Below Zero (1930)

Director:

James Parrott

Writer:

H.M. Walker (dialogue)

Release Date:

26 April 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy

Tagline:

The freezing winter of '29 will long be remembered- Mr. Hardy's nose was so blue, Mr. Laurel shot it for a jay-bird.

Plot:

In the dead of winter, street musicians Stanley and Oliver aren't getting much business in a run-down neighborhood...

Plot Keywords:

Wallet | Policeman | Steak | Diner | Snow

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Stan
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bobby Burns	...	'Blind' man / deadbeat diner
Baldwin Cooke	...	Man at Window
Kay Deslys	...	Woman at window
Charlie Hall	...	Street Cleaner
Jack Hill
Frank Holliday	...	Policeman
Retta Palmer
Blanche Payson	...	Formidable woman
Tiny Sandford	...	Pete
Lyle Tayo
Leo Willis	...	Crook

Runtime:

20 min | Argentina:30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

This film was simultaneously produced in a Spanish language version, Tiembla y Titubea (1930) with the actors speaking their own lines. Laurel and Hardy read their lines from cue cards on which Spanish was written phonetically. At the time of early talkies, dubbing was not yet perfected.

Movie Connections:

Alternate language version of Tiembla y Titubea (1930)

Soundtrack:

In The Good Old Summertime

Classic comedy-short

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.