Call of the Cuckoo (1927)

Mishaps befall a new home owner (Davidson) located next door to an insane asylum.

Director:

Clyde Bruckman

Writer:

H.M. Walker (titles)

Stars:

Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson

Cast

Credited cast:
Stan Laurel	...	Asylum inmate
Oliver Hardy	...	Asylum inmate
James Finlayson	...	Asylum inmate
Charley Chase	...	Asylum inmate
Max Davidson	...	Papa Gimplewart
Lillian Elliott	...	Mama Gimplewart
Spec O'Donnell	...	Love's Greatest Mistake
Leo Willis	...	Guest
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frank Brownlee	...	Prospective house buyer
Edgar Dearing	...	Guest
Otto Fries	...	Bit part
Charlie Hall	...	Asylum inmate
Fay Holderness	...	Guest
Charles Meakin	...	House buyer
Lyle Tayo	...	Guest

Storyline

Max wants to sell his home, because of the crazy neighbours. Somebody else wants to get rid of his house, too, so they swap. But that house turns out to be a chaos of installation. The lights are not connected with the right switches, gas and water are mixed up, and the floor has a list, too. During the house-warming party, it comes to a battle between two relatives, who have little respect for others property, but that's not the worst blow for Max that evening...

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Plot Keywords:

asylum | two reeler

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Genres:

Comedy | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 1927 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das Haus der tausend Freuden

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Roach Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

20 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was made just days after Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had finished filming The Second 100 Years, in which they play shaven-headed convicts. Thus, the reason for the boys' buzz-cut hairdos in this film.

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Connections

Edited into Laurel and Hardy's Laughing 20's (1965)

User Reviews

Not Very Funny Comedy from a Forgotten Comedian

Laurel and Hardy appear in supporting roles in this short Max Davidson comedy, playing two of a quartet of loons living next door to the hapless hero. I've never seen a Davidson film before – or heard of him to be honest – and judging by this effort, it's no surprise that he's now largely forgotten. He strokes his beard a lot and holds the side of his face but rarely does anything remotely funny. In the film he's so desperate to get away from his mentally challenged neighbours that he agrees to swap houses with a stranger. He takes his long-suffering wife and heavily freckled (and rather gormless-looking) son with him and soon finds out that the new family home is about to fall down around his ears. Everything that can collapse does so, flames come from a tap while the cooker sprays fountains of water, and the pattern on the kitchen floor disappears when Mrs Max wipes it with a mop. Despite none of these escalating series of mishaps being particularly funny, they are nearly all repeated two or three times.