DUCK SOUP
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Sound format: Silent
(Black and white - Short film)
A couple of vagrants (Laurel and Hardy) take refuge inside a fancy mansion whose owner has left for the weekend, but they're forced to play master and maid when prospective tenants William Austin and Madeline Hurlock) arrive on the doorstep.
Based on a stage-skit written by Stan Laurel's father, this fast-paced farce opens with L&H fleeing from Californian forest rangers who are rounding up various lowlifes to help tackle a series of dangerous bush fires. The premise is sound (and was expanded into the L&H classic ANOTHER FINE MESS, produced only three years later), but the pratfalls and slapstick are only mildly amusing, and Fred Guiol's routine direction lacks much of the inspiration that would ignite Stan 'n' Ollie's sound-era productions.
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Sound format: Silent
(Black and white - Short film)
A couple of vagrants (Laurel and Hardy) take refuge inside a fancy mansion whose owner has left for the weekend, but they're forced to play master and maid when prospective tenants William Austin and Madeline Hurlock) arrive on the doorstep.
Based on a stage-skit written by Stan Laurel's father, this fast-paced farce opens with L&H fleeing from Californian forest rangers who are rounding up various lowlifes to help tackle a series of dangerous bush fires. The premise is sound (and was expanded into the L&H classic ANOTHER FINE MESS, produced only three years later), but the pratfalls and slapstick are only mildly amusing, and Fred Guiol's routine direction lacks much of the inspiration that would ignite Stan 'n' Ollie's sound-era productions.