Managing to extend a gag of moving a piano to half and hour, I suppose, is a feat in itself. Even in a feature film of theirs, such as "Way Out West" (1937), the narrative was secondary to Laurel and Hardy extending jokes as far they could. In that sense, then, these earlier shorts better suit their style. Very little of this works on its own, but rather builds upon itself as series of stupid blunders, knockabout and destruction. Even the film itself, "The Music Box," is a remake--building upon the routines the duo previously employed in the now lost "Hats Off" (1927). (Changing the silent film's washing machine in for a piano in this early talkie was apt, too.)
While I respect the craft, I don't find this sort of slapstick especially funny. Largely, it seems to me to be a better-paced variation on what Keystone was doing in the early silent era--what better comedians, like Charlie Chaplin, abandoned over a decade prior. Sure, Laurel gets in one malapropism, regarding "bounding over your steps," and there's the double entendre of the nursemaid being kicked in the middle of her "daily duties," but the humor is otherwise derived from the tit-for-tat butt kicking, pratfalls and general bumbling and mess making. In this world, even the cop enforces the law by poking and beating the boys with his stick. At one point, Hardy literally slaps sticks together before the two start dancing to piano music. That's purity of form, though, I'll give them that.
While I respect the craft, I don't find this sort of slapstick especially funny. Largely, it seems to me to be a better-paced variation on what Keystone was doing in the early silent era--what better comedians, like Charlie Chaplin, abandoned over a decade prior. Sure, Laurel gets in one malapropism, regarding "bounding over your steps," and there's the double entendre of the nursemaid being kicked in the middle of her "daily duties," but the humor is otherwise derived from the tit-for-tat butt kicking, pratfalls and general bumbling and mess making. In this world, even the cop enforces the law by poking and beating the boys with his stick. At one point, Hardy literally slaps sticks together before the two start dancing to piano music. That's purity of form, though, I'll give them that.