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The Finishing Touch (1928)

| Comedy, Short | 25 February 1928 (USA)
The Finishing Touch Poster
The boys are contracted to build a house in one day. Upon completion, a bird lands on the chimney and the house collapses, bit by bit. When the owner demands his money back, mayhem ensues.

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
Stan
...
Ollie
Dorothy Coburn ...
Nurse
...
Cop (as Ed Kennedy)
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Storyline

The boys are contracted to build a house in one day. Upon completion, a bird lands on the chimney and the house collapses, bit by bit. When the owner demands his money back, mayhem ensues. Written by Herman Seifer <alagain@aol.com>

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house | bird | shoe | saw | rock | See All (10) »

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Comedy | Short

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Details

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Release Date:

25 February 1928 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Das unfertige Fertighaus  »

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Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The final gag, in which the boys' truck slams into the house, was a misfire. The script called for the truck to drive all the way through the house, but the carpenters had not built the house to property man Thomas Benton Roberts' specifications, so the truck was unable to penetrate it completely. Rather than rebuild the house for one gag, the cast and crew chose to keep the end gag as filmed. See more »

Goofs

Ollie tells Stan to do some sand papering. Stan gets a sheet of sand paper which can be seen is new. Before he can use it the nurse comes in and remonstrates with them about all the noise. As she bends down to pick up a hammer Stan tears the sheet of sand paper in half but it can now be seen to be a used sheet. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Variety Time (1948) See more »

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User Reviews

Decent
10 August 2008 | by – See all my reviews

Finishing Touch, The (1928)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Laurel and Hardy play finishers who are offered an extra $500 if they can finish a house in one day. The boys set out to make the extra money but soon a nurse (Dorothy Coburn) and a cop (Edgar Kennedy) start getting in their way. This silent short is a rather mixed bag as it features a lot of funny moments but the comedy isn't really ever hysterical but instead just mild laughs. The majority of the film goes for slapstick comedy, which includes Hardy stepping on nails, Laurel tripping over boards and that type of stuff. The cop of course plays the rival to the boys who keeps getting caught up in their madness and taking most of the abuse. Kennedy is quite good in his role but it's actually Coburn who steals the film when she decides to beat up the boys because of how much noise they're making.
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