The Second Hundred Years (1927)

Thanks for the memories!

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

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!

Second Hundred Years, The (1927) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Laurel and Hardy play convicts who make an escape but they find themselves in a more dangerous place than prison. There's small laughs scattered throughout this short but in the end the only real highlight is seeing boys with shaved heads.Call of the Cuckoo (1927) ** (out of 4)A man (Max Davidson) swaps houses, sight unseen, due to his wacko neighbors. When he moves into the new house it turns out the thing is falling apart in every way possible. The only real highlight is the few scenes with the neighbors who are played by Laurel, Hardy and Charley Chase.

'The Second 100 Years' is a nice silent comedy from Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, but it is only nice, nothing more. The short start in jail where the two share a cell. They are about to escape through a tunnel. Their plan fails so they have to come up with something else. They pretend to be painters to get out of jail. After that, to escape a police officer they steal clothes from two French prison inspectors. Of course the inspectors were on their way to the prison Laurel and Hardy just escaped from.The first part of this short has some laughs. The funny thing here is that not Laurel and Hardy are that funny, but the written words on screen between scenes. The middle part, when they are painters, is the best. While the police officer is following them they paint everything white on their way, including a certain person that could be offensive to some. Unfortunately it ends with a sequence that plays too long and therefore becomes dull.I guess this could be a nice comedy short for fans of silent films or simply Laurel and Hardy comedies. I liked it up to a point, but compared to most other films I have seen from the two comedians this was a little disappointing.

THE SECOND HUNDRED YEARS Aspect ratio: 1.33:1Sound format: Silent(Black and white - Short film)Two jail birds (Laurel and Hardy) escape from custody and assume the identities of French dignitaries who turn out to be prison inspectors (Otto Fries and Bob O'Conor) on their way to the very jail from which L&H have just escaped! Havoc ensues.One of the best of L&H's silent comedies, and certainly their best collaboration with director Fred Guiol. This one features a full range of amusing set-pieces, including an inspired sequence in which The Boys elude a nosey cop by pretending to be painters (only to end up painting everything in sight, including someone's car!), and the lengthy scene in which they're mistaken for visiting VIP's and received at the prison as guests of honor by warden James Finlayson, only to cause chaos at the dinner table. The escalation of comic incidents is entirely believable throughout. However, the film also contains an offensive sight gag, when L&H accidentally slap white paint all over the face of an African-American passer-by.