Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history, and deservedly so, so I am happy to see any of their films. Stan as Little Goofy and Ollie as Big Goofy are prison convicts (in stripy uniforms), and they decide to finish off and escape from the tunnel they have made under the floor boards of their cell. But with Stan's backside set alight by a candle, and Ollie bursting a water pipe, they decide to take a detour, leading to the office of the Prison Warden (Frank Brownlee). While they manage to escape into a queue of prisoners going out for exercise, the Warden's office is flooded. After finishing exercise the boys try to sneak away from the queue backwards and forwards, before seeing a pair of painters, and they turn their clothes inside to escape as them. They are followed by a suspicious prison guard, and they are painting everything in their path until he leaves them alone, until they finally decide to run. They manage to steal the clothes of two posh men, but they did not realise their car was taking the boys back to the prison, so they have to pretend to be posh. Of course there are problems at the dinner table, and the real two posh men are found eventually, and it ends with the boys marching back to their cell. Also starring Charlie Hall as Convict and James Finlayson as Gov. Browne Van Dyke. Filled with wonderful slapstick and all classic comedy you could want from a silent black and white film, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Good!
Review of The Second 100 Years
