Berth Marks (1929) User Reviews

Imagine the Tailor's Bills!

[Prichards12345 · 8/10 · 3 May 2006]

Several published works on Laurel And Hardy seem to rate this as one of the boys' poorest shorts. How dare they! This is extremely funny - if not quite top drawer - Stan and Ollie. An early talkie, half the film is simply our two heroes trying to get undressed in the upper berth of a sleeper train, getting entangled in each others trousers, night-shirts etc. The boys have also inadvertently set the rest of the passengers against each other, via a method I won't spoil by revealing. It's simplicity itself, yet it works wonderfully well. When most comedies of the twenties and thirties have long been forgotten, the films of these two lovable characters continue to delight.

The real secret is surely in their universal humanity; there's a little bit of Stan and Ollie in all of us.

Laurel & Hardy cause some hilarious mayhem on a train.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 8/10 · 12 August 2006]

This first talking movie from Laurel & Hardy is a surprising good one. It has the typical Laurel & Hardy humor in it, for which they are so famous and loved over the world. This is one of their most typical shorts. It's simple and it's almost non-stop filled with slapstick moments. Laurel & Hardy at their purest and finest.

The movie begins standard but from the moment when the two boys enter the train the movie becomes an almost fun and non-stop laugh-fest. The movie its humor is very simple and also predictable but executed brilliantly by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Especially the scene in which the two boys try to get in bed, which last at least 5 minutes, is one to remember and Laurel & Hardy hilarity at its best and purest form. Although the movie its humor and moments are rather stretched out, the movie never really becomes tiresome to watch.

More than in other early Laurel & Hardy comedy shorts, the supporting cast also plays an important part when it comes to the humor. The movie is filled with comical moments, that don't even feature the two boys in it. Among the supporting cast is Laurel & Hardy regular Baldwin Cooke and movie icon Paulette Goddard. Talk about movie history!

This movie is definitely better than Laurel & Hardy's other work from the '20's. It's humor and characters already have the shape and form as their later and best work from the early '30's.

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Unhappy berthday

[weezeralfalfa · 6/10 · 18 October 2018]

As several reviewers have pointed out, the main problem with this early L&H talky comedy short is that their struggles to get into their upper berth, and struggles to undress with both in the same birth simply takes up too much time(2/3 of the run time). Especially, their struggles, once in the berth, get too repetitious after a while, although it is somewhat humorous. There are a couple of intermissions, when we briefly see a massive brawl in the next car, which Stan inadvertently started when he walked in on a woman in night clothes. The men are tearing each other's clothes off. We could have used more time focusing on this mayhem, and less time devoted to the boys' struggles in their berth........The beginning portion, which takes place in or near the train station, includes some amusing incidents. The stationmaster rattles off the stations that the train will stop at unintelligibly: rather like an auctioneer. Thus, they boys aren't sure they are getting on the right train for Pottsville. Unfortunately, while waiting to board the train, their folder of sheet music gets loose, and the sheets fly all over. Thus, they are frantically trying to collect them as the train is ready to pull out. Near the end of the train, in their haste, they again spill the music. Finally, they give up, as they have to run to catch the last car of the departed train. At least, they have tickets this time! I can't imagine what they could play worth listening to with just their base fiddle, which they forget in their rush to get off at Pottsville, still undressed.

Chaos In The Train

[Chrysanthepop · 14 July 2008]

Laurel and Hardy are back again in this talkie train adventure. The duo have a gig and they take the train, unknowingly create mayhem, try to get some sleep but encounter some trouble with wardrobe and when they're finally ready, they reach their destination only to forget the cello in the train. It's got the usual slapstick element and again Hardy does more of the talking while Laurel remains quiet. It's a simple little film of the typical Laurel and Hardy humour (for which they are loved). It's finely executed and provides several laugh out loud moments such as the bed scene or the sequence where the passengers start ripping each others clothes off and this starts multiplying (till the point where the conductor's clothes are tattered). Paulette Goddard and Baldwin Cooke provide great support. I love most of the things this wonderful comedy duo have done and 'Berth Marks' ranks among my favourites.

A slightly disappointing early talkie.

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 6/10 · 31 July 2017]

Laurel and Hardy play musicians who need to board a train as they are on tour for a so- called big vaudeville act. After losing all of their music and one instrument, Stan and Ollie attempt to settle in their overnight sleeping compartment. They don't achieve this without causing the other passengers to tear each other's clothing first. I found "Berth Marks" to be disappointing. There weren't enough gags and the story wasn't as interesting as it could have been. However, such disappointments from Laurel and Hardy's best period are few and far between.

"We're a big time vaudeville act!"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 10 March 2016]

I've been catching quite a few of Laurel and Hardy's film shorts lately, both silent and talkie, and one item of note for this picture is that there seems to be a fair amount of close-ups of the Boys that weren't standard for most of their work. This is most likely due to the limited space in which most of the story takes place, though it's not much of a story when you get right down to it. Stan and Ollie go through an inordinate amount of contortions in order to get ready to take a nap in their upper train berth. It actually gets to be very physical and I had to wonder if they might have suffered any amount of pain or bruises while falling down a small ladder or inadvertently sticking a foot in each other's face. In the meantime, the rest of the passengers on board revel in tearing each other's clothes off due to an unintended accident initiated by Stan. A lot of this was pretty standard stuff for Laurel and Hardy, and the version I saw courtesy of Turner Classics had their traditional 'Cuckoo Song' opening the program. As this is considered by many to be their first talking picture, I don't know if the Cuckoo music was there from the beginning or added later, but it was a neat reminder of the way I remembered these shorts when I was a kid watching them in the Fifties. Great memories and great to see them all over again.

Takin' A Train Trip With Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 20 April 2000]

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.

Vaudeville musicians Stan & Ollie board a train heading for Pottsville. Finding their reserved `upper', their attempts to get into it & maneuver around it are a study in total frustration. They'll have more bruises than just BERTH MARKS when they finally reach their destination.

This little film is pure slapstick and very funny. The Boys make travelling in an upper berth look absolutely hideous.

Early Charmer

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 13 January 2017]

I'm told this is the second sound film for Laurel and Hardy. They really look young in this one. They are a couple musicians, trying to get to a gig. They manage to get an upper berth on a train, so both have to sleep in the same bed. As they work their way through the close quarters, they do some troubling things. This time they don't pay the price because other people are mistaken for their actions. The ongoing joke has to do with people ripping up each other's clothes. The boys spend their time trying to locate music that Stan has misplaced and everywhere they go, trouble ensues. We can see the comic genius here. Obviously, they also did many silent features.

Fiddling around on their way to Pottsville.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 22 September 2016]

The laughs are as solid as classical music in this comedy short that is not just directed. It's choreographed. Stan and Ollie are vaudevillians heading to Pottsville with one fiddle and no music. "Why do you want to go to Pottsville?", they are asked aboard the train, and explain their profession. "I bet you're good", the conductor tells them in a deadpan manner, obviously dubious about their act. For 20 minutes, the train ride they take is the track to comic disaster, and no passenger will have any peace as long as they are aboard. There won't be any room left for marks in their berth, but hopefully there'll be oxygen near by for viewers laughing non- stop. I rank this among their top two reelers, and one of the great early talkie comedies period. Imagine the sight of chubby Stanley and skinny Laurel trying to undress, literally cheek to cheek.This deserves solid attention, because the funniest bits are so subtle that distracted viewers could easily miss them. I didn't spot the young Paulette Goddard, but it'll be fun to go through the train sequences and pause the DVD (excellently transferred on a beautiful collection of Laurel & Hardy shorts and features from their Hal Roach days) to find her.

A Failure At Middle Ground

[redryan64 · 6/10 · 30 July 2014]

THIS SHORT HAS long been familiar to us. Dating to those days preceding the advent of the home video craze and introduction of terms such as Beta, VHS and DVD, this title was in our home film library in the Super 8 Magnetic Sound format. This was a product of Blackhawk Films of Davenport, Iowa.

AS AN EXAMPLE of a Hal Roach LAUREL & HARDY production, it is what truly be called "a mixed bag." The story opens up well enough; featuring an excellent example of comedy of frustration. The first scene is set at a Railroad Station; where San & Ollie keep missing each other due to being lost in the crowd. After finally finding themselves, the attention shifts to difficulties with their luggage, sheet music collection and Laurel's Bull-fiddle. They are said to be vaudevillians.

AFTER SOME DIFFICULTY in communicating with a mumbling station master and getting on the moving train, they finally board. It was at this point that it was all down hill.

INTERPLAY WITH OTHER passengers is kept to a minimal. Also, a brief encounter with the Conductor proves too brief; although what they did have in the movie did show definite promise. The action all too quickly shifts from the Passenger Car to the Pullman Sleeper, with its bunk-bed style Berths, hence the title (get it, Schultz?).

IT IS HERE that we beginning to pray for some improvements; but a protracted scene involving the boys' attempting to undress for a night's sleep seems to occupy an inordinately long part of the allotted 2 reels. There is a monotonous succession of Stan & Ollie's frustration, which leads to their striking each other and threaten the other. It is during this exchange that Ollie makes repeated references to "crowding" and "don't hit me".

THERE IS ONE promising outbreak of "Reciprocal Destruction", a invention of Roach Studios; but it really doesn't involve participation by the Boys.

FOLLOWING ALL OF this ill conceived, crazy-quilt of events, the production team commits the cardinal sin of not knowing how to end it; which is the bane of the comedy movie, be it short or feature.

THE PROBLEM APPEARS to lie in the attempt to do the film as both a silent and as a talkie. It was 1929 and the conversion to sound was in full swing. But the idea was releasing it in the two formats would insure its availability to those theatres which had not yet converted. The resulting product was a movie that was in a sort of Limbo, being neither here or there.

WE HOPE WE'RE not seeming to be too harsh on the L & H production team, for it is still light years ahead of that stuff they did in the 1940s for Fox and MGM. It is worth at least a look.

L&H's weakest sound short

[hausrathman · 3/10 · 21 November 2011]

Laurel & Hardy play vaudevillians headed to their next gig in another town who must deal with the cramped conditions of a railroad sleeping berth.

Many fans consider this film, their second sound short, to be their worst short. I have to agree with them. There simply isn't much too this film. The train station opening isn't particularly inspired, although their exchange with the stationmaster is amusing. The main problem is with the main action. There is simply too much of the boys trying to get undressed and comfortable in the upper sleeping berth. The sequence is probably hurt by the script-- or lack thereof. Without any memorable dialogue, we are simply left with general whining and complaining.

There were better possibilities. Early in the film, the boys inadvertently set off an avalanche of tit-for-tat violence and retribution. Unfortunately, after they initiate it, they leave it and we only get to see the repercussions of it at the end. Laurel and Hardy were masters of that form of stylistic violence -- as evidenced in "Two Tars," "Big Business," and "Tit For Tat." I would have preferred more jacket ripping and less feet in the face.

That said, the film isn't a total waste. Watching it now on the newly-released "The Essential Laurel & Hardy," did bring some smiles Since I never really sought it out since I originally saw in the 1970s, it did have the benefit of being somewhat fresh to me. Still, it is not one of their better shorts.

Awesome, I Really Enjoyed It.

[verbusen · 9/10 · 20 January 2014]

I'm surprised at all the negative reviews here on this short. I was expecting to be impatient with it since I could tell by the title it would be the two of them in a train berth together, but for me it totally cracked me up! A lot of L&H humor goes on a long time repetitively and most of the time I love it but a few times I get a little bored (Tit for Tat comes to mind), but this was just so silly it was hard for me not to go along with the gag till the end. The gag with the rest of train was great also as was the shoe gag, but I really really thought the berth scene was a riot. BTW, I think the gag starts when they are both assigned a single berth because I don't think it works that way in real life, you pay for one bed per person. I could be wrong on that but I have a feeling thats the way it was. One reason why I may like this more then most is because after all of these years this was the first time I watched it and after watching all their later work from the 30's and on this was new material for me so I would give just about anything I watch them in thats new for me at least a 7. But I did really crack up at the two of them in the same berth and seem to like all the different comedies that get set in that type of scene like the 3 Stooges in A Pain In The Pullman and ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd in Show Business, I also think Abbott and Costello did some scenes in them and there is train humor in The Thin Man films. I always seem to enjoyed them all. I'm giving this short a 9 out of 10. Trivia: I'm surprised no one else mentioned it yet (that I noticed). That "fiddle" gets totally smashed in the beginning of the film, you can see it fall out in pieces from the bag, but then it's whole again when they get on the train!

training day

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 19 December 2018]

On a train to a musical performance, Stan and Ollie do what you might expect. The best part of "Berth Marks" is when they're in the compartment trying to go to bed. A notable piece of trivia about this short - their second talkie - is that it's the film debut of Paulette Goddard, Charlie Chaplin's wife from 1936-42 (and his co-star in "Modern Times" and "The Great Dictator").

It's not Laurel & Hardy's best movie, but still fun. There's now a movie about the comic duo, with Steve Coogan as Laurel and John C. Reilly as Hardy. I hope to see it. In the meantime, I recommend "Berth Marks". One can see how L&H influenced Gilligan and the Skipper.

Good one.

Disappointing

[JoeytheBrit · 4/10 · 29 June 2009]

I'm a huge fan of Laurel & Hardy but found this to be hard going even though it was only twenty minutes long. It's easy to see that the boys aren't used to - and are uneasy - working with sound, a fact demonstrated by long sequences played out in near total silence. Much of the dialogue between them seems to be improvised and sounds forced and unconvincing.

Added to these problems with sound, the routines involved just aren't funny. The sequence in which the boys struggle to prepare for bed in a cramped sleeping berth on a train seem to go one forever (without raising even the ghost of a smile).

This has to go down as one of their weakest efforts - and that includes the stuff they did for 20th Century Fox in the forties.

PURE HILARITY...LAURAL & HARDY AT THEIR PURE BEST

[shiftyitaliano2001 · 23 June 2002]

For anyone who doesn't believe that train rides can be a total hassle, see this film, and your views will be sorely changed. Laural And Hardy, two vaudeville stars heading for Pottsville, take us on a 20 minute ride of their life (one most of us wish would never happen). This movie makes me laugh tears right from the opening scenes, as the boys even find boarding the train a hard thing to do (this is one of the best scenes in the short). Next we find them on the train, and they've apparently lost their music for their act, can things get worse? of course! stan, on the way to his berth, walks into a womans room, causing her husband to think someone was looking at her, and a free for all coat fight ensues! The next scenes are what tops the short off... Stan and Ollie spend the last 15 minutes just trying to get in the berth and get settled into it! These last scenes make this short a killer, one to be remembered forever, and even though i am only 18, i will make sure my grandkids watch this when they are my age. A truly great L&H short...for everyone

I personally know someone who took an actual train . . .

[pixrox1 · 6/10 · 30 March 2022]

. . . from Toledo to the East Coast in order to run the Boston Marathon. Unlike Rosie Ruiz, who rode the Green Line DURING the Big Race in which she temporarily was crowned with the winner's laurel wreath, my guy did NOT use the rails to cheat. However, he told me that he did not do as well in Beantown that week as he later did the time he rode across Canada with a drunken semi-truck driver who picked him up as a stay-awake aid as he hitchhiked in Sault Ste. Marie, because it's impossible to get comfortable on a moving train. BERTH MARKS confirms my man's experience, as Stan and Ollie are reduced to tears by their railroading experience. It's a good thing that they don't have to run the Boston Marathon the next day!

WHAT'RE YOU GONNA' DO IN POTTSVILLE??

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 2 June 2022]

This was the only Laurel and Hardy short film that Lewis R. Foster directed, who later wrote the acclaimed film, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON.

Foster did a terrific job, possibly one of the team's best early sound films, from 1929.

Big vaudeville "stars" Stan and Ollie board a train for Pottsville --and the rest is comedy history. This short is chock full with one running gag after another, and with excellent timing. To further complicate matters, the boys have to drag along a cello (part of their act, naturally), which proves to be one pain in the xyz! They encounter -- inadvertently -- jealous husband Charlie Hall who starts a clothes ripping chain reaction among passengers, believing some body (a fat guy!) was snooping on his wife.

The boys end the insane day by climbing into a tight as a drum sleeping car berth and painstakingly remove their clothes --that only Laurel and Hardy can do. This hilarious sketch is one of Laurel Hardy's best, and would be re-created by them many years later in THE BIG NOISE (1944). Some say you can hear the crew faintly laughing in the background, its that funny.

By the way, the clothes-ripping frenzy goes on and on... Without too much surprise, this story was written by famed director Leo McCarey, who also worked on their silent short films. A labor of love.

Get the dvd box set of the team's legendary short films, especially for this one.

Laurel And Hardy's Second Talkie

[Sunsphxsuns · 10/10 · 4 January 2022]

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?"

"Berth Marks" (1929) was released at the same time the "talkies" were sweeping the film industry. This is Laurel and Hardy's second sound movie although, ironically, there is actually very little dialog. The plot unfolds as the two vaudeville musicians (Laurel and Hardy) board a train and after a few distractions find their sleeping berth. From there it escalates into sheer mayhem. It's that simple yet it is a true classic.

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 the engine, as seen pulling the train, is shown as a 4-6-2 engine or an American Pacific type steam locomotive, which was the most common wheel arrangement for steam trains, during the 1800s and 1830s on American railroads until 1928.

Lacks the funny chaos

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 19 March 2016]

"Berth Marks" is another Laurel/Hardy short film and this one was made by Foster (later an Oscar winner) and Walker in 1929, over 85 years ago. It is in black-and-white of course, but was made right at the point of time when the first films transitioned from silent to sound. As the duo here were among the big stars of their era, of course they were also among the first to adapt to the new approach. The cast here includes one famous name, who is usually more known for working with Chaplin. Other than her, there is not really that much reason to watch these 19 minutes. Stan & Ollie have been a lot funnier in many other works and what i was missing most was the way they caused chaos for everybody around them, unintentionally of course. This felt almost completely missing in here. That's why I do not recommend. Thumbs down.

Train chaos

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 28 August 2018]

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.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. Didn't find 'Berth Marks' as one of their best and a bit disappointing compared to their late 1928 and previous 1929 efforts, which were among their best and funniest early work. It is still very good and has much of what makes Laurel and Hardy's work as appealing as it is.

It may not be "new" material as such and the first part takes a little bit too time to get going and is a little formulaic.

When 'Berth Marks' does get going, which it does do quite quickly, it is great fun, not always hilarious but never less than very amusing, the getting into bed routine though is classic Laurel and Hardy. It is never too silly, a wackiness that never loses its energy and the sly wit emerges here, some of the material may not be new but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive.

Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'Berth Marks' we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'Berth Marks' looks good visually, is full of energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. The supporting players are solid.

Overall, very good. Not essential or classic Laurel and Hardy, but a very good representation of them. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Berth Marks

[jboothmillard · 5/10 · 12 February 2009]

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history, and deservedly so, so I am happy to see any of their films. Stan and Ollie are meeting each other at a train station, they are fiddler players, on their way to Pottsville, and they obviously start off badly with incomprehensible droning from the Stationmaster (Pat Harmon), and dropping all their music sheets before running for the train. As they go to their bed, Stan manages to go into the wrong room, and thinking another man was him, the man rips another man's jacket, then he rips the jacket of another man, and so begins a train full of people ripping each others clothes. Anyway, Stan and Ollie get to their bed, but they obviously complicate getting onto it, and getting undressed to sleep. When they finally do, their station is next up, and it ends with the conclusion that Stan forgot the fiddle, and it ends with Ollie losing his temper and chasing Stan. Also starring Charlie Hall as Train passenger and Silas D. Wilcox as Conductor. Filled with good slapstick and all classic comedy you want from a black and white film, at just over an hour, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Worth watching!

I'll see soon!

[ratner-4 · 30 July 2008]

I just recently got into collecting really old films in their original format--16mm--to be viewed on a projector. And I just won a print of this on eBay, to arrive in a few days.

I'm curious how the experience will differ watching it blown up on a large screen in my backyard... with the noise of the projector...and those real grey tones and unaltered sound.

As opposed to just watching a DVD of it.

Yeah, progress is great, but I have a feeling that watching it via film is gonna feel more like living a little bit of history. When it arrives and I finally view it, I'll give a review.

But I have a feeling that it's going to be magic.

little of the Laurel and Hardy magic

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 1 July 2006]

While this isn't a bad film, it certainly isn't one of the team's better efforts. It's a shame really, as 1929 to the mid 30s was the absolute prime period of their work together. I guess considering all the great films they made, it's okay to have a bit of a let-down,...and that's exactly what this is. The routines are not especially funny and the same type things had been done before by them with better results.

Stan and Ollie are a Vaudeville team catching a train to their next gig. They have trouble locating each other at the station and Ollie loses his papers from his suitcase in this opening scene--not terribly funny stuff at all. Then, on the train, two main comedy bits are used. The first involves people grabbing and ripping each other's clothes. This has been done before and the set up for this wasn't very smooth or believable--people just start doing it for apparently no reason at all. Next, Stan and Ollie must both climb into an upper sleeping berth designed for one. This seems to take forever and is frankly stretched too long.

Really, now that I think about it, this movie was a pleasant enough short but really had no laughs.

PS--you can tell, in spots, that this film was originally a silent film or that they were unfamiliar with making sound films, as the sound is absent in some of the early scenes or seem tacked on. This isn't as bad or noticeable as in many early sound films, but if you look you'll notice.

Now with added sound!

[bob the moo · 1 July 2003]

With their vaudeville careers slowly taking off, Messers Laurel and Hardy set off on a tour of small music halls. They arrange to meet at the train station with their instrument but find that the journey is not as comfortable or straightforward as they had first expected.

Laurel and Hardy's first short film with sound is clearly the start of a developing series of shorts. For the first few minutes there is almost no sound to speak of as they rely on their normal comedy style – it feels a little like they want to stay with what they know for a while. When the sound does kick in, it is very grainy and is given limited use for that reason. However, considering it is now over 70 years old this is understandable and it doesn't really affect the film too much.

The routines are pretty good and show a keen imagination – one running gap is left to run offscreen for five minutes before we are allowed to see it's extreme punchline! The routine in the train carriage berth has been reused to better effect by Laurel and Hardy but is still funny here. Both men are good and work well in the confines of the berth – Laurel has the better of the material here though.

Overall I enjoyed this short but must admit that the sheer age of the film did shine through in regards sound quality and even film stock at times. Regards though it was still funny although I missed the verbal wit that is part of their comedy in other shorts.