Maître Hardy et son valet Stan

While not being familiar with this 1928 short silent film "Early to Bed" from director Emmett J. Flynn, I needed no persuasion to watch it here in 2025, making it my very first time to do so. Why? Well, solely because this was a Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy movie.

H. M. Walker put together a nice script and storyline, which definitely showcased an archetypical comedy with the comedy duo. It was an enjoyable story and I had some good laughs, especially at the fountain scene.

Needless to say that the acting performances in "Early to Bed" were good. And you only have Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy starring in this 1928 movie.

If you enjoy the comedy of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, then you will definitely like "Early to Bed".

My rating of director Emmett J. Flynn's 1928 "Early to Bed" lands on a five out of ten stars.

This early Laurel & Hardy comedy is something of an oddity, and although fans will want to see it at least once Early to Bed is not one of the team's more entertaining efforts. Moreover, for anyone who cares about Laurel & Hardy, that is, anyone who regards the characters they portray with fondness, this film could well be a disturbing, unpleasant experience. I'm a lifelong L&H fan and enjoy most of their output, but seeing the boys' friendship go sour in Early to Bed feels like watching helplessly while two old friends get into a vicious fistfight.

By the time this film was made the guys had developed the screen personae we all remember, complete with derbies and shabby-genteel suits. More to the point, their childlike personalities and relationship with each other were pretty well established, as we observe in the opening scene. Stan and Ollie sit on a park bench with a scruffy little dog called Buster; they may be homeless, but they aren't starving and their world is somehow in harmony. But when Ollie learns he has inherited a fortune, and magnanimously allows Stan to become his butler, things get seriously out of whack, for it quickly becomes obvious that prosperity does not bring out the best in Mr. Hardy.

For the next several scenes (which take place after Ollie has acquired a big house and filled it with possessions), we watch with growing dismay as Ollie, now a drunken playboy, torments his conscientious servant. Ollie locks Stan out of the house, bops him on the head and laughs, chases him, and pours water on him in his bed. Understandably, Stan becomes increasingly upset and exasperated with the new order of things, although he's expected to maintain decorum and address his tormentor as "Sir." These scenes are more pathetic than funny, and the (generally under-appreciated) acting skill of both men makes matters worse, for Ollie's gleeful sadism seems just as real as Stan's deepening sense of humiliation. It's only when Stan finally reaches the limit of his tolerance and retaliates that the film becomes more satisfying, for we all enjoy seeing a worm turn, and God knows Ollie deserves a comeuppance. Nevertheless, in the end this movie leaves a rather disagreeable aftertaste.

The best thing in Early to Bed is a sequence involving an ornate indoor fountain that graces the Hardy mansion, decorated with cherubs designed to resemble Ollie. The fountain becomes the climactic setting for Stan's revenge, and the boys' implied reconciliation. (The gag is a reworking of a sequence in a Mabel Normand comedy entitled Should Men Walk Home?, released a year earlier, with Oliver Hardy in a supporting role.) While this sequence is clever in its own right, the amusing egotism of the fountain's design also offers a neat satirical comment on the Nouveau Riche. The scene works well as a stand-alone excerpt in Robert Youngson's compilation The Further Perils of Laurel & Hardy. In the context of Early to Bed the fountain sequence is certainly the highlight, and the best reason to watch in the first place.

This was a strange Laurel and Hardy silent short subject. For one thing except for a dog there are no other cast members. No Jimmy Finlayson for reaction shots to their clowning.

Early To Bed also has Ollie almost turning into a bully. God knows his character gets thoroughly exasperated with Stan, but I never saw him bully Stan. As for Laurel. I've never seen him change so radically as he did except in A Chump At Oxford. When the worm turns it really turns.

One day these two with their dog are polishing a park bench with the seat of their pants when Ollie gets a letter saying he now has a fortune. Stan is concerned that there's no place for him, but Ollie offers him the position of butler and Stan takes it.

It's abundantly clear soon enough that all Ollie wants is a doormat or a punching bag. But Stan soon tires of being a doormat and when he does watch out.

This is a different Stan and Ollie, but I'm not sure I liked them this way.

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.

After their previous 1928 efforts saw a step in the right direction and the two were starting to hit their stride while still evolving, 'Early to Bed' like 'Their Purple Moment' sees a couple of steps backwards and something of a disappointment. Certainly far from terrible and it is a long way from a misfire of theirs (up to this point '45 Minutes from Hollywood' was the only one to fit this distinction), but 'Early to Bed' is far from a gem. It is a shame because their previous 1928 efforts were so promising and the concept here was not a bad one.

Laurel and Hardy's work was never known to have particularly great stories, which tended to be the weakest element. 'Early to Bed' is no exception, on top of being flimsy it is also along with 'Their Purple Moment' more predictable, hackneyed and repetitive than most with outcomes being easily foreseeable and some of the content being hit and miss.

The pace sometimes could have been tighter in the early stages and at times there is a darker element that doesn't really gel with everything else.

On the other hand, Laurel and Hardy are more than very amusing, particularly Laurel, and they work well together, also their role reversals are interesting. Three quarters of 'Early to Bed' does mostly amuse and has some fun and well timed moments and gags, especially when Laurel goes on the rampage.

It's not dull, is competently directed, the dog is an amusing character and holds up quite well visually.

All in all, definitely worthwhile but not a Laurel and Hardy essential. 6/10 Bethany Cox

One of the lesser lights of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's silent productions. Early to Bed is directed by Emmett Flynn and photographed by George Stevens.

Over the years it has proved to be one of the boy's films that most can agree is a little bit off. It's not so much that the gags are in short supply, but more so it veers towards a darker side that doesn't sit well. Plot has Ollie inheriting some cash, which quickly turns him into a completely different person. He hires Stan as his butler and promptly starts to lord it over his abode. But Stan will only take so much bullying...

The most fun comes from a number of sequences set around the water fountain in the gardens, and the carnage that ensues once Stan finally flips and goes on a mad rampage. These sequences are heightened by the jolly musical accompaniments and the quality sound effects, while a cunning canine pet is fun and the only one unhindered by the odd tone of the piece.

Not essential and only of interest to Stan & Ollie completists. 5/10