Big Business ***** (1929, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Tiny Sandford) – Classic Movie Review 7371

‘The story of a man who turned the other cheek and got punched in the nose.’

Director James W Horne’s 1929 Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy 20-minute comedy short Big Business is a hilariously funny, masterly silent comedy of tit for tat destruction from the boys at their best, with James Finlayson on hysterical form and Tiny Sandford funny as the cop.

Laurel and Hardy (playing themselves as usual) valiantly try to sell Christmas trees in July and end up having a titanic battle with bald, moustachioed ‘unreceptive customer’ Finlayson, in which everything (his house, their car and business) is wrecked.

The performers and the gags are backed by perfect pacing, stunting and cutting. The story is by Leo McCarey and the titles are by H M Walker.

Also in the cast are Lyle Tayo, Reta Palmer and Charlie Hall.

Big Business was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1992.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7371

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