Mabel Normand's next to last movie stars Mabel and Creighton Hale as a couple of dim-witted thieves, outwitting the even more dim-witted Eugene Palette and terrorizing Oliver Hardy in a very good cameo appearance -- it's wonderful to watch Mr. Hardy's beautifully timed comic reaction and lets you know that he was a great comic actor even without Mr. Laurel.
The jokes in this one are pretty good -- the same fountain gag would be repeated the next year in the L&H EARLY TO BED and it's interesting to watch the contrast in comic styles: Mr. Hale models himself on Harry Langdon, while Mabel goes for the big action sort of comedy that she learned in her Sennet days, and they both work. But Mabel is clearly getting a little pudgy and rubber-faced by this point. Although it's probably the best of her Roach shorts, it makes me sad to realize that this beautiful young girl would be dead in three years. Ay, wheel. It's pretty funny.
The jokes in this one are pretty good -- the same fountain gag would be repeated the next year in the L&H EARLY TO BED and it's interesting to watch the contrast in comic styles: Mr. Hale models himself on Harry Langdon, while Mabel goes for the big action sort of comedy that she learned in her Sennet days, and they both work. But Mabel is clearly getting a little pudgy and rubber-faced by this point. Although it's probably the best of her Roach shorts, it makes me sad to realize that this beautiful young girl would be dead in three years. Ay, wheel. It's pretty funny.