Big Business
- 1929
- 19m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
3.4K
YOUR RATING
Ollie and Stanley are two Christmas Tree sales reps who get into one of their usual mutual-destruction fights with a disgruntled homeowner.Ollie and Stanley are two Christmas Tree sales reps who get into one of their usual mutual-destruction fights with a disgruntled homeowner.Ollie and Stanley are two Christmas Tree sales reps who get into one of their usual mutual-destruction fights with a disgruntled homeowner.
- Awards
- 1 win
James Finlayson
- Homeowner
- (uncredited)
Charlie Hall
- Neighbor
- (uncredited)
Retta Palmer
- Neighbor
- (uncredited)
Tiny Sandford
- Policeman
- (uncredited)
Lyle Tayo
- First Customer
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- James W. Horne
- Leo McCarey(supervising)
- Writers
- H.M. Walker
- Stan Laurel(uncredited)
- Leo McCarey(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaStan Laurel contradicted Hal Roach's story about the crew demolishing the wrong house during filming. According to Stan, "... the chap who owned the house was employed at the studio and worked on the film with us."
- Quotes
Ollie: Wouldn't you like to buy a Christmas tree?
First Customer: No thank you.
Ollie: Wouldn't your husband like to buy one?
First Customer: I have no husband.
Stan: If you had a husband would he buy one?
[Woman slams the door in Stan & Ollie's face]
Ollie: From now on I'll do the talking!
- Crazy creditsIntro: The story of a man who turned the other cheek - And got punched in the nose -
- Alternate versionsThere is an Italian edition of this film on DVD, distributed by DNA srl, "IL VILLAGGIO INCANTATO (Nel paese delle meraviglie, 1934) - New Widescreen Edition + LA BATTAGLIA DEGLI ALBERI DI NATALE (1929)" (2 Films on a single DVD, with "March of the Wooden Soldiers - Babes in Toyland" in double version 1.33:1 and 1.78:1), re-edited with the contribution of film historian Riccardo Cusin. This version is also available for streaming on some platforms.
- ConnectionsEdited into When Comedy Was King (1960)
Featured review
Classic Laurel and Hardy short
BIG BUSINESS
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Sound format: Silent
(Black and white - Short film)
A minor dispute between two Christmas tree salesmen (Laurel and Hardy) and an irate customer (James Finlayson) escalates into massive mutual destruction.
The first collaboration between L&H and veteran comedy director James Horne is a masterpiece of its kind, in which two bickering salesmen become involved in a war of attrition with bad-tempered customer Finlayson (an invaluable member of the L&H universe). The escalation of conflict is joyously contrived (Finlayson reduces The Boys' car to spare parts, and they do the same to his house), and the pay-off - in which the entire cast is reduced to tears! - is no less satisfactory. Legend has it that the filmmakers accidentally destroyed the wrong house, after hiring the one next door...
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Sound format: Silent
(Black and white - Short film)
A minor dispute between two Christmas tree salesmen (Laurel and Hardy) and an irate customer (James Finlayson) escalates into massive mutual destruction.
The first collaboration between L&H and veteran comedy director James Horne is a masterpiece of its kind, in which two bickering salesmen become involved in a war of attrition with bad-tempered customer Finlayson (an invaluable member of the L&H universe). The escalation of conflict is joyously contrived (Finlayson reduces The Boys' car to spare parts, and they do the same to his house), and the pay-off - in which the entire cast is reduced to tears! - is no less satisfactory. Legend has it that the filmmakers accidentally destroyed the wrong house, after hiring the one next door...
helpful•71
- Libretio
- Mar 12, 2005
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Велика справа
- Filming locations
- 10281 Dunleer Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA(Finn's house)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime19 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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