Its hard to judge one of these old silent comedies apart from another. They were often made in one day, You watch them for overall effect unless there is some notable feature in them, or they were one of the elaborate projects by men we now think of as greats.
In the group of films that Laurel and Hardy made, or either of them, there are only few worth actually identifying by itself and singling out for a comment. All the rest are residue of timeclock punching. This is notable only as a rare example of a project directed by one of them.
In these cases, you usually look for some indicator into the nature of genius. "Oneyed Jack" is essential viewing, for instance, if you want to plumb Brando and you need to do that to gain access to a huge corner of the cinematic world.
But this isn't of that ilk. Unless you need the fact that the mentality of both of these men was no nonsense workmanlike. That the humor comes from the casual and cheap, not the elaborate, unusual or even dangerous stuff we would see from others.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
In the group of films that Laurel and Hardy made, or either of them, there are only few worth actually identifying by itself and singling out for a comment. All the rest are residue of timeclock punching. This is notable only as a rare example of a project directed by one of them.
In these cases, you usually look for some indicator into the nature of genius. "Oneyed Jack" is essential viewing, for instance, if you want to plumb Brando and you need to do that to gain access to a huge corner of the cinematic world.
But this isn't of that ilk. Unless you need the fact that the mentality of both of these men was no nonsense workmanlike. That the humor comes from the casual and cheap, not the elaborate, unusual or even dangerous stuff we would see from others.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.