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Le Chant du coucou

Original title: Call of the Cuckoo
  • 1927
  • Passed
  • 20m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
711
YOUR RATING
Le Chant du coucou (1927)
ComedyShort

Mishaps befall a new home owner located next door to an insane asylum.Mishaps befall a new home owner located next door to an insane asylum.Mishaps befall a new home owner located next door to an insane asylum.

  • Director
    • Clyde Bruckman
  • Writers
    • H.M. Walker
    • Leo McCarey
    • Hal Roach
  • Stars
    • Stan Laurel
    • Oliver Hardy
    • Max Davidson
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.9/10
    711
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Clyde Bruckman
    • Writers
      • H.M. Walker
      • Leo McCarey
      • Hal Roach
    • Stars
      • Stan Laurel
      • Oliver Hardy
      • Max Davidson
    • 10User reviews
    • 5Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos10

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    Top cast17

    Edit
    Stan Laurel
    Stan Laurel
    • Asylum Inmate
    • (uncredited)
    Oliver Hardy
    Oliver Hardy
    • Asylum Inmate
    • (uncredited)
    Max Davidson
    Max Davidson
    • Papa Gimplewart
    Spec O'Donnell
    Spec O'Donnell
    • Love's Greatest Mistake
    Lillian Elliott
    • Mama Gimplewart
    Leo Willis
    Leo Willis
    • Party Guest
    James Finlayson
    James Finlayson
    • Asylum Inmate
    Jackie Levine
    • Son of Party Guest
    Andy Shuford
    Andy Shuford
    • Son of Party Guest
    Frank Brownlee
    Frank Brownlee
    • Prospective House Buyer
    • (uncredited)
    Charley Chase
    Charley Chase
    • Asylum Inmate
    • (uncredited)
    Edgar Dearing
    Edgar Dearing
    • Party Guest
    • (uncredited)
    Otto Fries
    • Party Guest
    • (uncredited)
    Charlie Hall
    Charlie Hall
    • Asylum Inmate
    • (uncredited)
    Fay Holderness
    • Party Guest
    • (uncredited)
    Charles Meakin
    Charles Meakin
    • House Buyer
    • (uncredited)
    Lyle Tayo
    Lyle Tayo
    • Party Guest
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Clyde Bruckman
    • Writers
      • H.M. Walker
      • Leo McCarey
      • Hal Roach
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews10

    5.9711
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    Featured reviews

    Michael_Elliott

    Two L&H shorts

    Call of the Cuckoo (1927)

    ** (out of 4)

    A man (Max Davidson) swaps houses, sight unseen, due to his wacko neighbors. When he moves into the new house it turns out the thing is falling apart in every way possible. The only real highlight is the few scenes with the neighbors who are played by Laurel, Hardy and Charley Chase.

    Second Hundred Years, The (1927)

    ** 1/2 (out of 4)

    Laurel and Hardy play convicts who make an escape but they find themselves in a more dangerous place than prison. There's small laughs scattered throughout this short but in the end the only real highlight is seeing boys with shaved heads.
    6Boba_Fett1138

    Some at times good slapstick moments in an outdated, not entirely great movie.

    This is a fairly decent, typical Hal Roach slapstick comedy, which guest star's Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and James Finlayson as Asylum inmates.

    Real main characters of the movie though are played by Max Davidson and Lillian Elliott and with Spec O'Donnell as their stupid looking son. Especially Spec O'Donnell is great in his role who carriers the brilliant name 'Love's Greatest Mistake' in the movie. Basically all he does in the movie is look stupid but he does this extremely good and because of that he is really fun to watch.

    The movie has some typical slapstick moments that are most of the time fun to watch but never truly hilarious. The way it is brought to the screen is simply too outdated for todays standards, also compared to other slapstick comedies made from the same time period. Especially the editing is lacking. There lies the main problem of the movie; it's too lacking in it's humor and style.

    It certainly does have its moments but it is no essential viewing for the fans of slapstick comedy from the '20's. Perhaps still only for some, for the fairly small Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and James Finlayson roles in the movie.

    6/10

    http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
    5JoeytheBrit

    Not Very Funny Comedy from a Forgotten Comedian

    Laurel and Hardy appear in supporting roles in this short Max Davidson comedy, playing two of a quartet of loons living next door to the hapless hero. I've never seen a Davidson film before – or heard of him to be honest – and judging by this effort, it's no surprise that he's now largely forgotten. He strokes his beard a lot and holds the side of his face but rarely does anything remotely funny. In the film he's so desperate to get away from his mentally challenged neighbours that he agrees to swap houses with a stranger. He takes his long-suffering wife and heavily freckled (and rather gormless-looking) son with him and soon finds out that the new family home is about to fall down around his ears. Everything that can collapse does so, flames come from a tap while the cooker sprays fountains of water, and the pattern on the kitchen floor disappears when Mrs Max wipes it with a mop. Despite none of these escalating series of mishaps being particularly funny, they are nearly all repeated two or three times.
    3Libretio

    Strange comedy, guest starring Stan 'n' Ollie

    CALL OF THE CUCKOO

    Aspect ratio: 1.33:1

    Sound format: Silent

    (Black and white - Short film)

    Desperate to escape their crazy neighbors, Max and his family accept a house-swap sight unseen, but their new home turns out to be a dilapidated wreck...

    Though headlined by silent star Max Davidson, Clyde Bruckman's unusual comedy opens with second-billed Laurel and Hardy performing strange, child-like mimes with James Finlayson outside Davidson's property, rather like circus clowns dressed in regular outfits! Once the action shifts to Davidson's new home, however, the movie becomes less interesting, as the building collapses around him at every turn. Davidson's bearded appearance and overcooked performance suggests - intentionally or not - some kind of appalling Jewish caricature, which taints the entire movie. One of the intertitles describes his nerdish son (Spec O'Donnell) as 'Love's great mistake!', a pre-Code insult which just about takes the biscuit, even today!
    6TheLittleSongbird

    Going insane

    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.

    Their previous short films were variable in quality, a couple decent and most average or just above, only '45 Minutes from Hollywood' misfired. 'Call of the Cuckoo' is not a step backwards but not a return in the right direction either like their previous three efforts were. It is nice and entertaining, more than watchable in an inoffensive way, but later offerings make far better use of Laurel and Hardy and their partnership and are much funnier, including its remake as mentioned by a few here. 'Call of the Cuckoo' felt like they were not yet fully formed and yet to properly find their feet.

    'Call of the Cuckoo' looks quite good and hardly the work of an amateur. The performer who comes off best is Laurel who is great fun, 'Call of the Cuckoo' is worth watching for him alone.

    There are very amusing, like the flames from the taps, and charming moments and the pace is generally very energetic.

    Hardy however deserved more to do and much funnier material, and even more so that 'Call of the Cuckoo' misses the chance to utilise their chemistry properly. 'Call of the Cuckoo' doesn't really feel like Laurel and Hardy, due to Hardy having little to do and their chemistry barely existent.

    Not everything is funny, too much of it being predictable and not being sharp enough in timing. The story is very slight, barely existent in fact, and erratically paced, sometimes too busy while not getting going soon enough.

    In summary, worth a look but hardly a Laurel and Hardy essential. 6/10 Bethany Cox

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This film was made just days after Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had finished filming "Les Forçats du pinceau (1927)," in which they play shaven-headed convicts. Thus, the reason for the boys' buzz-cut hairdos in this film.
    • Goofs
      When Charley Chase steps up to the microphone Ollie is seen to put his top hat on twice from two different angles.
    • Alternate versions
      There is an Italian edition of this film on DVD, distributed by DNA srl, "STANLIO E OLLIO - COMICHE INDIMENTICABILI: The Second 100 Years + Call of the Cuckoo + Sugar Daddies + Do Detectives Think? (1927)" (4 Films on a single DVD), re-edited with the contribution of film historian Riccardo Cusin. This version is also available for streaming on some platforms.
    • Connections
      Edited into Laurel and Hardy's Laughing 20's (1965)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 15, 1927 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official Site
    • Languages
      • None
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Call of the Cuckoo
    • Filming locations
      • Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Hal Roach Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      20 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Silent
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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