De la soupe populaire au caviar

This seems to be the earliest time that Stan Laurel & Ollver Hardy have had to encounter High Society as they are employed as waiters in a mansion in From Soup to Nuts. Because they hadn't been in this particular environment before, it's expected they wouldn't know how to behave in front of certain people. So, of course, disaster happens! There's also a young society lady played by Anita Garvin who keeps having trouble with a grape and her tiara, sometimes at the same time! Besides some of the food gags (as well as hat and plate ones), there's also Stan's taking some things literally which you'll get when you watch this as I just did on YouTube. So on that note, From Soup to Nuts is a fine L & H short directed by Edgar Kennedy, who's usually cast as their antagonist though not here. Next, I'll review Stan & Ollie's next encounter with the rich in Another Fine Mess.

FROM SOUP TO NUTS is one of the classic silent shorts featuring the boys playing waiters at a swanky dinner party with high class guests. Of course, everything that could go wrong does end up going wrong, from obvious slapstick (the classic cream pie to the face sketch is repeated constantly) to classic misunderstandings and bizarro situations. While the boys are on top form as ever here, what I really liked was the characterisation of the other players. The scene with the lady trying to get the cherry on her spoon is utterly delightful and on par with the established players. Altogether a fine show.

From Soup to Nuts (1928)

*** (out of 4)

Laurel and Hardy are waiters to a rich party but havoc begins as they start to serve the food. This is a delightful short that doesn't have too much going for it other than the boys falling into the food but this here is quite funny especially Hardy and the cake.

Another Fine Mess (1930)

*** (out of 4)

Laurel and Hardy, being chased by the police, enter a mansion and assume the identity of the owner and maid. This is a very funny short with highlights including Laurel going from the butler to the maid in a matter of minute to the best moment at the end of the film in a horse outfit.

This is a pretty good Laurel and Hardy short comedy - it's not as creative as their very best features, but it's definitely enjoyable, and it contains some good gags. The main thing that keeps it from being better is that in "From Soup To Nuts" you not only see most of the gags coming, but there are few surprises in how they play out. In their best comedies, you often don't know what's going to happen next.

The setup has Stanley and Oliver as waiters hired for a lavish dinner party in the home of a rich couple. There is plenty of good material in the setting, and most of the comedy ideas are funny enough in themselves. Anita Garvin also helps out quite a bit as the hostess, and she has a couple of running gags of her own. As with most Laurel and Hardy features, you can watch this more than once and still be amused at their antics.

As others have commented, this isn't one of the boys best, but it is probably on a par (if not better) than anything they had done individually up to that point in their careers. The set-up is simple: Stan and Ollie are a pair of hapless (what else?) waiters employed to serve food at a swank dinner party. Of course chaos ensues as Ollie repeatedly falls head first into a gigantic cake after slipping on a banana skin, and Stan takes the instruction to serve the salad without dressing literally. Some of the gags are a little repetitive, but there's enough quality here to see why Hal Roach decided to keep the boys together. The film was pretty much remade (together with elements from Another Fine Mess) to provide an extended prologue to the European version of 1939's A Chump at Oxford.