The Tree in a Test Tube (1942) User Reviews

As war propaganda goes, could've been worse

[knsevy · 5/10 · 10 July 2004]

This is your only chance to see The Boys in full color. Reportedly shot on their lunch break, it IS a weak entry, a film in which Stan and Ollie do nothing more than open their luggage and respond to Pete Smith's jackass narration about how many of their toiletries bow to the timber industry.

Taken as a film of its time, this is no embarrassment to Stan and Ollie. As the only film they ever made in color, it becomes an odd little collector's item, which is really where its only interest lies. Completest should have this in their collection, but fans who only want to see a Laurel & Hardy comedy should probably pass this up.

Finally on You Tube - Stan and Ollie's only color "short"

[theowinthrop · 5/10 · 10 August 2007]

Seen more as a curiosity than anything else, THE TREE IN A TEST TUBE was a propaganda short made in World War II about the wood products that we find in common use all over the country. Stan and Ollie are stopped by narrator # 1 (Pete Smith) as they are walking in the street carrying a suitcase. Smith asks them if they know what wood based products that are in everyday use they have on them. First of course is their newspaper (from wood pulp, of course) but soon they find all types of wood based plastics, rayon, and chemicals in their possession. The film is instructive, but the joke is strained.

I like Pete Smith at his best, but he is sarcastic - and he can stay on a joke beyond it's worth. Here he makes some comments on the boys naiveté which are really uncalled for. That they remain friendly is due to their screen persons as "babes in the wood". Simplistic, they listen to Smith's comments and accept them with grace. Probably it is just as well. They do have some fun with a piece of woman's underclothes on Stan's persons, and later a pair of Stan's colorful undershorts - both of which are made from wood based material. This is okay, spoiled slightly by the soundtrack giving Ollie a laugh at Stan's expense that is reminiscent of Ole Oleson's high pitch screen laugh (a real annoyance, by the way).

The boys do end up chasing a car that most of their clothes and belongings were put upon when unpacking them. It is a fitting moment - but one of too few good ones in this short.

The short then leaves the boys and Smith and a second narrator talks about the Agricultural Department's Wood Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, where they have tree grown in a test-tube. That is how the film ends. Interesting as far as it informs us of wood and it's importance, but not great entertainment.

To be truthful the color stock of the film is not the best either. Pity as that is the really best reason to see this film. The short is mediocre at best - only worth a "5" out of "10". It could have been better.

The Tree in a Test Tube is an interesting curio for Laurel and Hardy fans

[tavm · 4/10 · 27 December 2007]

While I had seen the Laurel and Hardy segment of this educational short in various bargain basement VHS tapes and some of the Lee Vickers serious stuff in a bargain basement DVD, it's not until now when I played the Fox DVD of A-Haunting We Will Go that I watched the entire thing as it appeared in various classrooms and corporate meetings. The print hardly seemed an improvement on the other tapes or disc but I guess Fox did the best they could find. I found myself smiling a bit at some of the doings of the boys as they show beginning narrator Pete Smith all the various wood products they have on themselves but the results were hardly hilarious. Still, it was a nice rare look at Stan and Ollie in color. After their bit, Vickers shows us how important wood is for the war effort as this film ends with the patriotic music playing with the American flag flying on screen. All in all, an interesting curio for any fan of L & H.

Like watching the aging Elvis perform in his white jump suit

[wmorrow59 · 3/10 · 17 July 2002]

This brief wartime educational short is remembered today for one reason only: it offers the rare sight of Laurel & Hardy in color. (They also appear briefly in a surviving color trailer for the lost feature The Rogue Song, and in some 8mm home movie footage from the 1950s.) The Tree in a Test Tube was produced to promote wood conservation on the home front, and for some reason Stan and Ollie were recruited to appear in one sequence. If you're a die-hard fan it's worth a look, but be forewarned, it's a pretty depressing experience. The guys were past their prime, they didn't age well, and they seem quite out of place in the world of the 1940s.

The Laurel & Hardy sequence opens this film and was shot silent, with music and overbearing narration added later by Pete Smith of the "Pete Smith Specialties." Smith's films are generally amusing on their own terms, but the wise guy delivery he employs here is at odds with Laurel & Hardy's childlike style of humor. While the guys dutifully display various items in their wallets made from wood and wood by-products, narrator Smith yammers instructions at them like a drill sergeant; worse still, Stan and Ollie are the butt of his sarcastic quips. The closest we get to a gag comes when Stan finds a pair of nylons -- presumably Mrs. Laurel's property -- in his wallet, and feigns embarrassment while Smith chides him. The nagging narration evokes the spirit of the times, while the aging comedians seem like throwbacks to another era.

For what it's worth, the redness of Stan's hair and the blueness of his eyes are quite apparent here, even in the somewhat washed-out 16mm print I saw, while Babe Hardy's face appears far more tan than he ever looked in any of their black & white films. This short possesses historic value for its offbeat subject matter and the color cinematography, but for entertainment I'd much rather watch in the guys in their youthful prime in something like You're Darn Tootin' or Busy Bodies, great comedies that don't require any narration from Pete Smith or anyone else.

Wooden short

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 11 July 2013]

Other than the presence of Laurel&Hardy in it, The Tree In A Test Tube would pass into oblivion that most educational films do. The film is one of the Pete Smith specialties that MGM used to turn out by the dozen, some with humor others that attempted it, but didn't succeed.

This is one of them as MGM and Pete Smith thought that the mere presence of Laurel&Hardy would hold the audiences attention as the audience listened to a litany of the many uses that wood has in our daily lives.

Maybe if Stan&Ollie did some of their shtick during the short it might be better remembered. As it is it's for Stan&Ollie completists only.

"Colorful" & Interesting Oddity

[redryan64 · 5/10 · 7 April 2015]

WE HAD LONG ago screened this little curio of a hybrid one reeler. We say that it is a little film that owed its lineage to several different genetic sources. Our view is also shaped by its parents; being Mother Nature & Father Time.

PERHAPS IT IS a fine example of the old saying: "Too many Cooks spoil the Broth." The very blending of the varying talents and styles of Laurel & Hardy with the very dry and self-deprecation of Pete Smith's narration's being blended with the industrial & patriotic message that was the crux of the movie.

ADDED TO THIS curious blend is the uninspired use of color and the static camera's eye with the very plain backdrop of a parked auto in the 20th Century-Fox Studio's parking lot. Although the action is very brief, it soon wears thin and really drags. That the action is worked out from the thinnest of a premise.

ALTHOUGH THAT WAS the method that was most successful in bringing the World the best of the now Classic L & H silent and sound shorts; as well as being a chief ingredient in their Hal Roach features, this was not the 1920's or '30's and the team was now caught up in the studio contract system. This was a definite bane to that genre of comedies.

AS FAR AS any suspicion that the team did this for any financial remuneration seems to be specious at best. We must remember that it was World War II that was raging and affected everything. This was most likely a product of a donation of time and services from L & H, Pete Smith, 20th Century-Fox and MGM to the War effort, much in the same way that the JERRY LEWIS LABOR DAY TELETHON supported the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Stan and Ollie on their lunch break

[JoeytheBrit · 4/10 · 5 July 2009]

It's surprising how old Laurel and Hardy look in this wartime propaganda short. They were only a few years past the prime of their career, but they looked like that period was about twenty years behind them.

Made in their lunch hour according to IMDb's trivia section, you can't help thinking they could have probably found more interesting ways of filling their time. The film consists of Pete Smith's voice telling them all about the different things wood is used for. There must have been a reason the US government felt it was important that the country should know about this, but you have to wonder why. Was it so people would be kinder to wood? Or perhaps they wanted people to stop hoarding it. Whatever the reason, the boredom quotient of the subject matter is counter-balanced by Stan and Ollie's presence - they're definitely the best thing about this short.

Laurel and Hardy in color!

[classicsoncall · 4/10 · 18 December 2011]

Just about every reviewer on this board calls this a propaganda film, but that word carries a highly negative connotation to me. I found this more in line with what I'd call a documentary style narration that happens to feature one of the funniest comedy duos of all time - Laurel and Hardy. At a mere five or six minutes, this doesn't give you much except for a quickie education on the wonder of wood products, and in that respect is an eye opener even today. For example, Stan's hat band utilizes tan bark and wood fiber, and a host of products we consider primarily plastic contain such things as cellulose fiber and wood pulp. The picture, made during World War II, was produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and commends the U.S. Forest Service for the work done by it's product laboratories in developing products made from wood. Not the most interesting of subjects to be sure, made somewhat annoying by the narration of Pete Smith. But fans of Laurel and Hardy will certainly want to catch the duo in their only color footage, even if their wordless performances, excuse the pun, are somewhat wooden.

A science lesson with comedy.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 26 November 2016]

An aging Laurel and Hardy go back to their days of silent comedy, narrated by comical commentator Pete Smith who helps them identify every day products made out of various types of plastics, and products made out of wood. This is filmed in an early type of color film, not yet perfected with Technicolor. Smith hands this off to another narrator, Lee Vickers, who makes the point of the importance of those various types of plastics and wood in both peace time and war time. It's thus type of educational film that makes knowledge fun, showing a historical combination of movie studio involvement, various ecological preservationalists and the military who was in desperate need of various common materials for their battle needs. Everybody fighting for freedom during the war that everybody pretty much agreed that peace loving countries needed to be in, unfortunately not the last war that the world will be in.

A Bland Historical Curio

[Snow Leopard · 26 October 2005]

This bland historical curio is, as others have also pointed out, really only of any interest at all because it is the only color movie made by the great comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The movie itself, though, is hardly worthy of their talents. Even though it only runs for about five minutes, it quickly becomes boring, and it could have made all its points in a fraction of the time.

Most of the movie consists of Stan and Ollie being prompted by a narrator as he points out the many familiar articles that include wood or other tree products, beyond the ones that are obvious. The script gives the two comedians almost no opportunities to do anything. Aside from a couple of relatively amusing gestures and expressions, there's only dead time.

The subject surely has some interesting points somewhere, and it's hard to believe that they couldn't have written a much better script if they had tried harder. Laurel and Hardy could make almost anything entertaining, given the chance. But unfortunately they really don't get a chance here, and as a result this movie really has no strengths.

Got wood?

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 5/10 · 28 June 2010]

This was part of a 3-DVD box-set, and this disc came with the Laurel and Hardy shorts Mud & Sand, Just Rambling Along, Oranges and Lemons and the Three Stooges ones Brideless Groom and Sing a Song of Six Pants; it also came with Malice in the Palace, and the features Atoll K(or Utopia) and Flying Deuces. It is the only L&H piece in color, and that makes it interesting for collectors. All they do is show what products they have on them for the jackass of a narrator to claim are made from trees, and it was reportedly shot on their lunch-break. For being propaganda, it could be far worse(no one is hugging the ground in an effort to protect themselves from a nuclear blast, for one thing). This was made during WWII, and during war-time, certain governments decide that lying to their people is fine. With five and a half minutes just barely edited at all, this probably won't inspire any laughter; it's silly and at times suggestive, but never funny. It does bear the distinction of, for what it is, not being terribly offensive or embarrassing today. The title is awkwardly fit in so that they could call this something catchy. This is a great cure for insomnia, as it is astonishingly dull. I recommend this solely for those curious of it. 5/10

A curious piece of film and Laurel and Hardy history

[StevePulaski · 6/10 · 7 October 2014]

Laurel and Hardy's short film "The Tree in a Test Tube" is a five-minute, partially-complete video from the U.S. Department of Agriculture concerning the ubiquity of products made or manufactured from wood or wood byproducts in the American economy at the time (1942, right near the end of World War II). The short focuses on Laurel and Hardy, seen in color, their only surviving color project known at this time, who are suddenly stopped by the voice of MGM announcer and producer Pete Smith, who asks the two men if they have any products made from wood on them. The two men shake their heads no in total bemusement, but realize, once Smith gets started on his didactic lesson, that between their wallets, shoes, and hats, they bear numerous products containing wood on them.

"The Tree in the Test Tube" is an interesting short for many reasons, other than being almost a blatant piece of World War II-era propaganda. For starters, as mentioned, it's the only surviving color film starring Laurel and Hardy. Secondly, this was shot on the backlot of Twentieth Century-Fox in November 1941 when Laurel and Hardy were on their lunchbreak. And, finally, this short was due to be lengthier, but the bulk of it was lost and never recovered.

Due to the clearer photography, which also benefits from color, we can see Laurel and Hardy begin to show their age in the short as well, with more wrinkles to their faces and the occasional mugs of sheer exhaustion on their faces. Nonetheless, they were troopers to commit themselves to this particular side project on their lunchbreak, and I have a feeling if they were alive today, they'd have to do a video showing how many of the products we use on a daily basis contain corn on the backlot of Warner Bros., just to even the score. This short is a curious piece of film and Laurel and Hardy history and should be viewed and judged on that more than the quality of the film and its overall story/goal.

Starring: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Directed by: Charles McDonald.

An historical short that has as his only strong point two major stars of the time

[bellino-angelo2014 · 5/10 · 27 August 2019]

This short made during the war begins with an interviewer talking to Laurel & Hardy. They don't say much and the short was made on three-striped colour film and released in theaters with the purpose of educating audiences about the importance of wood.

This is just one of the many educational shorts made during the 1940s and 1950s. Of all the ones I saw this is one of the most boring despite it has Laurel and Hardy here to explain that wood is in practically everything - rayons, pressed wood, etc. In fact, unnecessary might be the best word for describing this short and even huge fans of Laurel and Hardy like me would end up being both bored and without a snicker.

Wood during war-time

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 31 December 2018]

Regard Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy with great affection. They were very funny, often hilarious, and likeable with interesting distinct personalities that really shone when the material in their work played to their strengths (which it mostly did). They had a distinctive comedic style and their partnership was deservedly iconic. Much of their films, short and feature, were decent to wonderful, and most of their lesser efforts were still watchable to some degree. Misfires were in comparison to the rest of their filmography were not many.

'The Tree in a Test Tube' is one of their misfires. It is not only very bad Laurel and Hardy that in no way does them justice, it is also far from good on its own. As others have noted, the one notable thing about 'The Tree in a Test Tube' is the historical curiosity value. Aside from being a wartime educational short, it is most notable for being Laurel and Hardy's first and only short film in colour. Another reason to see it perhaps is if you are trying to see every Laurel and Hardy film for completest sake, being very fond of them that was my reason. That it was made very quickly and with not much care is obvious.

Will say that there is the odd very mildly amusing moment, though really just in the gesturing, and a couple of facts do educate.

Laurel and Hardy do try their best with severely wanting material and the music rouses.

However, both Laurel and Hardy are poorly served both individually and as a duo. None of what they are given plays to their strengths, like it was forgotten what made them so great, and they both look tired and bored and like they did it for a favour and money. They look very out of place in the war setting and even their chemistry is tired. One can tell visually that 'The Tree in a Test Tube' was made in a rush, with the garish colour not being kind to the duo and the photography indicating that those involved didn't have the proper time and resources to do it.

Next to nothing is funny here in a short where attempts at humour are far too few, apart from the odd gesturing, as said what made Laurel and Hardy so great seems to have been forgotten about and it is every bit as tired as the duo themselves. Not much is interesting, with things getting dull too early, and very little is educational, was only illuminated a few times while everything left me unsurprised and not very interested. It is also very heavy-handed, a common trap for war-time shorts, and the narration is both unnecessary and patronising.

Concluding, lacklustre at best and a deeply disappointing misfire. 4/10 Bethany Cox

About as interesting as staring at wood pulp!

[planktonrules · 1/10 · 2 January 2008]

The film consists of a narrator talking to Laurel and Hardy. The boys say nothing much (other than a laugh) and it was made on grainy color film for release in the theaters during WWII to educate (and bore) audiences on the importance of having wood.

This was a Pete Smith Specialty--one of many Pete Smith shorts made during the 1940s. Compared to the other Pete Smith shorts I have seen, this one manages to be even duller--even though it uses Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy to demonstrate that they've got wood in practically everything they are carrying--such as rayons, pressed wood, etc. In many ways, it looks like a film that should have been made for a wood products convention, as no other human beings could possibly find this interesting. In fact, tedious is probably the best description of the short. Even die-hard fans of Laurel and Hardy (like myself) would find this excruciating and you can't detect even the faintest whiff of a laugh.

Bizarre little propaganda film

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 20 August 2016]

THE TREE IN A TEST TUBE is an odd title for an odd WW2 propaganda short starring the one and only Laurel & Hardy. This feature, which runs for just a few minutes in length, has the distinction of being the only ever Laurel & Hardy production shot in colour (not counting the films that were later 'colourised' through that dodgy process).

This short features a narrator explaining the uses of wood in war-time while Laurel & Hardy mime discovering the possessions they have which are made from trees. There was no budget for this and it shows; it was shot in a parking log on a lunch hour. The boys are noticeably aged and perhaps it's just the camera but they look advanced and quite elderly. Sadly, there's no chance for their natural humour to shine in what is a rather worthless effort.

A lesson on wood

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 24 July 2016]

"The Tree in a Test Tube" is a color short film from 1943. It is World War II and there were so many American propaganda films out there. This is one of these. And it is more known than many of the others because of the inclusion of Laurel & Hardy (both around the age of 50 here). But they only show up in the first couple minutes and afterward, it becomes even more bland than it already was early on. Not even this duo can turn mediocrity to gold. I don't know who I would recommend this film to, maybe foresters I guess. Pete Smith, an Academy Award darling, also worked on this one here and I cannot say that it made m e curious about any of his many many other works. There's 6-minute and 10 minute versions (restored DVD) of this one out there and I can only say the shorter the better, even if I watched the 10-minute version. Thumbs down from me. Don't check it out unless you really love Laurel & Hardy.

Oh dear lord...

[paul_haakonsen · 1/10 · 31 March 2023]

See, now I was lead to believe that this was another short comedy film from Laurel and Hardy, so that is what I was expecting when I sat down in 2023 to watch "The Tree in a Test Tube" for the very first time.

Imagine my surprise when I come to realize that Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were used as a gimmick to show off how important wood is in the production of numerous items. And then imagine it when it went beyond an informercial about wood and became a wartime propaganda short film.

This was atrocious, and nothing at all as what I had expected or been lead to believe.

My rating of director Charles McDonald's 1942 "The Tree in a Test Tube" lands on a one out of ten stars.

Laurel & Hardy needed money?

[Boba_Fett1138 · 6/10 · 13 September 2006]

It seems pretty odd as to why both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy ever agreed to be in this little propaganda movie, to promote wood and wood by-products, for the use of average everyday products.

Thing that this movie taught me the most is that Laurel & Hardy don't look good in color. This movie is from 1943 and Laurel & Hardy were already both well over 50 at the time. Their age normally doesn't really show but it does so in this color movie. They really didn't look well and looked old- and stiff in their movements. They really seemed out of place in this movie but yet the obviously still make the movie an interesting and fun one to watch. It's certainly better than normally 'education' and war-time propaganda movies.

I also can't deny that this movie is educational. This movie surely taught me some things I didn't knew about wood yet. Not that I'm really interested in it of course but it's still sort of fun to know all. Laurel & Hardy's presence definitely added to the educational level of this movie. They show everything in a fun and quick way, although none of it obviously ever gets hilarious or terribly interesting.

It's still a sort of good movie that is made interesting and effective by Laurel & Hardy's presence but it's still sort of sad to see them in this. Alreading getting older and long since over their prime. The only reason they seem to be in this is because of the money. Still the movie remains a sort of collectors item, since it's the only theatrical movie from Laurel & Hardy in full color.

I have some mixed feelings about this movie. Laurel & Hardy seem terribly out of place but yet at the same time they're the only reason why this movie is still an effective and interesting one. Therefor I rate it a 'safe' 6 out of 10.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

This is a PSA not a comedy

[Better_Sith_Than_Sorry · 6/10 · 28 March 2023]

Almost every review I've read here bashes this little film because the reviewers expected it to be something it's not. As it stars the famous comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, it seems they expected this to be a comedy. Well, it's not a comedy. It's a public service announcement (PSA) explaining the importance of the timber industry and wood-based products to the war effort during WWII.

Does that sound funny? It's not, and again, it's not intended to be. It's meant to be educational, and in that respect, it succeeds. If you come to this film expecting it to be wildly entertaining just because L&H appear, you're going to be disappointed. But I would argue that this would be your fault, because you are putting an expectation on a film it was not intended to fulfill.

It's about 11 minutes, not 5 or 6 as many have stated. The first half has L&H teaming with Pete Smith as they discover how many everyday items they use contain some level of wood product. That part is about 6 minutes and the end of L&H's involvement. The next 5 minutes detail how wood is being used specifically for war materials, like wooden skies for alpine troops, reinforced wood for pontoon bridges, airplanes made entirely of wood (even the gas tanks), and other such examples. This was actually very informative and somewhat interesting. Funny? No. Interesting? Yes.

It's also a bit alarming from a military perspective. One scene showed U. S. troops on maneuvers and they were all wearing gas masks. Another clip showed horse-drawn carriages, presumably for munitions. Both of these are relics of World War I, yet this film was released in 1942. It soberly illustrates how unprepared the United States really was for the new war they had just joined.

So for reviewers here to say this is worthless, or that its only for L&H diehards, well, speak for yourself. It's not a bad little film if approached with the proper mindset.

6/10. Would I watch again (Y/N)?: Yes.