Silent Films: pre-team 1921-1927 Laurel and Hardy Silents 1927 Laurel and Hardy Silents 1928 Laurel and Hardy Silents 1929 Laurel and Hardy sound films (alphabetical order): A-Haunting We Will Go Air Raid Wardens Another Fine Mess Any Old Port! Atoll K (aka Utopia) Babes In Toyland Beau Hunks Be Big! Below Zero Berth Marks The Big Noise Block-Heads Blotto The Bohemian Girl Bonnie Scotland Brats The Bullfighters Busy Bodies Chickens Come Home - The Chimp A Chump At Oxford Come Clean County Hospital The Dancing Masters The Devil's Brother aka Fra Diavolo Dirty Work The Fixer Uppers The Flying Deuces Fra Diavolo aka The Devil's Brother Going Bye-Bye! Great Guns Helpmates Hog Wild The Hoose-Gow Jitterbugs Laughing Gravy The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case The Live Ghost Me And My Pal Men O'War The Midnight Patrol The Music Box Night Owls Nothing But Trouble Oliver The Eighth One Good Turn Our Relations Our Wife Pack Up Your Troubles Pardon Us Perfect Day Saps At Sea Scram! Sons of the Desert Swiss Miss Their First Mistake Them Thar Hills They Go Boom! Thicker Than Water Tit For Tat Towed In A Hole Twice Two Unaccustomed As We Are Utopia (aka Atoll K) Way Out West Specials: Cameos Cartoons For Love Or Mummy Laurel and Hardy Memories "Stan"

One Good Turn Year: 1931 Directed by: James W.Horne Duration: 20m DVD Availability: Try sendit.com (region 2 only) Viewpoint: "You haven't got another cup, have you?" "What for?" "The tent's on fire!" Not one of Laurel and Hardy's better-remembered films, I'm not sure I've even seen this one before. However, while not possessing the same level of charm as some of the others, and featuring a preponderance of stock music, it is actually very funny. It's also possibly the most violent Laurel and Hardy film bar none. Where others had seen physical violence (most notably Our Relations and Busy Bodies) rarely, if ever, had Stan and Ollie been so maliciously violent. Whether it's pouring water over each other's genitals or a protracted climax where Stan angrily beats the Hell out of Ollie, this is pretty vicious stuff. Though hilarious with it, of course. This heavy reliance on slapstick means you can see the gags coming a mile off, though this probably makes them even funnier still. The delivery, timing and facial expressions are all pitch-perfect. Yet some of the humour is surprisingly sophisticated, with James Finlayson (unusually playing a character with his own real-life name) and Mary Carr parodying 30s melodrama. Perhaps shockingly for the time, Carr kneels in front of him while his trousers fall down. The next shot is through a keyhole in what is almost a parody of "What The Butler Saw". As for the plot - who cares? This is Stan and Ollie having fun, just another short off the production line. As Simon Louvish noted in his fine book "The Roots of Comedy", this is one of the few Laurel and Hardy movies where their misfortune is a result of external influence, not their own ineptitude. Here Stan and Ollie are reduced to begging as victims of the depression, not their own self-destructive nature. Other than that small touch of social commentary, it's a chance to see the pair beat the hell out of each other, and laugh lots.