Um Dia Perfeito

Call me crazy ("Hey, crazy!") but I never enjoyed silent era films. I tried, oh I tried, but each time an actor's mouth moved there was nothing but an awkward silence. Then after what seemed too lengthy of a wait, a placard flashed on the TV screen, reflecting what the actor had just said moments before. I found this to be very distracting, plus it slowed down the natural comedic timing. This lapse between action and dialog, for me, was like watching an entire movie subtitled, and I couldn't square the two up.

That being said, I didn't watch any of the short and feature length "TV reruns" unless they were "talkies." As a kid who was fortunate enough to have a tiny black and white TV set in my bedroom, every Saturday morning before my parents or the Sun were up, I was thoroughly mesmerized by the vaudevillian, overtly physical humor of Buster Keaton, Our Gang (The Little Rascals), The Three Stooges, and of course, Laurel & Hardy.

The first Our Gang (The Little Rascals) talkie was "Small Talk" released in 1929. Buster Keaton's first talkie was "Free and Easy," released in 1930. The Three Stooges (Larry, Moe and Curly) most recognized talkie was The Woman Haters (1934). "Unaccustomed As We Are," released worldwide in 1929, was Laurel and Hardy's film debut with sound. It was an immediate hit with audiences.

Unlike many of their silent film era contemporaries who couldn't make the transition from silent to sound film, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy effortlessly slipped into this new media. Both actors had the rare gift of "comedic timing," and the duo knew how to thoroughly exploit sight gags. Moreover, lovable Hardy routinely broke the "fourth wall" of film, and after each hilarious yet tragic gag, he would often look straight at the camera as if to say, "Can you believe what just happened to me?"

"Perfect Day" (1929) was Laurel and Hardy's fourth sound movie. Like the first three, it is a short. The plot is simple: With their families aboard, (including a painful gout patient Edgar Kennedy) Stan and Ollie prepare to take their broken down Model T Ford out for a relaxing Sunday picnic. The boys manage to encounter everything from a flat tire to a neighbor who throws a brick through their windshield.

It's all brilliantly performed by two of the most iconic comedic teams in history, and supported by a wonderful set of actors who would often appear in many future Laurel & Hardy shorts and feature length films.

No spoilers here as usual, but I will reveal that Perfect Day contained no music other than a short piece for the opening credits. The Hal Roach Studios reissued the film in 1937 with an added music score.

This Laurel & Hardy short feature has quite a variety of slapstick material. Most of it is rough physical humor - such as sore feet getting trodden upon and bricks being thrown through windows - but there are plenty of different, funny gags with a couple of subtle ones thrown in. Stan and Ollie are planning on taking their wives and their uncle (Edgar Kennedy) for a nice peaceful picnic, a "Perfect Day". They encounter difficulties even before getting out the door, and once they get into the car, the real chaos starts. Stanley has a very funny bit trying to change a tire, and there is a nicely done subtle joke when, in the midst of a heated 'tit-for-tat' battle with a neighbor, everyone suddenly jumps up and runs inside - what did they see? "Perfect Day" is a good comedy and worth a look.

Another enjoyable Laurel & Hardy outing, as most of them indeed were, and this must have been one of their earliest talkies too. It's a 20 minute short which involves the boys and their spouses taking an injured relative out for a much-needed picnic, only to encounter endless trouble when they make it outside to their car. Sure, the gags are quite predictable here but it's the sheer number of them which make this work, as one running situation moves into another with endless slapstick, injury and bizarre scenarios. It's not huge on the FX but the addition of a cute dog and the classic final shot make it all worthwhile.

This is one of Laurel and Hardy's earliest talkies. It basically involves the boys' attempt to take their wives and Uncle Edgar Kennedy, who has a gouty foot, to a picnic but because of car troubles are unable to get out. Hilarious use of sound effects throughout especially in the use of the car horn and the sound when Ollie hits Stan on the head with a clutch after Stan literally threw it out per Ollie's commands! During one ad-lib scene between the wives and uncle, Kennedy says a swear word that I probably wouldn't have noticed had I not read about it in a Laurel and Hardy filmography book. All this plus a rowdy dog, some unruly neighbors-one of whom is Stan's buddy Baldwin Cooke, and brick throwing at windows and you have one of the funniest comedy shorts of the late '20s. Well worth the time for lovers of comedy in general!

Stan and Ollie decide to take their wives and their gout-ridden uncle Edgar on a picnic on a lovely Sunday afternoon. It's a good plan, but they never quite get their in this enjoyable, if slight, short.

It was refreshing to see that the new dynamics of making sound films didn't keep the boys completely studio-bound. The vast bulk of this film was shot outdoors and, as a result, doesn't suffer from the same claustrophobia as "Unaccustomed as We Are," "Berth Marks," and the upcoming "They Go Boom." The film also benefits from appearance of the always reliable Edgar Kennedy, a frequent and hilarious foil. Needless to say, his gout-ridden foot will take a great deal of abuse for the film fades out!

A nice short, reminiscent of Chaplin's "A Day's Pleasure." Not one of their classics, but well worth a look.