Tit for Tat **** (1935, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Mae Busch, Charlie Hall) – Classic Movie Review 8110

Director Charles Rogers’s hilarious 1935 slapstick comedy short film Tit for Tat is Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy’s only sequel, a continuation of 1934’s popular Them Thar Hills.

This time Stan and Ollie open an electrical goods shop and repair store, and unwittingly start a war with their local delicatessen and grocery store opposite. The deli proprietors of Hall’s Groceries are once again Mrs and Mr Hall, played by Mae Busch and Charlie Hall, whom they met on that camping trip in Them Thar Hills. Mr Hall is convinced that Ollie is trying to seduce his wife.

This end-period L & H short is one of their funniest, though less subtle and sympathetic than before as it relies solely on the comedy of destruction. But there are no complaints about that, as this produces a barrage of hilarious gags.

Also in the cast are James C Morton, Bobby Dunn, Jack Hill, Pete Gordon, Baldwin Cooke and Viola Richard.

The sign in Stan and Ollie’s electrical repair store’s window says Open for Big Business, emphasising the film’s similarities to the earlier L & H short Big Business (1929) with its similar and escalating revenge chaos.

Them Thar Hills is directed by Charles H Rogers [Charley Rogers], runs 20 minutes, is made by Hal Roach Studios, is released by MGM, is written by Stan Laurel (uncredited) and Frank Tashlin (uncredited), is shot in black and white by Art Lloyd, is produced by Hal Roach, and is scored by Marvin Hatley and Leroy Shield.

Tit for Tat was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film (Comedy).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8110

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