One Good Turn *** (1931, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Mary Carr) – Classic Movie Review 9440

Director James W Horne’s 1931 black and white two-reeler short comedy One Good Turn stars Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

Depression victims Laurel and Hardy haven’t eaten for three days – ‘yesterday, today and tomorrow’ – but are helped by friendly widow The Old lady (Mary Carr), who provides them with sandwiches, and in return they try to help her when they mistakenly think the dialogue they hear in her amateur drama rehearsals means that she is going to be evicted by her landlord.

During an auction when they try to sell their car to help The Old lady, a drunken man (Billy Gilbert) puts a wallet in Stan’s pocket and Ollie accuses Stan of stealing it from The Old lady.

One Good Turn is not the boys’ funniest or cleverest two-reeler, maybe, but it is consistently watchable, amusing, well plotted and carefully made. There is an attractive reliance on character, and a sympathetic woman character is a rarity in a Laurel and Hardy film.

Also in the cast are James Finlayson as the Community Player who plays the landlord, Billy Gilbert as The Drunk, Dick Gilbert, William Gillespie, Baldwin Cooke, Retta Palmer, Ham Kinsey, ‘Snub’ Pollard as a Community Player, Dorothy Granger as a Community Player, Gordon Douglas as a Community player, Lyle Tayo [Lyle Barton] as a Community Player and Charley Young.

One Good Turn is directed by James W Horne, runs 20 minutes, is made by Hal Roach Studios, is released by MGM, is written by H M Walker (dialogue), is shot in black and white by Art Lloyd, is produced by Hal Roach, and is scored by Marvin Hatley (composer stock music) and Leroy Shield (composer stock music).

Stan’s daughter Lois was afraid of Ollie as her father was hit by him in many of their films so Stan wrote in a scene where Ollie is hit by him.

There is also a colorized version.

The opening titles says Stan and Ollie’s Model T Ford is a 1911, but it is their usual trademark 1921 model, as seen in their other shorts.

It is their first film to feature support from Billy Gilbert, who regularly appeared in support of Roach’s comedy stars Laurel and Hardy, Charley Chase, Thelma Todd and Our Gang. One of his Laurel and Hardy appearances was in the 1932 Oscar-winning film The Music Box. Stan Laurel went backstage to meet Gilbert after the show Sensations of 1929 and later introduced him to Hal Roach.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9440

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com