Big Business (1929)

Touches You

Pretty Good

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is probably one of Laurel & Hardy's more famous silent comedies, in which they become embroiled in a relentless tit-for-tat war of attrition with homeowner James Finlayson who refuses to buy a Christmas tree from them. The boys wear heavy overcoats, as if to persuade the Californian residents that it really is winter weather but to no avail. Their tree and Stan's coat keep getting caught in Finlayson's door and each time Finlayson has to open it he is a little more irate until finally he cuts the tree into three sections. That's the cue for battle to commence. This isn't really one of my favourite Laurel & Hardy films –it's too mean-spirited for my liking, and there's something unpleasant about the destructive rage involved when Stan and Ollie enter Finlayson's house and begin smashing it up.

Hours after I rewatched The Fixer Uppers, I remembered another Laurel and Hardy short that had something to do with Christmas: This one called Big Business (also the title of a feature starring Lily Tomlin and Bette Midler from 1988). The boys sell Christmas trees in this one and are not very successful at it (maybe because it's sunny in this short's setting). One customer who's particularly annoyed is played by usual nemesis James Finlayson. The gradual destruction caused by these three as well as their reactions to each indignity make this one of the funniest of the L & H silents. There's also notable bit players like Charlie Hall, Lyle Tayo, and as a cop watching all the shenanigans, Tiny Sandford who's also good in his role. So on that note, this is my favorite of the Laurel and Hardy holiday comedies. P.S. If you can read lips, you've probably noticed Stan addressing Ollie by his nickname, Babe, which he was called when he first worked in the film industry when it was briefly based in Jacksonville, Florida, which is where I once lived during the late '80s-early 2003. Update-9/24/11: I just watched this again at an outdoor screening at the Baton Rouge Gallery with live musical accompaniment by The Incense Merchants, whose contemporary stylings add to the proceedings immensely, with an appreciative audience of which one female member laughed as loud as I did. (she must also be an L & H fan like yours truly!)

The year of 1929 marked the Big Turnabout for Hollywood. The clamor for Sound Film, "the Talkies", "All Singing, All Talking" and what have you, had started out slow and was rapidly snowballing to the point that "sounded" the end of silents. In this year we had both sound and silent films released as well as some released in both sound and silent versions. If there were to be any more Silent Masterpieces, now was the time to do it, or forever remain Silent.As it just so happened that there was to be this one, truly unique Silent Laurel & Hardy Comedy Short coming down the pike! And this was 1929, it was surely none too soon!One thing for sure is that BIG BUSINESS was far better known by title to the public than most any other L & H Silent Short. This is mainly because of the Robert Youngson compilation film FOUR CLOWNS (1970). The film from Mr. Youngson centered on the Silent Screen work of 4 of the top artists from that period. They were: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase and Buster Keaton. Among the titles that were reviewed and condensed was BIG BUSINESS. Furthermore, back in the1970's, before the advent of Home Video Recorders, film buffs/collectors had film with which to pursue their hobby. There was 16 mm and 8 mm. And late in the game we saw the arrival of the format of Super 8 and finally, Super 8 Magnetic Sound films.Various catalogue houses around the country provided us with the titles we wanted. At that time, one firm, Blackhawk Films of Davenport, Iowa, was perhaps the greatest company in that field. As well as featuring titles from other companies (Castle Films aka Universal 8, Ken Films, Official Films), Blackhawk was probably the largest company to bring more titles into 16 mm, 8 mm and Super 8 formats under their own label.Furthermore, it was the folks at Blackhawk who had the exclusive with Hal Roach Studios to manufacture and offer for sale the titles from the Roach back-log. And that of course meant a legalized monopoly on Laurel & Hardy Films! So, an awful lot of collectors in those early days of yesteryear made their first Laurel & Hardy home film BIG BUSINESS. I know we did! OUR STORY: As the movie opens, we see Stan & 'Babe'* riding along in their truck with facial expressions betraying the fact that they haven't been doing so well that day. They stop and very ceremoniously unload a Christmas Tree from the back and proceed to go up to the door of the 1st house in front of them to sell their wares. After an absurd exchange with a Lady, they go to the second house. After having no more luck and even receiving a clunk on the head they finally get to the house of old nemesis, James Finlayson .The sale not only goes bad, but the three get involved in an ever escalating back and forth battle, which is in itself a classic example of what Roach Studios Directorial Supervisor, Mr. Leo McCarey had dubbed, "Reciprocal Destruction. As things continue to intensify, more and more neighbors are drawn into the gallery. At last, a Police Officer (Stanley J. "Tiny" Sandford) arrives via Prowl Car; but at first, rather than making his considerable presence known, 'Tiny' sits pen in hand, jotting down his observations in his notebook.Finally we see an official Police intervention and it has the effect of pouring oil on a choppy sea. One by one, the Beat Cop gets the story from each about the disturbance, and some questionable "Crocadile Tears" from "the Boys" turns the mood to sadness and conciliation. Peace is restored and tranquility reigns supreme, momentarily, that is until…..No, no Senor, I'm not gonna tell! See the Picture! Or better yet, buy the Picture! In the whole scheme of things, at least in regards to film history, BIG BUSINESS ranks as just about the zenith of the Laurel & Hardy silents. It showed a team that had been together for nearly 3 years, all the time finding their way and perfecting the business between the twosome that, to the public, was Laurel & Hardy.And BIG BUSINESS was perhaps the finest single film exponent of that above mentioned "Reciprocal Destruction". What a fitting way to bid a fond farewell to the '20's and the Silents, and a hello to an Exclusively Sound output.NOTE: * Oliver Norvell Hardy, while known on the screen and to the public as "Ollie", had, to all his friends, the nickname of 'Babe'.

Based on what I'd heard about it, I didn't think I was going to enjoy this part of the programme much; destruction derbies really aren't my thing, and while I used to love Laurel and Hardy as a child, I've been a bit disappointed recently on re-viewing their work. Well, I was wrong!Admittedly the funny bits of this film consist almost entirely of smashing things up, but somehow it's the completely childish and almost innocent way in which it's done that raises the laughs: Hardy attempting to dig up the lawn one shovelful at a time, Finlayson rolling vainly on the ground in a Christmas-tree-tantrum. And then, of course, there's the mass hysteria of the ending...I don't think I can possibly have enjoyed it as much as the ladies next to me (who were in non-stop whoops for the last ten minutes), but I definitely found it very much funnier than I was expecting.