A little while ago I saw "The flying deuces" (1939, A. Edward Sutherland) to include a "Laurel & Hardy" movie in my watch history. I didn't have great expectations, but as a film buff you have to try before you judge. To be honest even my modest expectations weren't met, but I found out that "The flying deuces" was not exactly the pinnacle of the oeuvre of Laurel and Hardy. So I decided to give them a second chance, and this chance was the much higher rated "Blockheads".
One of my criticisms of "The flying deuces" was that it was just a collection of visual gags without a storyline. Out of a quotation from William K. Everson, who wrote a book about Laurel & Hardy films, I understand that this is one of the essences of a Laurel & Hardy movie. According to Everson their worst films are those with the most story in it. So indeed also "Blockheads" is a collection of visual gags, but in my opinion more imaginative than those of "The flying deuces". I am thinking especially of a gag in which Stan Laurel closes the shadow of a curtain as if it is a real Curtain, something Oliver Hardy can't do because he has no sufficient imagination.
Apart from visual gags there are also some puns in "Blockheads". See for example the following dialogue from the beginning of the movie:
Stan: You remember how dumb I used to be?
Oliver: Yeah Stan: Well, I'm better now
The above dialogue is from the meeting scene of Stan and Ollie after they haven't seen each other for more than twenty years because nobody has told Stan that the First World War was over, so he remained in the trenches all by himself. Falling behind for more than twenty years Stan is surprised by the modern gadgets in Ollie's appartment. This gives rise to gags reminding of "Mon oncle" (1958, Jacques Tati), without reaching however the quality of the last mentioned movie.
In conclusion I can say that "Blockheads" is a better movie than "The flying deuces", but I will never become a Laurel& Hardy fan.
Finally it is remarkable that in "Blockheads" Olie, who always is the upper dog vis a vis Stan, plays a husband that is fully dominated by his wife.
One of my criticisms of "The flying deuces" was that it was just a collection of visual gags without a storyline. Out of a quotation from William K. Everson, who wrote a book about Laurel & Hardy films, I understand that this is one of the essences of a Laurel & Hardy movie. According to Everson their worst films are those with the most story in it. So indeed also "Blockheads" is a collection of visual gags, but in my opinion more imaginative than those of "The flying deuces". I am thinking especially of a gag in which Stan Laurel closes the shadow of a curtain as if it is a real Curtain, something Oliver Hardy can't do because he has no sufficient imagination.
Apart from visual gags there are also some puns in "Blockheads". See for example the following dialogue from the beginning of the movie:
Stan: You remember how dumb I used to be?
Oliver: Yeah Stan: Well, I'm better now
The above dialogue is from the meeting scene of Stan and Ollie after they haven't seen each other for more than twenty years because nobody has told Stan that the First World War was over, so he remained in the trenches all by himself. Falling behind for more than twenty years Stan is surprised by the modern gadgets in Ollie's appartment. This gives rise to gags reminding of "Mon oncle" (1958, Jacques Tati), without reaching however the quality of the last mentioned movie.
In conclusion I can say that "Blockheads" is a better movie than "The flying deuces", but I will never become a Laurel& Hardy fan.
Finally it is remarkable that in "Blockheads" Olie, who always is the upper dog vis a vis Stan, plays a husband that is fully dominated by his wife.