for quite some time - this old movie-projector and some old short-reels that we used to watch on a white wall in his radio-shack (later I learned he borrowed it, not to entertain the kids but to watch old pornographic movies, but that's another story).

My favorite memory from this was "Two Tars", a 21-minute short with Laurel and Hardy, and ever since it has been my all-time-favorite comedy short. I will not dwell on the reason for this, only tell those who haven't seen it that it contains what has to be the wackiest traffic-jam in the history of movies! Every time I come across it on TV it just cracks me up how a small quarrel ends with the motorists literally TEARING their cars apart! It has to be one of most brilliant examples of crazy-comedy put together, masterfully staged by it's director James Parrott.

Not surprisingly, Leo McCarey who originated the story for "Two Tars", five years later directed the mother of all crazy-comedies: the Marx Brothers' "Duck Soup".

A must see!

This is one of the best Laurel and Hardy shorts made, even though it is a silent one. Big Business came out a year later and has the same premise. It has been argued that BB is the funnier of the two. I think Two Tars is funnier because it is much more relevant today as it deals with frustrations found in a traffic jam.

What makes these Laurel and Hardy silents a bit funnier to me then when they were first released is, since I know what their voices sound like, I can imagine them saying the lines when I read the title cards. Their voices matched them perfectly.

It's a shame here in the United States that there are not box sets of their shorts on DVD.

When I first watched this at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library about 30 years ago, I remember being a bit disappointed since there was no dialogue or sound effects, this being my first exposure to a silent film in its entirety not to mention that of Laurel & Hardy without their voices. I liked it much better when I bought the VHS tape during the '90s and having now rewatched it on Hulu as linked from IMDb, I now think this is one of their near-best ever! Everything from Stan's first accident when driving to Ollie's when he takes the wheel to a bubble gum machine incident involving L & H regular Charlie Hall to that chaotic traffic jam, it's just one hilarious visual gag after another! Besides Hall, other funny supporting turns come from Thomas Benton Roberts, a prop man at Hal Roach Studios, as a man with the tomatoes, Edgar Dearing as the motorcycle cop attempting to arrest the boys, and especially Ruby Blaine as the blonde half of the girls Stan and Ollie pick up for dates who really gives it to Hall and later sprays oil on another female passerby. Ms. Blaine was reportedly a professional wrestler then appearing in near Pasadena. Thelma Hill plays the other brunette half. If you're interested in the behind-the-scenes info on this particular short, I highly recommend Randy Skretvedt's book "Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies" on which he reviews all their films (though since one of them-Hats Off-is completely lost for now, he can only mention what reviews at the time said of that). So on that note, Two Tars is highly recommended.

This is a good short feature, among the best of Laurel & Hardy's silent movies and one of several of their popular 'retribution comedies'. Stan and Ollie are "Two Tars" on leave, who pick up a couple of women and then get involved in a series of slapstick confrontations. The second reel, set in a traffic jam, is particularly funny. Two of their best supporting players appear in Charlie Hall and Edgar Kennedy. If you like Laurel & Hardy's silent films, make sure to see this one.

TWO TARS (1928) is probably the best silent Laurel and Hardy ever made. It is hilarious. From the opening lamp-post gag, to the gumball machine, to the hilarious traffic jam and finally the train ending, this movie really is a rib-tickler. It's one of the greatest comedies ever made! Thelma Hill and Ruby Blaine are the girls, and Edgar Kennedy is the motorist whose car Laurel and Hardy promptly tear to shreds.