Below Zero (1930) User Reviews

Classic comedy-short

[Libretio · 7/10 · 24 February 2005]

BELOW ZERO

Aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white - Short film)

A pair of bumbling street musicians (Laurel and Hardy) find a wallet in the snow, leading to a series of comic complications.

James Parrott's wonderful comedy short opens with L&H playing 'In the Good Old Summertime' to unappreciative passers-by during a heavy snow storm, only to discover they've been performing on the most unprofitable street in the city (I won't spoil the gag by revealing it here)! H.M. Walker's inspired screenplay piles disaster upon disaster for our hapless heroes, culminating in a restaurant encounter with outraged cop Frank Holliday and no-nonsense restaurateur Tiny Sandford. Like so many of these early shorts, the movie amounts to a loose assortment of comic incidents rather than a cohesive narrative, but it works like a charm. Highlights include L&H's encounter with hatchet-faced Blanche Payson, who responds with violent abandon to an errant snowball, and a surreal ending which closes proceedings on a slightly cryptic note (modern viewers will have their own idea what Stan whispers into Ollie's ear during the closing moments!). Photographed with vivid intensity by future filmmaker George Stevens, BELOW ZERO is one of the highlights of L&H's illustrious career.

Short Laurel and Hardy comedy

[TheOtherFool · 6/10 · 25 June 2004]

Amusing short comedy with Laurel and Hardy as two street musicians in the cold winter of 1929.

While they don't deserve much entertaining the people on the streets their luck changes when Laurel finds himself a filled wallet. They're almost robbed but a cop comes to their rescue. To thank him, they take him to dinner.

When the check is due though they find out that the wallet they found is actually the cop's, so in the end they're thrown out of the place.

Amusing short from this funny couple, though a bit slow at times, in particular in the first part. 6/10.

Eight above zero.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 8/10 · 21 October 2006]

This is a rather enjoyable short Laurel & Hardy picture with again a story divided in two parts, that are both good and enjoyable in their own way.

Problem with some of the Laurel & Hardy pictures is that the movies that are divided in two separate parts are not the best or most consistent ones, due to the fact that often the one part is better than the other. In this case both parts of the movie have their own certain charm and entertainment value and they go very well together.

The first part is fun and a bit slapstick like and features some good old fashioned snowball fights. To be honest in the second part nothing really happens but it's hilarious nevertheless, due to the very fine comedy execution from director James Parrott and actors Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It makes both parts solid and should more than please the fans.

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Quite enjoyable short, although second half is better than the first

[bob the moo · 16 July 2003]

Laurel and Hardy are busking on the cold streets during the cruel winter of 1929. They are making very little money out of it but there luck appears to change when they find a wallet loaded with cash. A thief tries to steal it from them but a kind policeman helps them out. In return for his help the duo take him for a big steak lunch.

This film starts quite well with the duo out in the cold playing music for cash. However the jokes are repeated even if a quite short period of time and this causes it to stall a little early on. The latter stages are funny and (although it is quite obvious) I didn't see the ending coming quite like it did! The snowball fights are amusing but just do go on for too long in my opinion.

The cast are good and feature quite a few Laurel and Hardy regulars. Laurel and Hardy themselves are good but Hardy overdoes his `looks to camera' by wasting them on minor things rather than holding them back for the bigger laughs. Laurel is good but has less to do.

Overall this is an enjoyable short in two parts – both of which are funny albeit one is easier to enjoy than the other.

"About how much money do you boys average a street?" "I would say about fifty cents a street." "Here's a dollar - move down a couple of streets."

[The_Movie_Cat · 7/10 · 26 January 2003]

While not their funniest film, Below Zero is perhaps one of Laurel and Hardy's most artistic. The victims of depression in a snowstorm, there's even a touch of Chaplin in certain elements. The short is still heavily indebted to the silent era, and all the better for it, inspiring greater pathos. The first, and most successful, half of the film contains less than twenty lines in over ten minutes of running time.

Stan's completely gormless expression while playing the organ had me in stitches, as did the inanity of the music. His morbid fascination with the unfortunate and deformed sees them playing in front of a deaf and dumb institute and ending with his belly swollen and distended. In one of their most blatant displays of toilet humour, he also apparently mimes needing to go to the lavatory as the climax. Freudians would even have a field day with Ollie's phallic weapon, while there's also time for a joke about a blind man in there as well.

The second half sees them find a wallet in the street, and treat a helpful policeman to a slap-up meal with the proceeds. Despite this being one of the Laurel and Hardy movies with the most integrity, make no mistake: it is also highly amusing. There's even touches of surrealism with Stan's multi-pocketed wallet, and, while scant, some clever wordplay. Recommended.

Wow...I don't want to eat at THAT restaurant!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 27 April 2007]

This is a cute little Laurel and Hardy short. It begins with the boys working as street musicians to earn money but they are pretty unsuccessful--and their choice of tunes probably isn't helping any during the snow storm. The deaf joke at the beginning wasn't politically correct, but it was pretty funny. In a rather dark bit later in the short, Laurel and Hardy invite a cop to lunch after the boys find a wallet. Well, it wasn't very surprising WHO the wallet turned out to belong to, but what set this apart was the awful restaurant and how they dealt with deadbeats. I'm sure this sort of joke was a product of the times, given that the Depression had been on for about a year. While the film takes a very leisurely pace and not a lot of bold action occurs, there is a lot of charm and the gags are timed very well--and this is definitely classic Laurel and Hardy.

Not a good time to be singing summer songs.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 29 September 2016]

You'd think that Laurel and Hardy would get the hint when somebody pays them to go away, obviously annoyed by their concertina. Others are just annoyed by repeat refrains of "In the Good Old Summertime" and sabotage them at every chance. Then, they offer to take a kindly police officer to dinner for "three nice juicy steaks smothered in onions" and can't pay the check. It's out in the cold for them, head first, one of them ending up in truly cold water in a really zany finale. This isn't at all sensible (especially the second half) or even a story, but it's difficult not to laugh. The final shot us truly one of their most oddball.

Laurel and Hardy enduring a harsh winter.

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 8/10 · 7 August 2017]

"Below Zero" helped to establish Stan and Ollie in talkie films and this comedy short contains some very good scenes of slapstick. We also bear witness to the loyalty and true friendship that exists between the two. The setting is that of a harsh winter. Stan and Ollie are two street musicians and earnings are nearly non- existent. They soon realise this after they discover they have been performing outside a home for the deaf and blind! Later on, they befriend a policeman and invite him to be their honoured guest for lunch. Oh dear...... I could feel the comic tension ascending as the fate of the boys is sealed, thanks to obtaining money that wasn't theirs! Plenty to enjoy here.

'In the Good Old Summertime'?

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 29 May 2016]

The story opens in the Winter of 1929, right at the beginning of The Great Depression, which helps explain why our boys are performing on musical instruments for charitable donations. I didn't see the gag coming about the Deaf and Dumb Institute, thereby making their performance a moot exercise. With snow falling hard all around them it's not long before the inevitable snowball fight gets started, and the surprise for me was seeing that the 'formidable woman' (Blanche Payson) was actually bigger than Ollie!

With a repertoire that consists of repeats of 'The Good Old Summertime', it's not likely the Boys will have much success in their musical endeavors, but a chance finding of a wallet introduces the second half of the picture which can only end in one way. After completing an exquisite steak dinner, Stan notices the picture of the local beat cop (Frank Holliday) who they invited to join them. A second round of hysterics issues from there.

What kills me about Stan and Ollie is the way they take the most mundane and ordinary of circumstances and turn them into a veritable laugh riot. This one is no different, and fans of the comedy duo should be well pleased.

In the Good Old Wintertime

[boblipton · 10/10 · 14 December 2020]

Laurel and Hardy are the two worst street musicians in the world. They think they've had a bit of luck when they find a well stuffed wallet. Soon, however, the rightful owner of the wallet shows up.

The first part is among the best of Laurel and Hardy, all woebegone reaction to the vicissitudes that an uncaring winter's day can throw at them. Blind men are more perceptive, everyone's a music critic. Even when things seem to be turning their way, it's just fortune turning them around to kick them in the pants. No wonder they're friends. They have no one to depend on. Even the audience laughs at them.

Below the poverty line

[weezeralfalfa · 7/10 · 24 October 2018]

This 1930 L&H comedy short, at only 16 min., can be seen in it's colorized version or B&W at YouTube. The boys start off presumably penniless, but with the slight hope that they can attract enough donations to stay alive in this frigid snowy weather, as street musicians. Stan plays a miniorgan, while Ollie contributes little with his big base violin he doesn't seem to know how to use. But bad luck and foolishness results in the destruction of their musical instruments. They have a brief reprieve from their misery when they find a wallet full of lettuce. They invite a kindly policeman to dine with them in a good restaurant, and he accepts. But when it comes time to pay the bill, Stan discovers that the wallet belongs to their policeman acquaintance, and he soon recognizes that it is his missing wallet. He assumes they picked his pocket, whereas the real pickpocket was the man he chases away from the boys, apparently dropping the wallet in his haste. Thus, after a good meal, they are thrown out in the bitter cold again, Stan being dumped in a barrel full of ice water(I won't reveal what becomes of him). Thus, they are much worse off than they were at the beginning of the day. ........Their story rather reminds me of the classic short story of "The Little Match Girl". As you remember, she was out in the bitter cold hawking matches. After no takers, she began to strike them, one by one, to briefly provide a bit of warmth and light. Eventually, she runs out of matches and returns to her seemingly hopeless life, but now without a way of possibly earning a few coins........ It also impresses me as an encapsulation of the miserable lives of many Americans during the present and future Great Depression years........The boys started their day as street musicians who made 2 bad choices. Somehow, they missed the building identifier right behind them that said 'Institute for the deaf and dumb'. Ollie only saw that when they decided to try another street. Also, their choice of music turns out to be inappropriate.. "In the Good Old Summertime", instead of helping to cheer people up, as a reminder of more pleasant times, turned them off, for the most part. They got snowballed and paid a pittance to move elsewhere, and their instruments were smashed to bits by one irate lady.. I've already summarized the rest of the story.., so I will stop here.

Below Zero is one of the early talkie Laurel and Hardy shorts

[tavm · 8/10 · 21 December 2008]

In this one, the boys are musicians who have trouble attracting customers for two hours. After they decide to move, Ollie finds out why when he looks at the building's name. At their next stop, one woman pays a dollar to "move a couple of streets" while others throw snowballs. Then there's a real large woman who puts a kibosh on the whole thing by throwing the instruments in the street. So with no means of getting paid, Stan discovers a wallet on the ground. Before a thug threatens to take that away from them, a cop arrests him and gets offered dinner from the grateful boys. I'll stop there and mention that with this being in the early talkie era, there's a minimum of dialogue between Laurel and Hardy as most of their humor is still visual with the gradual slapstick building in fine form throughout the first 10 minutes before the more dramatic part with the cop comes in. But there's one freak ending that Stan especially is fond of that ends this short hilariously. So on that note, I highly recommend Below Zero. P.S. Look for L & H regulars Blanche Payson, Tiny Sandford, Baldwin Cooke and Charlie Hall in their supporting parts.

Winter worries

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 17 July 2015]

This is a black-and-white short film from 85 years ago and its stars popular comedy duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The director is James Parrott and these 20 minute were written by H.M. Walker. These two worked on many Stan&Ollie videos. "Below Zero" is one of their early works where you hear them talking. With the 1930s, the days of silent film have basically become a thing of the past. Many silent film stars stopped making movies, but not these two here.

In this short film, they are basically struggling with the worries of winter, well not really. The two are street musicians and unfortunately not that great, so they mostly struggles with people who are annoyed by the music. A woman gives them money, so they would go away and in another encounter with a (woman who is everything but a) lady they even lose their instruments. In the end, they are at a restaurant with a cop who protected them from a thug, but even there things go wrong. It's amazing how basically every person they meet they separate from on a negative note, down to the waiter at the restaurant who throws Laurel's coat down to the ground. They did not really do that much wrong in this short film, so I actually felt a bit sorry for Stan and Ollie in this one. Really unlucky in here. No need though to feel sorry for this short film. It's pretty good and in my opinion among their very best. Recommended.

Below Zero

[jboothmillard · 5/10 · 23 May 2009]

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 and Ollie are trying to earn money on the street playing instruments, and it is only when they decide to move that they notice the sign for the Deaf and Dumb Institute they have spent some hours there. Trying a new location, a woman in an above window pays them to go away, and in another area a Street Cleaner (Charlie Hall) throws snowballs. After he has gone, they have a bind man walk past finding a coin, and a bird crapping into their dish sounding like a coin. Stan throws a snowball at the bird, accidentally hitting a man in an above window, who throws back going into a woman's milk bucket, causing the woman to put snow in Ollie's face and breaking their instruments. Walking away, the boys find a wallet on the ground, and after helping to catch a possible thief, a Policeman (Frank Holliday) lets them buy him something to eat. After finishing their steaks, the Policeman offers to pay, but Ollie insists they will, and Stan notices the wallet owner's photo, it's the Policeman! He finds out, and they know they can't pay, so they get thrown out, with Stan going into a (frozen) water barrel, and drinking all the water to have a big belly. Filled with good slapstick and all classic comedy you want from a black and white film, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Worth watching!

In The Good Old Summertime

[gierenstein · 5 January 2001]

Strange early L&H-Talkie. The first half is almost completely silent and the second part is filled with many surrealistic gags.

Laurel & Hardy are street-musicians in the winter of 1929. They don't have any success, perhaps because of the kinda unfitting song they play, "In The Good Old Summertime" or the place they've chosen to perform at, the deaf and dumb-institute. Their luck seems to change when they find a wallet, but a suspicious looking guy obeys them and chases them down the street until a cop holds him up. Thankful, L&H spend him a lunch at a nearby restaurant. When it comes to paying, they find a photo of the cop in the wallet. The cop sees it too, misunderstands the situation, thinking L&H had stolen the wallet from him. He pays his check with his money and L&H are left to the wrath of the waiter.

A strange film, but one of my favourites L&H-shorts.

Street musicians (aka, "buskers") are the next worse thing . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 6/10 · 18 December 2020]

. . . to pick-pockets and purse-snatchers, BELOW ZERO posits. These self-styled "entertainers" think that the world owes them a living, and they expect to be "paid" for spreading their own private brand of noise pollution among various captive audiences. (One savvy lady even pays for Stan and Ollie to take their cacophony elsewhere, out of her earshot.) BELOW ZERO suggests that victims lacking the wherewithal (or inclination) to bribe away their troubadour trouble should NOT feel obligated to "suffer in" (the absence of) "silence," but rather they should grab the double bass and hurdy-gurdy by the horns, and smash them to bits!

Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy told a Lady that they could play "Far, Far Away". She insisted on real far.

[redryan64 · 10/10 · 16 November 2007]

By the time of the release of BELOW ZERO (1930), the public was well aware of just what Laurel & Hardy's voices sounded like. Unlike other Comedians, Tragedians and Comedy Teams, the Boys took the New Era of Sound Films all in stride. Unlike others whose voices were deemed to be inconsistent with their screen image, and hence unfit to be used in the Talkies. There would be no going back from this point.

So we now had the Laurel & Hardy'modus operandi, which had been developing for about 4 years by this time. But now we can hear them; laughing, crying and delivering some very fine humor. Verbal humor would be added to the battery of Big Humor Guns. And, thank your Lucky Stars; the voices fit their visual images.

As for our film, we first have to comment on the chosen setting. BELOW ZERO, though it was undoubtedly filmed at Hal Roach Studios in Culver City (?), in Suburban Los Angeles, sunny Southern California. But it really felt Cold!! The falling 'snow', the 'snow' on the ground, the ice topped rain barrels all appears to be the McCoy! And, Brother, here in Chicago, we do know our ice, snow, sleet and slush.

The boys are cast as street musicians who are out on this particular Winter day, bravely and persistently hanging in there. They continually seem to be starting the same tune over and over again, Stanley on the Keyboard and Ollie plunking the Bass Fiddle to the tune of "In the Good, Old Summertime!" And all the while that they played, the snow kept falling, the Winter wind kept a blowin' and their teeth kept a chatterin'.' The one actually opening gag about their playing so long and compiling no gratuities; only to find that they were camped right in front of this one building. Though there was plenty of pedestrian traffic, they all seemed to just ignore the Boys. It was only when they decided to move on; Ollie discovered the placard on the one building which read: "Deaf and Dumb Institute!" This may seem a trifle in bad taste to us; and has been criticized by many. Especially today in our world of Political Correctness, where everyone seems so up tight about everything! In BELLOW ZERO the gang at Hal Roach Studios did a fine job of putting in the right ingredients into the mix. We see the boys engaged in some sort of work and no doing so well. We have the usual interplay, give and take between them. We have their getting in trouble with some tough hood, only to have the Cop come to their aid. But it seems that Laurel & Hardy usually go afoul of the Law and in this they do not disappoint. Finally they get into trouble with the tough restaurateur, ultimately winding it all up with favourite ploy, the Sight Gag, and then it's fade out, music, ending credits.

With the release of BELOW ZERO, the team now had a sound short to use as a barometer for all subsequent Sound Shorts.

In the cold winter

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 11 September 2018]

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. Didn't find 'Below Zero' as one of their best and a bit disappointing compared to their late 1928 and the best of their 1929 efforts, which were among their best and funniest early work. It is still very good and has much of what makes Laurel and Hardy's work as appealing as it is.

The story is extremely slight and the first part takes a little bit too time to get going and is a little formulaic.

When 'Below Zero' does get going, which it does do quite quickly, it is great fun, not always hilarious but never less than very amusing, the best being classic hilarity. It is never too silly, there is a wackiness that never loses its energy and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be new but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive.

Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'Below Zero' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'Below Zero' looks good visually, is full of energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. The supporting players are solid, but it's Laurel and Hardy's show all the way.

Overall, very good. Not essential or classic Laurel and Hardy, but a very good representation of them. 8/10 Bethany Cox

One of the most memorable comedy shorts

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 20 November 2011]

I had BELOW ZERO on VHS as a kid, in a compilation with a few other Laurel & Hardy efforts. This one always stuck with me so that I went back to it over and over. Maybe it was the snowy setting, the relentless cold and misery that made it stand out from the rest.

Watching it again recently, I was impressed how well it stands up today. The slapstick humour hasn't dated one bit, and the sight gags are top notch (the bit with Stan in the water barrel is hilarious). The continuity is strong throughout, Ollie plays the exasperated side of things well (he could sometimes come across as a bit mean, but not here) and Stan is as loveably dumb as ever.

In amidst all the pitfalls, snowball fights and screw-ups, my favourite joke of all comes when the pair realise where they've been performing and why they aren't making any money. It's a beautifully understated moment with that one look from Ollie to the camera that says it all.

Laurel And Hardy's Eighth Talkie

[Sunsphxsuns · 10/10 · 5 January 2022]

Call me crazy ("Hey, crazy!") but I never enjoyed silent era films. I tried, oh I tried, but each time an actor's mouth moved there was nothing but an awkward silence. Then after what seemed too lengthy of a wait, a placard flashed on the TV screen, reflecting what the actor had just said moments before. I found this to be very distracting, plus it slowed down the natural comedic timing. This lapse between action and dialog, for me, was like watching an entire movie subtitled, and I couldn't square the two up.

That being said, I didn't watch any of the short and feature length "TV reruns" unless they were "talkies." As a kid who was fortunate enough to have a tiny black and white TV set in my bedroom, every Saturday morning before my parents or the Sun were up, I was thoroughly mesmerized by the vaudevillian, overtly physical humor of Buster Keaton, Our Gang (The Little Rascals), The Three Stooges, and of course, Laurel & Hardy.

The first Our Gang (The Little Rascals) talkie was "Small Talk" released in 1929. Buster Keaton's first talkie was "Free and Easy," released in 1930. The Three Stooges (Larry, Moe and Curly) most recognized talkie was The Woman Haters (1934). "Unaccustomed As We Are," released worldwide in 1929, was Laurel and Hardy's film debut with sound. It was an immediate hit with audiences.

Unlike many of their silent film era contemporaries who couldn't make the transition from silent to sound film, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy effortlessly slipped into this new media. Both actors had the rare gift of "comedic timing," and the duo knew how to thoroughly exploit sight gags. Moreover, lovable Hardy routinely broke the "fourth wall" of film, and after each hilarious yet tragic gag, he would often look straight at the camera as if to say, "Can you believe what just happened to me?"

Below Zero (1931) was Laurel and Hardy's 8th sound movie. Like the first seven, it is a short. The setting represents what the 1929 Great Depression must have looked like. The film opens with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy playing sidewalk musicians. Ollie plays a large, out of tune, stand up bass while Stan plays a small and battered organ (which gets a lot more buttered later in the film). The boys aren't earning any money and it's snowing hard, very hard. Luckily, Ollie finds an abandoned wallet in the street and it's full of cash (credit cards hadn't been invented yet). A shady looking thief sees them with the wallet and follows them. The boys bump into a policeman who promptly chases the thief away (in the Spanish version the policeman actually shoots the thief, presumably hitting him). To thank the policeman for protecting them, Stan and Ollie treat the officer to a "big juicy steak" at a restaurant, but when it comes time to pay there is a gigantic problem with the wallet and its contents.

This comedy short is brilliantly choreographed by two of the arguably most iconic comedic teams in history, and they are supported by a wonderful set of familiar actors who would often appear in many future Laurel & Hardy shorts and feature length films.

No spoilers here as usual, but I will reveal that the initials on the stolen wallet are "FH." These are the actual initials of Frank Holliday, the actor playing the part of the policeman whose wallet is missing.

Grim reality

[rsyung · 7 January 2003]

Although the subject of this short is particularly grim, I find myself constantly drawn to it. It has a certain minimalist attraction...very little dialogue and no underscoring(probably because of it being a relatively early sound subject and also so as not interfere with the boy's own music-making), and bleak and austere snow-driven sets. Stan and Ollie truly become victims of their dire circumstances and it is only the bizarre physical distortion at the end(Laurel was quite fond of such endings) that takes us out of our reality and back into theirs.

Working In The Winter Weather With Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 6 June 2000]

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.

It's BELOW ZERO and the Boys' attempt to make some money as sidewalk musicians has proven to be a spectacular failure. Then Stan finds a wallet loaded with cash lying in the snow...

A funny early talkie. Highlight: the snowball fight. That's Charlie Hall as the street cleaner & Frank Holliday as the friendly cop. Ollie sings `In The Good Old Summertime.'

One Of Their Most Captivating

[richard.fuller1 · 9/10 · 2 November 2012]

Below Zero, to me, is one of the strongest depictions of life and existence at the offset of the depression. I have always remembered this program for its opening of these two guys very unimpressively playing their street music in the cold. There is truly something effective about the cold look. The snow looks its usual fake, but the stillness and immobility seems to be clear and the unpleasant mood brought about, especially with the depression having just started less than a year earlier.

The program enters other territory, but ends with the guys outside in the cold, in an alley, in a sense, worse off than when they began.

The final joke was always a bit lame to me, but had the entire program dealt with existence on the street in the ice and snow, instead of venturing into the restaurant, the program would have been superb.

An academy award was a brand new novelty at this time. Had the guys received one here, they wouldn't have known what it was for.

So often we get unhappiness during the depression from the woman's perspective or a child's, but this one is unique being from the guy, who are simply doing the best they can.

the only way this program could have truly been richer would have been if Stan and Ollie were street cleaners. But wayward street musicians was definitely enough.

Tain't a fit night out for Stan or Ollie

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 5 September 2011]

Below Zero must have struck a poignant note with Depression audiences as it opens with Laurel and Hardy trying to earn some kind of living as street entertainers during the dead of winter. For too many people it was real.

And it was also real that these two had no outerwear of any kind. It was a great visual affect with both Stan and Ollie wearing their usual attire and Ollie looked especially ridiculous in a suit jacket that was way too small that he could barely button.

Anyway after they annoy some folks with their rendition of In The Good Old Summertime, a particularly inappropriate choice of music for the occasion their instruments get smashed. But as luck would have it they find a wallet with cash in it and decide to share their good fortune with a cop who chased away someone who tried to take the wallet from them.

After which the boys and the cop played by Frank Holliday decide to eat at Tiny Sandford's establishment which has a strict policy on deadbeats. During dinner Stan gets off a few remarks showing how unsophisticated he is in regard to fine dining to which Ollie properly asks, "where was you brung up?"

It all blows up in their faces and the boys do face the wrath of Sandford the proprietor. It ends with Stan thrown in a rain barrel of freezing water and when Ollie gets him out, let's just say the sight of Stan and how he avoided drowning is one of the best visual gags I've ever seen in a Laurel and Hardy film.

Below Zero is one of their best short subjects.

All the components of successful Laurel and Hardy

[StevePulaski · 8/10 · 16 April 2015]

Below Zero has all the components of a genius Laurel and Hardy short: for one, it's not burdened by its length in any way, it features a nice balance of situational humor and slapstick comedy, has a few inclusions of some fun special and practical effects, and never becomes dry or tiresome in its material. It's one of the funniest shorts by the men I have yet to see.

Laurel and Hardy are a couple of petty street musicians, performing in subzero weather and not even making a dime. When they are informed by a police officer (Laurel and Hardy regular Frank Holliday) that they are in a crime-ridden area, the two decide to treat the police officer to lunch at the finest restaurant. It isn't until they finish their meal and are acquainted with the bill do they realize a grave mishap has happened that could only infer false intentions.

Below Zero, in a way, feels like a satire of manners for this time period. By today's standards, even at their most foolish, Laurel and Hardy always use gentlemanly, proper language, but when they are out to lunch with the police officer, such language transcends the boundaries of self-parody, which is funny in its own right. Something about the brazen silliness of Below Zero combined with its uncanny ability to be so formal provides for a very tongue-in-cheek edge to Laurel and Hardy I'm not sure I've witnessed before.

The short also is helped by some uproariously funny situational humor, specifically the ending and the very beginning, when Laurel and Hardy discover why they have yet to make a dime despite performing for two hours. All of this, encapsulated in a zealous pace with two charismatic men at the forefront, makes Below Zero so charming and watchable and among one of the finer shorts of the Laurel and Hardy lot.

Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and Frank Holliday. Directed by: James Parrott.