The technical ability of this short from the boys, although early, is one reason alone worth watching the comedy for! It is funny, though as the boys are playing 'themselves' as their children. With grown-up Stan still being dumb, but his 'son', Stanley looking smarter, outsmarting 'little Oliver'. This is where the distinction in names lies, the little ones taking on their full first names, as if they are naughty - how many times did parents mention your full names when chastising you! The props had to be built up for the 'child scenes' in the correct scale, sometimes it wasn't achieved, but this was the 1930's and it was about 30 mins long. The grown ups are playing games, checkers, pool etc, where Stan is giving Ollie a bad time, destroying his furniture, bashing Ollie's nut, (As usual!) with interruptions from the kids fighting, having their dads rush up to sort it out.
One of my favourite 'special effects moments' of all time is where Ollie trips on one of the kids' rollerskates, and falls down the stairs - well, he bumps his butt down the stairs, and his 'legs' are splayed out as he does this. But check this stunt out. You can clearly see it's speeded up, and the so called 'legs' are dummy ones being held out! It's an absolutely absurd but laughable stunt that had me in stitches for the way it was done, and not the actual slapstick it purports to be! It's worth checking out the short for this reason alone! As it goes on, the kids in their antics have filled their en-suite bathroom with water (That's the bathroom, not just the bath - very watertight door holds this water back for the finale!). Oblivious to this, the grown ups have come upstairs to check out the noise, the kids ask if Ollie will sing to them to get them off to sleep. The kids ask for a glass of water when this doesn't go to plan. As Stan goes to get the water, Ollie, hauls him back by his tail, stating: "Just a moment, you might spill it!" leaving Ollie to 'spill it' as he opens the bathroom door in spectacular 'niagara falls' style! It ends here, and as I've said it's a must to check out the stunt of Ollie going down the stairs! It has to be seen to be believed!
One of my favourite 'special effects moments' of all time is where Ollie trips on one of the kids' rollerskates, and falls down the stairs - well, he bumps his butt down the stairs, and his 'legs' are splayed out as he does this. But check this stunt out. You can clearly see it's speeded up, and the so called 'legs' are dummy ones being held out! It's an absolutely absurd but laughable stunt that had me in stitches for the way it was done, and not the actual slapstick it purports to be! It's worth checking out the short for this reason alone! As it goes on, the kids in their antics have filled their en-suite bathroom with water (That's the bathroom, not just the bath - very watertight door holds this water back for the finale!). Oblivious to this, the grown ups have come upstairs to check out the noise, the kids ask if Ollie will sing to them to get them off to sleep. The kids ask for a glass of water when this doesn't go to plan. As Stan goes to get the water, Ollie, hauls him back by his tail, stating: "Just a moment, you might spill it!" leaving Ollie to 'spill it' as he opens the bathroom door in spectacular 'niagara falls' style! It ends here, and as I've said it's a must to check out the stunt of Ollie going down the stairs! It has to be seen to be believed!