One Too Many

While this short comedy holds some interest for the chance to see a very young Oliver Hardy, it is really not very good at all. Whatever potential there was from the story and cast is quickly wasted, and it is just a chaotic and sometimes incomprehensible jumble that really goes nowhere. By the time this feature was filmed, many good comedies had already been made, and it just should have been a lot better.

The premise of the story is that Hardy's character has put himself in a spot by giving his uncle a false impression about the status of his home life, and this sparks a lot of frantic running around by Hardy, his associates, and his neighbors. Most of their running around is incomprehensible and senseless. This is the kind of setup that can be pretty amusing when written and directed with skill - but that is unwatchable if not done carefully. Unfortunately, the latter is the case here. Not even an emerging talent like Hardy can save this kind of mess.