The Plastic Age (1925)

A college-age love story that won't uproot any trees but is a decent enough watch.

Hugh (Donald Keith) is a freshman at college, keen on his studies and sports. Then he meets Cynthia (Clara Bow) and falls in love. Studies, sports and dating Clara Bow pushes Hugh a step too far as she introduces him to booze, dancing and back seat fumbles. Something is going to have to give especially as the big game is coming up (of course)...

So, this is all rather formulaic all down to the parental disapproval and eventual redemption. What rises this film above the pack are the performances especially from Bow and the supporting cast. This was Clara Bow's first hit film.

The Pawnshop (1916)

More Charlie Chaplin mayhem, this time in a pawnshop where Charlie works.

Charlie causes a mess at the shop while "cleaning" (including destroying his feather duster in an electric fan). This enrages his fellow shop assistant (John Rand) with whom Charlie seems to have a hate-hate relationship. More trouble comes though when a customer (Albert Austin) brings in a clock for examination which Charlie destroys...

The usual antics and slapstick. Chaplin hadn't quite perfected his comedy short formula though was getting there. This one is a fine viewing though had a little too much pointless slap and not quite enough story explaining why.

The Doughboy (1926)

A silly little comedy short. Snub Pollard joins the US Army in World War 1 and soon, this "Doughboy" (as US soldiers were called at the time) has been sent to the front line even if his training is a series of disasters. His front line service is also a disaster, he spends most of his time trying to avoid being captured by the Germans. 

The film has plenty of inventive comedy situations though it does start to get a bit tedious and repetitive by the end. Not a top tier silent comedy but perfectly fine as a shirt feature and does raise plenty of smiles.

How Men Propose (1913)

An interesting short feature. Three men propose to the same woman (Margarita Fischer) - without realising. When they finally realise it they go to see the woman and discover that she was just researching for an article she was writing on how men propose for a magazine!

There isn't much to the film though it has some historic and curiosity value. 

The Old Actor (1912)

A rather static though enjoyable little drama. 

An old actor (W. Chrystie Miller) loses his role at the theatre due to being too old, he is too embarrassed to tell his family of his failure and therefore uses his make-up skills to disguise himself and becomes a very convincing beggar to earn some coin. The beau (Edwin August) of his daughter (Mary Pickford) accidentally gives him a gold coin and in the kerfuffle his real identity is revealed...

A nice simple little film. Although the camerawork is very static, the little subtle touches and natural acting helps make the film very watchable and tells a good story.

From Soup to Nuts (1928)

A good Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy comedy short though not quite the best. Mrs Culpepper (Anita Garvin) wants to show off by holding a posh dinner party. She requires a couple of waiters, but unfortunately she gets Stan and Ollie! Mayhem obviously ensues. The mayhem is a little predictable though, when Ollie walks into the dining room carrying a huge cake you know he is going to end up with his face in it... and indeed he does, several times!

Mrs Culpepper also has a lot of trouble with a cherry but when Stan walks in to serve the salad in his underwear (he was told to serve the salad undressed of course) the cherry is soon forgotten. Good old fashioned fun.

Santa Claus (1898)

Possibly the earliest appearance of Santa Claus in a film, he is noticeably not quite as rotund as later on (all those mince pies obviously). A short simple film made by George Albert Smith showing Santa Claus visiting a couple of children at Christmas (sound asleep of course), but with some interesting camera effects especially for the day. A simple and lovely way to show the magic of Christmas.

An Old Man's Love Story (1913)

An unusual love story. Ethel (Norma Talmadge) is in love with Cyril (Frank O'Neil), who has prospects though as yet not much else. Unfortunately for Ethel, her parents are poor despite all appearances and want to marry her off to a rich man. When their friend and retired businessman James (Van Dyke Brooke) turns up they want Ethel to marry him and send Cyril off...

When James discovers who Ethel's feelings are truly for he comes up with an ingenious (though somewhat implausible) plan for Ethel to marry money and Cyril...

A short film that packs a lot of story in though. The film has fairly natural acting though technically is still rather static. The film looks like it will go off in one direction though will surprise you with it's enjoyable twist. 

The Midnight Girl (1925)

A rather average love triangle melodrama, though interesting to see Bela Lugosi in one of his pre-Dracula roles. Rich arts patron Nicolas (Lugosi) is growing weary of his star act Nina (Dolores Cassinelli), who is also sleeping with. His son Don (Gareth Hughes) has a big row with his Dad and moves out. Don discovers Anna (Lila Lee), a young immigrant singer, and falls in love with her. Unfortunately for Don his Dad also hears and falls in love with Anna. Father and son compete against each other for Anna...

A film of it's time, these days a film about a father and son both chasing the same young girl would not be greeted in quite the same light! This is standard melodrama fare, with a neat ending where everything is sorted out in the end and everyone goes home happily for tea. The film is quite acceptable though not much more. It is mostly worth seeing for Bela Lugosi not in a horror. 

Across the Mexican Line (1911)

Wartime melodrama. During the Mexican-American War, the Mexicans send Juanita (Francis Gibson) across into the American lines to seduce the enemy and find out their secrets. Juanita hits it off with Lieutenant Harvey (Romaine Fielding) who proceeds to... teach her telegraphy. An interesting first date.

However, Juanita is unable to discover the Americans' plans. She sneaks a Mexican officer into the telegraph office who captures Harvey and takes him back to Mexican lines. By now though Juanita is in love with Harvey and as he faces execution, she calls for help from the Americans thanks to her new telegraph skills...

An interesting little film directed by one of the first female filmmakers in Alice Guy Blanche. The film is rather static with the narrative driven mostly by the inter-titles. Not that unusual for it's day.

Manhandled (1924)

A top draw actor can lift an otherwise average plodder of a film into something decent, as happens with this film starring Gloria Swanson as a shopgirl (Tessie) with a talent for mimicry. She manages to escape her dreary job thanks to her talent for pretending to be other people. She ends up pretending to be a snooty Russian aristocrat in order to attract customers to a posh establishment.

Tessia soon forgets about her boyfriend Jimmy (Tom Moore) but when he becomes a success himself he comes back for her and accuses her of letting herself be taken advantage of (manhandled as per the title)...

Truthfully this is a fairly forgettable comedic morality play but Swanson's comedy performance is well worth watching, especially the crowded subway train scene.

Are Crooks Dishonest? (1918)

Harold Lloyd and Snub Pollard play a couple of small time con artists who have the fruitful scheme of pretending to lose a valuable ring and then tricking people to hand over cash for rubbish. One of their unsuspecting mugs is the phoney mystic Professor Goulash (William Blaisdell). However, his daughter Miss Goulash (Bebe Daniels) sees through Harold and Snub's scheme and tricks them out of their money!

A charming comedy short. Harold Lloyd plays a bad guy (of sorts) for a change, the film is notable more for it's visual humour than all-out slapstick.

Another Fine Mess (1930)

The first official Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy film was 1927's Duck Soup, this was a talkie remake of it and is a madcap comedy short packed full of gags and crazy antics. Colonel Buckshot (James Finlayson) is heading off to Africa on Safari, his staff leave the house empty early. It is thus in this condition that Laurel and Hardy, a couple of tramps on the run from the police, find the house.

Lord Plumtree (Charles Gerrard) and his wife (Thelma Todd) arrive to rent the house. Oliver pretends to be Colonel Buckshot and Stan has to pretend to be both the butler and the maid, outfit changed where necessary. Oliver manages to agree a price with Plumtree but their plan all falls through when Colonel Buckshot arrives back home early...

This is a fun comedy short though maybe packed with too much going on at times. The comedy replies more on gags and comedic repetition than slapstick though it does end with some remarkable stunts.

Liberty (1929)

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy escape from prison. They manage to get away fine with some help, though in their rush to get dressed they appear to have put on each others trousers! Changing into the correct trousers is of course not as simple as it sounds, and Stan ends up with a crab down his pair! This causes more slapstick mayhem.

With the police still after them, they hide in a workman's lift on a skyscraper building site. They of course end up on top of the building and have to creep along the bare girders with various death defying stunts.

Not the best Laurel and Hardy comedy short but with plenty of invention especially in the skyscraper sequence though this part of the film might go on a bit too long.

The Finishing Touch (1928)

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are tasked with finishing a house in record time by Sam Lufkin, what could go wrong? a framework Actually let us rephrase that, what would go right? Because a building site is just an endless opportunity for slapstick mayhem. The poor policeman Edgar Kennedy gets dragged into the destruction, a hilarious scene sees him covered in tar and then a load of roof slates fall on him and stick to him!

To make matters worse, the nurse (Dorothy Coburn) of a hospital next door is demanding that Stan and Ollie make as little noise as possible. As you can imagine this is a forlorn hope...

This is a very funny and very silly film, the story is pretty basic and largely a framework for a series of comedic situations. The slapstick doesn't always work but the film races along a such a pace that you don't have time to dwell on it when it doesn't.

The Battle of the Century (1927)

A Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy comedy short most famous for it's custard pie fight! Before that though Stan Laurel is the world's most unlikely prize fighter and inevitably gets beaten. Oliver Hardy takes out an insurance policy on Stan (sold by the unscrupulous Eugene Pallette) and then tries to engineer an accident using a banana peel. Things don't go to plan of course and after the banana peel causes a custard pie salesman (Charlie Hall) to slip and fall all Hell breaks out in the resultant custard pie fight! 

The custard pie fight goes on for a long time, maybe too long but fulfils all the slapstick requirements of a comedy short of the period. The pie fight was said to have used at least 3, 000 custard pies (and maybe many more according to some sources!) This was one of the earliest official Laurel and Hardy films and they had yet to master their characters but the film is still good fun, though a bit disjointed due to missing parts of the film.

Putting Pants on Philip (1927)

Although they had appeared together in a number of films beforehand (the first being 1921's The Lucky Dog), this was the first official Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy film. Ollie is at the docks waiting for his nephew (Stan) from Scotland. To his surprise, shock and the hilarity of everyone in town his nephew is wearing a kilt. That basically is the premise of the film, everyone finds a man in a kilt so funny, obviously they must be hard up for entertainment.

Fed up by all the attention, Ollie tries to get Stan some trousers. Stan isn't very keen on wearing them though, he is very keen on a flapper (Dorothy Coburn) though she doesn't exactly share the attraction.

So, a bit of a one joke film, which is fine if the joke is good but this one is a bit average. The film is watchable and quite funny but mostly of interest for historic value. The Laurel and Hardy double act was still a work in progress, soon it would conquer the world of comedy but not quite in this film.