The fat one and the skinny one. The sleeping compartment on a train has provided classic comedy going back to the early days of movies. There is a Raccoon Convention in Minneapolis. The boys are all ready to act like middle schoolers, leaving their wives behind. In order to get money from Alice, Ralph decides to take her along. This leads to the Nortons doing the same thing. As they depart, the women have disappeared. To make matters worse, Ed has a pair of trick handcuffs which he demonstrates for Ralph. Well, you guessed it. They end up hopelessly attached to one another. This is every silent comedy or comedy of the thirties with great physical sight gags and contortionist moves. Norton is hopeless, but Ralph, doing his slow burn, is terrific.
2 Reviews
Comedy of Errors
dougdoepke3 August 2017
Guess what. Our two heroes don't want to take the wives with them to their Raccoon convention. However, Ralph needs money to get there and the only way to get it is taking Alice along. But if Alice goes so must Trixie, and guess what Ed thinks of that. So Ralph comes up with a plan. Too bad that Ralph's plan gets an ironic surprise. But that's not the worst of it. On board the convention bound train he and practical joker Ed get handcuffed together. And then begins one of the series' longest skits that's generally a load of laughs. And top it all off with another big surprise at half-hour's end.
All in all, it's a hilarious setup that shows off how limber the guys are as they clamber around the tiny train compartment. But then Gleason's humor depended a lot on how deceptively graceful his misleading bulk was. Anyway, it's a don't-miss episode.
All in all, it's a hilarious setup that shows off how limber the guys are as they clamber around the tiny train compartment. But then Gleason's humor depended a lot on how deceptively graceful his misleading bulk was. Anyway, it's a don't-miss episode.
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