The Finishing Touch (1928) - film review

A man offers Stan and Ollie five hundred dollars if they can build him a house in double quick time.  Encouraged by this bonus, the boys hastily set to work, with more enthusiasm than skill.  In spite of their valiant attempts to do otherwise, they manage to complete the house on time.  But when a bird lands on the chimney, the quality of their workmanship becomes horribly apparent...

This virtually plotless silent short allows Laurel and Hardy to do what they do best, indulge in some wonderfully over-the-top slapstick.  The film is not as well regarded as the team’s other build-and-demolish escapades, such as Towed in a Hole and Busy Bodies, but it offers some superb sight gags.  These include the one in which Stan walks past a policeman with an improbably long blank, only to appear at the other end of the plank about a minute later.  By this stage, Stan and Ollie have perfected their characters’ relationship to a tee, and although there is no sound you can mentally hear Stan’s self-pitying whimpers and Ollie’s tortured shrieks when things go horribly wrong.  Not quite an out-and-out classic but great fun all the same.

© Brian Evans 2010

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