One Good Turn (1931) User Reviews

Hard times put a strain on a famous friendship

[wmorrow59 · 6/10 · 14 September 2008]

I've always loved Laurel & Hardy, no matter which of their films I'm watching. Their best movies are delightful, and even in their lesser efforts I find that their impeccable teamwork and special idiosyncrasies usually carry the day. Over and above the comedy it's their relationship I savor, and for that reason I've always found One Good Turn a rather disturbing short. If you care about Stan and Ollie as buddies this one can even be a somewhat traumatic experience, for in this film the pressure of unemployment and homelessness put a serious strain their friendship, causing not just the usual knockabout quarreling, mind you, but a genuine crisis that leads to a misunderstanding, hurt feelings and, worst of all, a rift in their partnership that is left unresolved at the end. When I first saw this short as a kid it left me upset, and watching it again today I remember why.

Normally at the beginning of an L&H comedy we find a fairly stable situation: the boys are workers of some sort, or suburban husbands who've assigned themselves a home fix-it project. Gradually, of course, and despite their best efforts, things unravel. But when One Good Turn opens their situation has all but unraveled already. Stan and Ollie are homeless and broke, though they still own a car, and it appears that the car and a pup tent are their only shelter. They're camping in a field, and right off the bat Ollie is irritated with Stan, who is cooking their soup and hanging up their laundry. Within minutes Stan has managed to ruin the soup, wreck their clothes and destroy the pup tent, so the guys are reduced to going door to door, begging for a handout. At the first home they visit a nice old lady answers the door, and Ollie explains that they are "victims of the Depression" and asks her for buttered toast.

The guys were often broke and struggling to get by in their movies, starting with their earliest appearance as a team in Duck Soup back in 1927, but outright panhandling is not typical of them, and the blatant appeal for sympathy in citing the Depression is even more unusual, not to mention dicey. (Topical references of any sort are rare in their films.) The old lady is receptive and quick to oblige, which makes the boys' subsequent behavior all the more exasperating. Ollie offers to work for their meal but is plainly unhappy when Stan volunteers his friend's services as a wood cutter. They accomplish very little, and to make matters worse, when they sit down to the meal the old lady has kindly provided they quarrel and wind up in a childish food fight. Any laughter the sequence provokes is tempered by our awareness of that wasted food. Did viewers laugh at this in 1931? As it happens, the old lady is active with the local community theater group, and when she rehearses a scene in the next room with a colleague (an enjoyably hammy Jimmy Finlayson) Stan and Ollie mistakenly assume that the dialog they overhear is real, and that she is going to be evicted from her home. Happily, at this juncture the boys' good-hearted spirit reasserts itself, and they venture into the nearby town to sell their car, and raise the cash to save their benefactress from financial ruin. But due to a misunderstanding Ollie jumps to the conclusion that Stan has stolen the old lady's money, and so he marches his "one-time friend" back to her house to make a full confession. When the mistake is revealed, the worm turns as Stan exacts a violent revenge on his embarrassed, remorseful ex-pal.

Wow, that's kind of a heavy storyline for a Laurel & Hardy two-reeler. I guess it's a testament to the skill of the cast and crew that One Good Turn has its funny moments despite the dark atmosphere. Thematically this film reminds me a little of L&H's silent short Early to Bed, in which Ollie inherits a fortune, Stan becomes his butler, and Stan finally rebels against Ollie's relentless abuse. That one leaves me a little queasy too, but there it's the sudden arrival of unexpected money that causes Ollie's bad behavior, and in the end, the boys reconcile. Here, it's the LACK of money and shelter that sours the mood. The tone is harsh from the outset: Ollie is irritable with Stan even before he destroys what little they have, everything deteriorates from that point, and in the end they haven't reconciled at all. Laurel & Hardy fans will certainly want to see this film, and perhaps some will enjoy it more than I do, but if you're like me you may want to follow it up with one of their happier efforts such as Way Out West, in which the boys actually succeed at their given task and are still friends at the final fade-out.

Entertaining Laurel & Hardy movie

[rbverhoef · 7/10 · 10 November 2003]

A nice Laurel & Hardy movie where they are victims of the depression. After Laurel has burned their tent and lost their food and clothes they get something to eat from a nice old lady. They overhear the woman when she is talking to a man. He says she will be thrown out of her house because she can't pay the 100 dollars she owes him. Laurel & Hardy want to help the lady because she helped them. They still own a car and they try to sell it for the 100 dollars they need.

There are some pretty funny moments in this short movie, especially near the end. Another fine one by the two comedians.

The old fashioned melodrama takes a new twist.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 6 October 2016]

Laurel and Hardy strive to help little old lady Mary Carr whom they believe is about to be put out on the street. Little do they realize that the jokes on them. Starting off with them camping in the woods, for them it looks like everything that can go wrong will go wrong. But it was a nice though anyway. James Finlayson plays an important part, but this time he's not their foil, and they don't even share scenes with him. Carr is a sweet delight, obviously being an expert in these type of roles. In one of the few times that Laurel is allowed to show some temper, he actually gets to give Oliver a taste of his own medicine, that is until the final shot.

Some Good Moments

[Snow Leopard · 12 July 2001]

"One Good Turn" is a Laurel & Hardy short with some good moments. Stan and Ollie are reduced to begging, and arrive at the home of a friendly old woman who offers them a meal. While in her house, the boys misunderstand some events in the woman's life, and their well-meant but misguided attempts to help her out create more problems than they solve. The build-up to the gags in this one takes a bit longer than usual, but there are some good laughs to make up for it. One of the funniest parts is near the beginning when Stanley tries to extinguish an out-of-control campfire.

Only about average until the spectacular and weird ending

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 13 October 2006]

For the first 90% of this Laurel and Hardy short, there wasn't a whole lot to distinguish it from any other. In fact, the plot seemed a bit "schmaltzy" (i.e., sappy), as Stan and Ollie try to help out an old lady who they mistakenly think is about to be evicted by an evil landlord. Instead of the usual Laurel and Hardy hi-jinx, the film tends to be a nicer and gentler side to the boys--thus, to me, it's a tad dull! That is, dull until the very end of the film! At this point, in a HUGE contrast to the usual relationship between Stan and Ollie, Stan has had enough and proceeds to chase Ollie about trying to beat the stuffing out of him!! And, in the process, they destroy much of the nice old lady's home! The scene is a lot of fun to watch and quite spectacular, so the film is definitely worth seeing. Just don't expect it to be among their better films--at least until the end.

A Bit Harsh

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 13 January 2017]

I'm not sure how to take this one. Stan and Ollie have hit bottom during the depression. All they have is an old car and a tent, which is soon destroyed They are reduced to begging and an old lady gives them some food. But because they can't get along, they waste the food, throwing it at each other. When they hear a melodrama being practiced behind closed doors, they think that the old lady is being foreclosed on by Jimmy Finlayson. It is actually a rehearsal for a community play. They decide to sell their car to help the kind old lady out. Well things go south. The thing with this episode is that they end up in a confrontation that detracts form their normal relationships. It's still worth a watch with quite a surprise ending.

Stan is mistaken for a pickpocket, and extracts revenge

[weezeralfalfa · 6/10 · 31 October 2018]

A 1931 L&H comedy short, available at YouTube in both it's original B&W form as well as a colorized form. I found that a section of the latter had no sound. The plot concerns the attempt by the boys to prevent the foreclosure on the Old Lady's property. The Old Lady(Mary Carr) had befriended them, as they were destitute:"victims of The Depression". In the end, we discover that the Old Lady was not in danger of losing her property, and that Stan didn't steal her mortgage money, as Ollie accused..........The progression of the plot depends on the confluence of several very unlikely events: A)Jimmy Finlayson ,an amateur actor, comes to the Old Lady's door and demands payment of her mortgage, or foreclosure, as a rehearsal for a play. B)As part of the play, the Old Woman screams when she finds her mortgage money is missing. Stan and Ollie happen to hear this. C) Without consulting the Old Lady, they decide to auction off their car, to raise the $100. she needs. D) At the auction, a drunk pulls out his wallet and says he will pay $100. for the car. But Ollie hears an apparent bid of $125., and declares that person the buyer. But, it's Stan, telling a hard of hearing person the time! Thus, they still have no money, and they soon destroy their car, fighting. E)The drunk puts his wallet in Stan's jacket pocket, rather than his own. F) When Ollie discovers the wallet in Stan's pocket, he immediately jumps to the conclusion that this is the Old Lady's mortgage money, without examining the wallet for a possible ID clue.........While Stan is eventually exonerated from stealing the Old Lady's money, the question remains: whose wallet does Stan have and how did it get into his pocket. This question is never asked, although the circumstantial evidence clearly favors the conclusion that he picket somebody's pocket. ........When the boys find out that the Old Lady is not missing any money, Stan goes berserk, hitting and kicking Ollie. Then, Stan takes the extreme measure of trying to kill Ollie by causing the large shed he is trapped in to collapse on him. He does this by wacking the entrance with an ax, believe it or not. Ollie's head is now sticking out of the displaced roof( Some reviewers mistakenly claim he wrecked the house). Then, he chops some small logs in such a position that one piece flies in the air and lands on Ollie's head. He repeats this with the same result. He tries once more , with a thicker log. But, this one lands on his own head, to end the film.......I have not described many of the slapstick gags that pepper the film. I leave these for you to see.

This is as much sentimental as funny

[xoxmagoosxox · 10/10 · 31 July 2005]

Welcome to Hooverville, Laurel & Hardy style!!! (A chicken in every pot? Well then I hope the soup that was ruined wasn't chicken soup.) I feel that this is the most sentimental of all the L&H films I've seen...as much as it is funny. It even concerns a theme that certainly holds up today: unemployment and homelessness. Difference between '31 and '05? Then they were just generally 'victims' and even willing to work for their food, as Hardy had suggested; today they're probably on heroin or crack and will probably mug you for a fix, not food.

Of course, then there's the victims of President Bush...

And the ending? OK, I know that it was more than likely personal, but being a lady who turned 50 a month ago and has seen more than her share of what life has to offer, I could never conceive of ANYone not getting 'fighting mad' after being wrongfully accused of stealing. In fact, today - rightly or wrongly accused - someone would more than likely take out a gun and shoot you point blank, not merely try to break open your head with firewood logs.

How times have changed from the '30s. Maybe THAT'S where the 'sentimental' part comes in?

The Worm Turns

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 17 October 2009]

Laurel and Hardy got to do one of their best shorts for Hal Roach in 1931 with One Good Turn. They play a couple of down on their luck characters who during the Great Depression would have had an instant identity with the movie-going public.

One fine day as it happens Stan and Ollie come to the house of a little old lady who kindly gives them some food in exchange for some work they proceed to do in their inimitable fashion.

In the meantime she's part of the little theater players group in her community and later when the boys return they hear the old lady Mary Carr rehearsing a scene with perennial Stan and Ollie nemesis James Finlayson. It's one of those turgid 19th century melodramas where the cruel, heartless, villainous landlords is about to evict the dear old thing and she's lost the money she's stashed away for her rent.

Later on when Stan turns up with $100.00 Ollie drags him back and they find out the truth. At that point the worm known as Stan Laurel reacts and starts to give Ollie back what he's dealt with in this short and dozens more. It's what makes One Good Turn so unusual and refreshing.

Note the scene which has them chopping wood and later on when they demolish their Model T. If that thing had been preserved today it would be priceless.

A must for Stan and Ollie's legions of fans.

Laurel & Hardy give each other what they feel they deserve in One Good Turn

[tavm · 8/10 · 27 March 2023]

Laurel & Hardy's One Good Turn is probably the best example of "Never assume something cause if you do you make an...". Stan & Ollie haven't eaten in three days so they beg for food at an old lady's house. While there, they overhear a conversation between a debtor played by James Finlayson and that lady about a payment without them knowing they're rehearsing for a play. So they go to sell their car for a certain amount of money...I'll just say this was another hilarious short from L & H. It also was a rare one in which Stan gets to retaliate against Ollie for any abuse he heaps on him. This was because when his pre-teen daughter Lois was visited by her "Uncle Babe" (Babe being Ollie's off-screen nickname), she feared for her life because of his on-screen abuse of her father without him doing something in return. That last scene solved the problem for her! Oh, and a drunk character near the end was played by Billy Gilbert, usually an antagonist for the team. Next, I go from L & H doing something for someone because of what they thought would happen to her to Abbott & Costello doing something for someone because of what will actually happen to him if they don't in The Naughty Nineties.

An occasionally decent turn

[StevePulaski · 6/10 · 18 September 2014]

The comedy short One Good Turn stars Laurel and Hardy as victims of The Great Depression, more specifically, poor beggars trying to live life in the middle of nowhere. They cook their own poorly-prepared food, they wash the two pairs of clothes they have, and they simply try to make it to the next day alive and well. The two manage to muster up the courage to ask a friendly old lady for some food, and she kindly provides food for the both of them. While inside, eating at her kitchen table, Laurel and Hardy overhear the woman talking to the landlord, who threatens to throw her out of her home if she cannot pay her mortgage. However, the lady was robbed and doesn't have the funds to pay for overdue bills. Feeling the need to repay the woman for her kindness, Laurel and Hardy attempt to sell their automobile in town square.

One Good Turn functions more like a Three Stooges skit than one featuring the comic talents of Laurel and Hardy, featuring more of an emphasis on slapstick humor than verbal wit and situational escalation. This is especially surprising given the presence of director James W. Horne, who finds inventive ways to conjure up situations for Laurel and Hardy to haplessly fall into. The humor of One Good Turn is present on occasion, but one finds it treading far too close to familiar territory that is often explored by the aforementioned comedy troop. Our senseless heroes are always fun to spend time with, but here, it feels as if they are forcing themselves into a box they can't quite fit into.

Starring: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Directed by: James W. Horne.

Helping An Old Lady With Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 2 June 2000]

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.

Believing ONE GOOD TURN deserves another, Stan & Ollie try to raise money for a sweet old lady who's been kind to them, in the mistaken belief she's about to be turned out of her home by a nasty creditor.

A very funny little film. Highlight: Stan's attempts to put out the campfire. That's Mary Carr as the old lady, James Finlayson as the Community Player & Billy Gilbert as a drunk.

Not among their best, not among their worst either

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 29 July 2015]

This is a Laurel and Hardy short film from 1931, so almost 85 years ago already. Wow. It is in black-and-white, not silent anymore and runs for slightly under 20 minutes and looking at how the whole thing is basically only about a single misunderstanding, I have to say they did a good job with keeping that storyline intact and not letting it drag too much. Laurel gets his revenge in the end and boy I had no idea he was such a violent fella. Of course, it also backfires at him again too. The duo mistakes a theater play recital for an actual conversation and they believe an old woman is about to get evicted from her home. They try their best to prevent this from happening for the rest of the film. As always, chaos ensues. Director Horne and writer Walker worked on several L&H film, so they knew exactly what they were doing to make two of the biggest stars at that point appear as interesting as ever. Finally, just a little scene I found funny: The landlord says at some point that he will get his minions to clear the place and I immediately had to wonder if he was the villain the yellow little creatures from 2Despicable Me" were hanging around with back in the 1930s. Anyway, if you haven't seen the film, you will probably have absolutely no idea what I am talking about. Oh yeah, and aging makeup was very popular back then as well. The actress who played the old lady was a lot younger. Then again, Méliès made himself look considerably older in the 1890s already. "One Good Turn" could have been five minutes shorter maybe for a better viewing experience, but it is still a decent watch. Recommended.

A Want of Originality Is Apparent In The Sight Gags.

[rsoonsa · 5/10 · 25 June 2005]

A Great Depression theme underscores this two-reeler as the comedians, playing as sufferers of the general economic malaise, are on the road with little to their names other than a frazzled 1911 Ford jalopy and, after losing their shelter and provisions during the opening scene, the luckless pair begs for food at a house where the owner, played by matronly silent film player Mary Carr, takes pity upon them, serving a substantial lunch; while dining, they overhear dialogue from an amateur theatrical that is being rehearsed in the salon of their hostess, with subsequent events stemming from their eavesdropping, in a short feature that lacks the freshness of comedic execution that marks the best Laurel and Hardy works, although early career appearances of Billy Gilbert and Dorothy Granger are in evidence from among the cast.

Consistently funny short

[bob the moo · 23 July 2003]

Laurel and Hardy are destitute – living by the river in a tent and their car. When Laurel manages to destroy most of their few remaining possessions they are forced to beg door to door for food. A misunderstanding with a kindly old lady leads the duo into a kind act that ultimately leads to a division between them.

This film has no one major strong scene that stuck in my mind, but it does have a consistently funny tale that made me laugh the whole way through. The plot starts with the usual `down on their luck' set up that works very well – Laurel playing with fire is well done. The actual plot device used to create the main story is a little contrived but it is played so well that it doesn't really matter.

All though the short there are lots of nice touches.- Hardy's looks are as good as ever. Some fans may feel that this is more low key than they expected due to the lack of a big sequence, but the smaller, consistent jokes work well to produce a short that lacks a major peak, but then manages to have no dips either.

The cast are good. The little old lady is a little clichéd and James Finlayson has little of value to do, but Laurel and Hardy are both good. Here Laurel keeps his usual character but he also adds a tougher edge. In other shorts he has tended to be one or the other (often being tougher in later films) but here he gets the mix right (apparently due to Laurel wanting to let his daughter see her dad stand up for himself onscreen). Hardy is as good as always.

Overall this lacks peaks but makes up for it by being consistently funny from the opening campfire sequence right through to logs a-flying!

One of the better Laurel and Hardy movies...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 5 August 2022]

The 1931 comedy short film "One Good Turn" is without a doubt a classic Laurel and Hardy movie, and I am glad that I had the opportunity to sit down and watch it here in 2022.

The storyline told in this movie is straight forward, and certainly is one of the more enjoyable storylines in all the Laurel and Hardy movies I've seen so far, especially since there is an aspect of being a good samaritan to it.

Of course you have all the usual witty banter and funny slapstick comedy, and that is one of the major ingredients that make these classic comedy movies so enjoyable. And it was something that Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had managed to get to work in perfect unison.

I had some genuinely good laughs throughout the 20 minutes that "One Good Turn" ran for. And if you enjoy comedy, then you definitely have to sit down and watch "One Good Turn".

My rating of "One Good Turn" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

"My friend and I are victims of the Depression . . . "

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 18 December 2020]

. . . and we haven't eaten in three full days," Ollie tells a homeowner near the beginning of ONE GOOD TURN. There was nothing funnier to the Many Greedy Mobsters film studio than poor people starving during the 1930's. As the official propaganda arm of the pernicious Pachyderm Political Party, these Fat Cat One Per Centers and their deluded Core Supporters often busted their guts laughing at famished working stiffs suffering in the final throes of food deprivation on the Big Screen. Such a warped sense of "humor" was a tell-tale sign then (as it remains Today) of the genetic mutation causing organisms to become Pachyderms in the first place, especially subject to demonic possession and totally lacking in human kindness, empathy, altruism or soul.

Gentle Laurel and Hardy

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 25 September 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 'One Good Turn' as one of their best and a bit disappointing compared to their late 1928 and the best of their 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.

The story is slight, though more discernible than most Laurel and Hardy shorts at this point. and the first part takes a little bit too time to get going.

Did appreciate its more gentle approach and it was touching to see a sympathetic side to Laurel and Hardy.

When 'One Good Turn' does get going, which it does do quite quickly, it is great fun, not always hilarious but has enough amusing parts. It is never too silly, it doesn't lose its energy and the sly wit is 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. The unexpected and wonderfully strange ending here is the highlight.

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 'One Good Turn' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable, especially Laurel's though Hardy at the end is one of the pleasures here.

'One Good Turn' looks good visually, has 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 good representation of them. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Good Intentions

[boblipton · 9/10 · 15 December 2020]

Laurel and Hardy bum a meal off Mary Carr. When they hear James Finlayson threatening to set his minions on her unless the mortgage is paid, they determine to help her. What they don't know is they were hearing a play being rehearsed.

To be honest, what the Boys don't know is anything, but that's all in the service of setting up one of the Roach Studio's wonderful automobile gags. There's also an ending that seems very unlikely, but is good for all that.

Turnabout is fair play

[knsevy · 9/10 · 25 November 2003]

****SPOILERS****YOU WERE WARNED****

Another great from Stan and Ollie's salad days.

We find the boys, as usual, down on their luck. Of course, this was filmed during the Great Depression, when it wasn't uncommon for able-bodied men to beg meals. One of the qualities I've always respected about The Boys is that, no matter how depressing their circumstances, they never played it for maudlin sympathy.

A movie about two men with no homes, no jobs and nothing to eat is kind of hard to envision as a comedy, on the surface, but The Boys pull it off grandly. Most of the great comedians of this era at least occasionally portrayed characters in dire straits - Chaplin did it almost constantly. I find it interesting to look at their disparate approaches to the same type of character.

For instance, Chaplin, 'The Little Tramp', WAS a tramp. He could be sneaky, and would even steal if need be. Harold Lloyd could always be counted on to rise from poverty by his own brashness and go-getter personality. Keaton's character was half-sleepwalker, often stumbling into what he needed through a combination of bluff and sheer luck. I wonder how each of these characters would have faced the situation the boys find themselves in, when they discover that the nice old woman is apparently about to be put out on the street.

Laurel and Hardy, they of the sincere, childlike ways, resolve to help the lady by selling their car, their last possession on earth. This, also could have been played up for schmaltz and sympathy, but instead the film takes this touching gesture and uses it as the springboard for the farce to follow.

The film contains some of The Boys' trademark physical comedy, not slapstick or pantomime, but a dialogue of sight gags without a single word spoken. Two that come to mind are the sandwich-eating scene in the kitchen, and right after Stan manages to set their tent on fire. For me, the biggest laugh in the film was seeing a more and more-concerned Ollie watch Stan rush out of the bushes, grab a teacup full of water and rush back, again and again, until finally the tragedy is revealed.

A real gem.

Ollie and Stan are down and out.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 2 August 2021]

Comedy short One Good Turn sees Laurel and Hardy suffering from the effects of the Great Depression, with only a clapped out Model T Ford and a tent to their names. When Stan accidentally burns down their shelter and tries to douse the flames with their soup, the pair resort to begging for food. A kindly old lady (Mary Carr) offers the lads some sandwiches and coffee; while they are eating, the friends overhear a landlord (James Finlayson) threatening to throw the old woman onto the streets unless she can pay him $100. The guys decide to repay the old lady's kindness by raising the cash, unaware that what they heard was actually a rehearsal for a community play.

This one starts off great, with some classic gags from the duo: accident prone Stan dropping clean clothes in the dirt and setting fire to the tent is hilarious, as is his launching a dusty doormat into Ollie's face when he wipes his feet at the old woman's house. Once inside, the pair settle into one of their tit-for-tat routines at the dinner table, and the laughs become fewer and farther between, with nary a chuckle to be had once they endeavour to sell their car. The ending is particularly unsatisfying, as the friends fall out with each other and destroy the old woman's out-building while they fight (no-one wants to see the guys get that mad at each other).

First half: 6/10 Second half: 4/10 Average rating: 5/10.

One Good Short.

[JoeytheBrit · 8/10 · 9 June 2009]

As others have pointed out, this Laurel and Hardy short is mainly memorable for an uncharacteristic - and truly hilarious - worm-turning sequence when Stan, outraged at being wrongly accused of stealing from an old lady by Ollie, terrorises his friend with righteous anger and a boot up the backside. Although this is a highlight, the film is consistently funny throughout, even though there isn't much of a story to speak of. The film also starts strongly with Stan trying to put out a burning tent with cups of water fetched from a nearby river much to the puzzlement of Ollie who is washing their smalls at the time. All you see is Ollie's reactions as Stan's legs run back and forth in front of him, but the timing and Ollie's expression are spot on. Be sure to catch this one.

One Good Turn

[jboothmillard · 5/10 · 19 January 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. Basicaly Stan and Ollie are living rough, with only some clothes and their car, and after managing to burn down their tent they see no choice but to go begging for food somewhere. They find the house of Old Lady (Mary Carr), and she agrees to make some sandwiches and coffee for them, while they do a little wood chopping, which of course doesn't last long. While tucking into their food, they overhear the Old Woman begging "villainous landlord" (James Finlayson) not to evict her when she can't pay him the $100 she owes. Stan and Ollie decide to try and sell their car and give the Old Woman the money to pay the villain off, and a paying drunk man accidentally puts his wallet in Stan's pocket, spurring Ollie to think he stole it from the Old Woman. So he forces Stan to go back (their car by the way collapses) to prove his guilt, but they both didn't realise she was rehearsing with the Community Player for a play, so Stan is very mad, and the film ends with a last squabble. Filled with good slapstick and all classic comedy you want from a black and white film, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Worth watching!

Laurel and Hardy

[Michael_Elliott · 10 March 2008]

One Good Turn (1931)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

L&H set out to raise $100 when they overhear an elderly woman say she's going to be evicted. Not too many laughs in this one outside the opening sequence in the woods.

Leave 'Em Laughing (1928)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Laurel is suffering from a toothache so Hardy takes him to the dentist who accidentally fills them with laughing gas. The early gags of Hardy trying to pull the tooth are funny but the ending with the cars goes on a bit too long and gets rather tiresome.

They Go Boom! (1929)

*** (out of 4)

Hardy has a cold so it's up to Laurel to try and find a cure so that they can get a good night's sleep. Highlights include the mustard bath and the exploding mattress.

Thicker Than Water (1935)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Laurel and Hardy waste $300 on a grandfather clock so Hardy's wife hits him with a frying pan and sends him to the hospital. Again, not too funny and the worst part is the ending where the two change personalities. This here should have been a lot funnier than it turned out.