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.
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.