The online, 39th Pordenone Silent Film Festival ended on an upbeat note with five comedies featuring Laurel and Hardy, but not featuring the famous duo together in any of them; hence, the program being entitled "Laurel or Hardy." Their social-distancing days, you could call it. So, this one features Oliver "Babe" Hardy before he became famous teaming up with Stan Laurel. A Billy Ruge and a bunch of other comedians join "Babe" in this one. Reportedly, the duo were popular enough to earn their own "Plump and Runt" series. It's the usual knockabout slapstick of the era--not my thing, although I heartily endorse restoring films I'm not fond of, as well as the ones I love. I've been spoiled by the artistry of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. I guess the humor in this one--besides them hitting each other, running around and a few trick effects--is supposed to be how bad their band is. We call them "silent films," but this is a good reminder of how important music was and is to the art form. The score for the "Laurel or Hardy" program was provided by Neil Brand.
