"The Finishing Touch" (1928), a Laurel and Hardy short made in their last full year of silents, is a damn well near perfect comedy two-reeler, one of their best silents, only bettered by their "The Battle of the Century" (1927) and "Big Business" (1929).
The plot is simple enough: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are hired to put "the finishing touch" to a newly constructed house. But around this simple story, the duo perform a series of brilliant slapstick gags that show why they were the best comedy double act ever. The end, with the destruction of the house after a fight with a policeman played by Edgar Kennedy, one of the most memorable of the Laurel and Hardy supporting cast who also had a small (if important) role in the Marx Brother's "Duck Soup" (1933), no doubt inspired the obliteration of the boat at the end of Laurel and Hardy's "Towed in a Hole" (1932).
"The Finishing Touch" (1928) is a brilliant silent short that will be enjoyed as much by Laurel and Hardy enthusiasts as by connoisseurs of great comedy.
The plot is simple enough: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are hired to put "the finishing touch" to a newly constructed house. But around this simple story, the duo perform a series of brilliant slapstick gags that show why they were the best comedy double act ever. The end, with the destruction of the house after a fight with a policeman played by Edgar Kennedy, one of the most memorable of the Laurel and Hardy supporting cast who also had a small (if important) role in the Marx Brother's "Duck Soup" (1933), no doubt inspired the obliteration of the boat at the end of Laurel and Hardy's "Towed in a Hole" (1932).
"The Finishing Touch" (1928) is a brilliant silent short that will be enjoyed as much by Laurel and Hardy enthusiasts as by connoisseurs of great comedy.