Big Business (1929)

Ollie and Stanley are two Christmas Tree sales reps who get into one of their usual mutual destruction fights with a homeowner.

Directors:

James W. Horne, Leo McCarey

Writer:

H.M. Walker (titles)

Stars:

Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Stan Laurel	...	Stan
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie

Storyline

Stan and Ollie are Christmas tree salesmen in California. Business is slow and a simple argument with one grumpy prospective customer (James Finlayson) escalates from a simple argument into full scale mutual destruction with Stan & Ollie destroying the customers house and garden, whilst Finlayson reduces their car to scrap metal, all under the disbelieving gaze of a police officer and an assembled crowd.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | hose | tit for tat | automobile | laurel and hardy | 

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Taglines:

The story of a man who turned the other cheek-and got punched in the nose.

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Genres:

Short | Comedy | Family

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 1929 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das große Geschäft

Filming Locations:

10281 Dunleer Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Roach Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

19 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1992.

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Quotes

[opening title board]
Narrator: The story of a man who turned the other cheek - and got punched in the nose.

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Connections

Featured in Silent Clowns: Laurel and Hardy (2006)

User Reviews

Classic Laurel and Hardy short

BIG BUSINESS

Aspect ratio: 1.33:1

Sound format: Silent

(Black and white - Short film)

A minor dispute between two Christmas tree salesmen (Laurel and Hardy) and an irate customer (James Finlayson) escalates into massive mutual destruction.

The first collaboration between L&H and veteran comedy director James Horne is a masterpiece of its kind, in which two bickering salesmen become involved in a war of attrition with bad-tempered customer Finlayson (an invaluable member of the L&H universe). The escalation of conflict is joyously contrived (Finlayson reduces The Boys' car to spare parts, and they do the same to his house), and the pay-off - in which the entire cast is reduced to tears! - is no less satisfactory. Legend has it that the filmmakers accidentally destroyed the wrong house, after hiring the one next door...